Social Anthropology

Societies and cultures in a changing world

Social Anthropology is a dynamic, growing and engaged collective of scholars asking urgent anthropological questions about key challenges facing us in the contemporary world.

We bring our research expertise to questions ranging from energy transitions to bodily remains; food security to media censorship; human-animal relations to the meaning of sacrifice; and forced displacement to reproductive justice.

Our teaching is research-led and we are committed to taking our students along with us on our critical journeys through the comparative study of culture and society.

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.

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!

The Edinburgh Anthropology Showcase

Read our newsletter that highlights recent research from staff and students in the subject area of social anthropology.

Edinburgh Centre for Medical Anthropology (EdCMA)

EdCMA is a world leading academic unit dedicated to the anthropological study of the body, health, and medicine.

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.

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.

30/04/2024

Social Anthropology

Social Anthropology Palestine Teaching Resources

The Social Anthropology subject area at the School of Social and Political Science (SPS) has collated a selection of teaching and educational resources on Palestine, offering critical discourse, callenging mainstream narratives and advocating for justice.

23/04/2024

Social Anthropology

SPS academic leads project tackling single-use plastics in healthcare

A new project led by School of Social and Political Science (SPS) academic Alice Street aims to reduce single-use plastics across the healthcare industry globally.