Social and Cultural Anthropology

Are you captivated by how people interact in today's global societies? Do you want to deepen your knowledge of the dynamics in our society? Are you fascinated by the tensions between economic, political and social hierarchies that often create inequalities and diversity challenges? 

You’ll explore all these issues and more if you follow the Master's programme in Social and Cultural Anthropology at VU Amsterdam. During this one-year programme, you’ll learn and apply anthropological theories to issues such as social inequality and cultural diversity. You’ll then immediately put that into practice during a three-month fieldwork research project.  

Social and Cultural Anthropology is all about studying what makes us human. In the programme you will learn a multi-layered approach to understand how people their beliefs, values, practices, interactions and ideas are interconnected and impact each other. The critical thinking, advanced research skills and cultural awareness will open your mind in ways you may not have imagined before. Whether it is climate change, migration, inequality or decolonisation: now, more than ever, anthropologists are needed to address society's most pressing issues. Also the need for anthropologists in organisations – public, private or NGOs – is growing.