School of Social and Political Science

Subject Areas

Our School's subject areas are where we deliver our teaching and carry out research. Subject areas span a range of social sciences, with interdisciplinary research and collaboration taking place across each of them. Learn more here about what our subject areas do, and the academic colleagues, PhD students and professional services staff who work in them.

Subject area content

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Centre of African Studies

The University of Edinburgh has an important and long historical connection with Africa, and the Centre of African Studies (CAS) is one of the world’s leading centres for the study of Africa.
Politics and International Relations

Politics and International Relations (PIR)

We produce influential research that directly informs policymakers, ministers and NGOs in several key areas, including constitutional change, human rights, data privacy, public policy and electoral reform.
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Science, Technology and Innovation Studies

Our department has an international reputation as a leading centre of excellence in science and technology studies, established through the legacies of the Science Studies Unit and the Research Centre for Social Sciences.
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Social Anthropology

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

We're a group of teachers and researchers concerned with all the things people and societies do, and don't do, to look after each other; in Scotland, across the UK and Europe, and around the world.
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Social Work

One of the oldest social work departments in the UK, Social Work at the University of Edinburgh has been ranked the UK's number one for the third year in a row in the Complete University Guide 2021 league table.
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Sociology

The Sociology department at the University of Edinburgh (founded in 1964 by Tom Burns) is one of the UK’s leading sociology departments, highly regarded for our record of influential original research and teaching.

Inaugural Lectures

In these lectures newly appointed or promoted professors introduce their work, and themselves, to the University community.

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