Anthropology of Religion and Culture

What if you could see the world from different perspectives? What can we learn from cultural differences? How can these insights contribute to understanding local, regional, and global challenges?
In a world of religious and cultural diversity, understanding cultural differences is key to addressing challenges such as migration and climate change. This Master's programme trains you to study various lifeworlds in all their complexity. You explore how religion and culture shape societies, and how everyday practices, from food and sexuality to ritual and belief, are embedded in broader cultural contexts. Through this process, you not only gain deeper insight into others, but also into yourself.

This Master's programme in the anthropology of religion and culture (ARC) is unique in the Netherlands and is characterized by three approaches:

• Holistic: you explore themes as they are embedded within the totality of local lifeworlds.
• Comparative: you identify and analyse similarities and differences across cultures.
• Ethnographic: fieldwork is a core aspect of the programme, allowing you to gain insight into people's lived experiences and ways of living. The ethnographic hands-on experience is an integral part of the programme.

You also critically reflect on the 'traditional' anthropological method itself.

Anthropology challenges you by making the strange familiar and the familiar strange.