School of Social and Political Science

Social Anthropology

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About

We are among the largest departments in the UK and our research interests are correspondingly diverse.

Programmes

Our teaching is research-led and international in its orientation. Our research is opening up the discipline into new and urgent terrains.

Research

We have an active and inclusive research environment in which collaborative research practices and individual research trajectories thrive.

People

Find out more about the whole team: the academic staff and their research interests, PhD students and their thesis subjects, and the professional services colleagues who keep it all in working order.

News

See the latest news updates from Social Anthropology.

Contact

You can find us in the Chrystal Macmillan Building in George Square - right at the heart of the central campus.

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The Social Anthropology Society

The Social Anthropology Society looks to combine academic and social events to bring people together and make a lovely, welcoming community for those interested in anthropology!
cover of EAS 9

The Edinburgh Anthropology Showcase

Read our newsletter that highlights recent research from staff and students in the subject area of social anthropology.
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Edinburgh Centre for Medical Anthropology (EdCMA)

EdCMA is a world leading academic unit dedicated to the anthropological study of the body, health, and medicine.
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Introduction to Social Anthropology school talks

Edinburgh Social Anthropology staff would be delighted to travel to state secondary schools in Scotland to give a lecture explaining what Social Anthropology is and what it’s like to study it at university.

Latest news

News content

Photo of a city at dusk beside an aerial photo of a section of the Amazon rainforest
25/03/2025
Centre of African Studies

SPS academics receive research awards from the Royal Society of Edinburgh

Two academics from the School of Social and Political Science (SPS) have received Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) Research Awards, for projects on the energy transition in Africa and ecofeminism in Brazilian Amazonia. 

Two students walking in a building, beside a sign for the 'School of Social and Political Science'
20/03/2025
Politics and International Relations (PIR)

SPS subject areas among world’s top 50 and UK’s top 10 in 2025 QS rankings 

Four School of Social and Political Science (SPS) subject areas are in the top 50 in the world and top 10 in the UK, according to the latest QS World University Rankings. 
Photo of Harini Amarasuriya
02/10/2024
Social Anthropology

SPS graduate appointed prime minister of Sri Lanka

Former School of Social and Political Science (SPS) PhD student Dr Harini Amarasuriya has been appointed Sri Lanka’s first woman prime minister in 24 years.
Cover of Moving Crops and the Scales of History
11/09/2024
Social Anthropology

SPS academic’s book on cropscapes receives two prestigious prizes in 2024

Moving Crops and the Scales of History, co-written by School of Social and Political Science (SPS) academic Professor Francesca Bray, has won the 2024 Sidney M. Edelstein Prize and the 2024 Bentley Book Prize.

Upcoming events

Events content

poster
30 April 2025
15:00 - 17:00
Social Anthropology

Commoning the Social, Enacting Communality in Bosnia and Herzegovina: On Methods and Forms of Emancipatory Political Action

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08 May 2025
15:30 - 17:30
Social Anthropology

Where Can I Get Lost?

Decorative poster with the event information
09 May 2025
16:15 - 18:30
Social Anthropology

Inaugural lecture: Professor Lotte Hoek

Join us to celebrate Lotte Hoek's professorship at her inaugural lecture.
Monday 2nd of June 2025 at 9:00-17:00

Tuesday 3rd of June 2025 at 9:00-13:00
Social Anthropology

APeCS Conference 2025: Future-Making in Times of Conflict, Violence and Insecurity

Call for panels/workshops/roundtables is now open. The deadline for submission of panel/workshop proposals is January 12, 2025. Please note that the APeCS conference 2025 is an in-person event.