Anthropology

Anthropologists explore the biological and social features that make us human to gain a deeper understanding of the cultural and ethnic differences in our beliefs and perspectives. Studying Anthropology will give you an insight into the behaviour, beliefs and attitudes of societies all over the world, finding connections between aspects of life such as family, economics, politics and religion and themes including ethnicity and nationalism.

Social anthropologists address ‘what it is to be human’ by studying social and cultural diversity – how people live, think and relate to each other around the world. Biological anthropology focuses on the study of human evolution and adaptation. Biological anthropologists are particularly interested in investigating why variation arose and how it is maintained, as well as trying to explain how people are adapted to the environments in which they live.

To study Social Anthropology at Cambridge, you can study it through our Human, Social and Political Sciences Course. Biological Anthropology can be studied through a few different courses at Cambridge including Archaeology and Natural Sciences, for more information see here. 

Graduates in Anthropology develop skills in critical thinking and analysis which enable them to work with people in a variety of cultural contexts. Many graduates progress to work in research, teaching, the media, and politics and for private and public sector organisations.

Graduates in Biological Anthropology might go into areas such as; professional biological anthropology, science journalism, curating, forensic science and work with non-government organisations and with development agencies such as the World Health Organisation.

Most universities do not stipulate specific A-Level subjects. Subjects that might be regarded as useful preparation for this course include; History, English and Sociology or other essay-based subjects.

If you are interested in applying to study Biological Anthropology then most universities do expect an A-Level in Biology in the first instance, though some institution do consider other sciences too.