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M.Sc. Evolutionary Approaches to Cultural Anthropology and Archaeology



at the University of East London




















  A new M.Sc. at UEL: http://www.uel.ac.uk/ssmcs/programmes/
postgraduate/evol%5Fappr%5Fanthrop/


Anthropology at UEL is associated with Survival International, working

in support of tribal people

  Contact: Diane Ball 020 8223 [log in to unmask]









In anthropological research we have to ask difficult questions.
Whatever the focus of your own research, you will be expected to
demonstrate competence in a wide range of complex issues. These are
some of the questions we will attempt to answer. If you find any of
them interesting and challenging, then this is the Masters course for
you!




Why don't chimpanzees talk?


If god is a delusion, how can so many people be wrong'?


Why do class societies, like that of Stonehenge, build monuments?










What is the best number of fathers to have?


In key Amazonian myths there is always conflict between the genders—why?

Why might selfish gene theory predict three genders?










Do monuments code cultural knowledge?




Because there are high emotional costs in feeling vengeful, why take
revenge?


If the survival chances of going on a raid are poor, what is war good
for?


When shamans go into trance, why do they visit their ancestors?


Like the first priest-shamans, do ritual leaders today use socially
imposed altruism?

If 'the first kings were dead kings', what were the reproductive
advantages of the first elites?



Given that today there are thousands of languages, can there be one
neo-Darwinian theory of language origins?

If there is a universal template for myths, how can we use it in our
field work?

How far does costly-signalling theory explain the meaning of rituals
today?

In undertaking field work can anthropologists use group selection
theory when it has been so discredited by behavioural ecology?

If Indo-European languages and myths have Palaeolithic roots, how can
that inform our research into Indo-European cultures today?







Here at the University of East London Anthropology is taught to the
highest standard. We are enthusiastic for our discipline, and each
year our students become equally highly motivated. The staff have
many years’ experience teaching and researching Evolutionary
Approaches to Cultural Anthropology and Archaeology. UEL Anthropology
prides itself on leading the discipline in this interface. Lectures,
seminars and workshops will normally be conducted in the evenings.

Some of the key features taught on the M.Sc. Anthropology programme are:

The opportunity to work within the established discipline of Human
Behavioural Ecology.

An exploration of the origins and later transformations to symbolic
culture using evolutionary theory.

Dedicated research methods modules to develop advanced qualitative
and quantitative analytical skills.

Preparation and completion of an independent research dissertation.

As a M.Sc. Anthropology graduate student you will concentrate on one
area of research specialization— your dissertation. This
dissertation is of an open-architecture design which is expected to
reflect your own research interests. This pattern enables you to
become involved in research in your second semester and, at the same
time, provides considerable flexibility in the specific details of
your individual professional development. The essential principle
underlying the design of this programme is that staff serve as a
resource for you in the development of your future professional
competence.

For those embarking on a full-time Masters degree in Anthropology you
will normally attend evening classes twice a week for the Autumn and
Spring semesters. However, there are a number of flexible part-time
options that you may wish to consider that will allow you to stagger
your programme over a number of years. Part-time students are
expected to attend one evening a week. Full time students would
finish their campus-based study by Easter and then, with the guidance
of email support, complete their field-based dissertation by the
following Autumn.

The syllabus reflects a strong staff research profile which tracks
the origins of and later transformations to symbolic culture. Topics
include: language origins, ritual, myth, revenge and warfare, gender-
ideologies, egalitarianism and stratification, co-operation and food
sharing, mating tactics, motherhood and parental investment, life
history allocations, dominance and altruism, and handicap theory.
The staff have substantial regional expertise in Africa, Australia,
Amazonia, Europe and the Caribbean.

If you would like to find out more about a M.Sc. in Evolutionary
Approaches at UEL, contact Diane Ball, the Anthropology
Administrator: tel: 0208 8223 2770; email: [log in to unmask] , or
Paul Valentine, the Programme Tutor: email: [log in to unmask]
  
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