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Study Anthropology at Otago

Making the familiar strange, and the exotic familiar

Social Anthropology explores the cultural grounding of social life. By studying people who are ‘not like us’ – from whichever group of people it is that ‘we’ as researchers might belong – anthropologists learn about the surprising differences in everyday living around the world.

Otago offers a range of interesting and challenging study options within Social Anthropology. Visit our webpage to see our courses in Pacific cultures, friendship, reproduction and kinship, the anthropology of money, rites of passage, death studies, health studies, sex, cultural politics, religion and the supernatural, and anthropological technique and theory.

Learn about other groups of people and, in the process, find out more about yourself.

Why study Anthropology?

Anthropology will broaden your understanding of the human condition and how this is changing around the world. What are the patterns by which people organise their lives? How do ideas of difference and sameness come about? How does the movement of people through a globalised world impact the meaning and experience of culture and our sense of belonging and heritage?

Anthropologists ask questions about human variation and human differences. They study issues that affect different societies, such as changing economic and political arrangements of power, sustainable living alternatives, the tensions around community inclusion and exclusion, and the contributions of local revivalisms, resurgences and resistance to our changing worlds.

Anthropology gives you the academic tools to create meaningful connections with a wide diversity of people. You will learn to engage with cultural groups ethically and explain social life through systematic questioning and critical analysis.

Career opportunities

A Social Anthropology degree provides broad- based training that can lead to a wide range of careers. Students acquire a high level of expertise in sought-after skills. These include problem-solving, analysis of information, research and writing skills, emotional and ethical intelligence, independent thinking, project management, and expertise in audio- visual presentations.

Graduates in social anthropology find work in museums, as policy advisors for the government or local bodies, in community development, the police force, and project co-ordination and management for non- governmental organisations such as Volunteer Service Abroad.

Other interesting careers include journalism, film and media industries, foreign affairs, international aid, teaching, tourism, working with refugees, disaster relief, management, historic preservation, social impact assessment, environmental management – the list is almost endless.

There are also opportunities for pursuing careers specifically in Anthropology, such as working in universities, museums, consultancy, applied research, which require further postgraduate training after finishing the BA.

Exploring culture and human life

Discover how Social Anthropology at Otago helps us see the world differently – making the strange familiar and the familiar strange – through ethnographic research, cultural comparison, and real-world applications across society.

Read transcript

Introduction

In Social Anthropology, we study one of the most strange and interesting things that exist—human beings. Specifically, we’re a social science, and we study contemporary cultures and societies.

I’m Dr Susan Wardell, and I’m one of the teaching team in the Social Anthropology programme. I have a question for you: Do fish know that they’re wet, or is water all they’ve ever known—normal, invisible, and impossible to describe?

In Social Anthropology, we acknowledge that we are all swimming in something called culture. We’re all born into particular ways of understanding the world, of organising the world, and of living in the world. We might not even notice them until we take a moment to stick our head up out of the water, look around, and realise that there are so many different ways to live.

The Strange Familiar

We have this little saying in our field about making the strange familiar and the familiar strange.

Making the strange familiar means having a chance to learn about people’s worlds that are different from our own. I’ve always found this fascinating and sometimes confronting. But even more transformative for me has been learning to make the familiar strange—getting outside of my own head and having the tools to notice and describe the water that I’m swimming in.

Ethnographic Research

Social Anthropology is sometimes described as the most humanistic of the sciences and the most scientific of the humanities.

The tools we use to do our research are called ethnographic research. This involves gathering in-depth data about real people and places within the context of their beautiful, messy, complicated lives. This enables us to make comparisons between everyday things—like the way people speak, dress, and move—and the big forces that structure the world, like politics or ideology. It lets us notice difference and use comparison.

Applications

In the Social Anthropology programme, we have a variety of papers that use this kind of thinking applied to different topics, like health and reproduction, money, death, grief and ritual, religion, development, cultural politics, and lots of other things too.

Our degree works really well as a double major. People like to pair it with subjects like Law or Psychology—or any number of other things. Students graduating with an Anthropology degree gain empirical research skills and critical thinking skills, meaning they’re recruited into many areas—not just academia, but also community and non-profit work, business and industry, and government bodies.

Humans can be very strange creatures. But in learning to study people who are not like ourselves—and study ourselves—we build the kind of knowledge that can both change the world and change ourselves as we do it.

You’re very welcome to join us.

Anthropology at Otago

Anthropology has been taught as a major for the Bachelor of Arts (BA) since 1966. The major normally takes three years and requires a minimum of nine papers in the subject, out of 20 papers for a BA. We also offer our graduate students a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) and
a Postgraduate Diploma in Arts, which are both one-year courses available following the completion of a BA. Those students who do not want to major in Anthropology can pick up some anthropology papers as part of their degree, or do a minor in the subject, which requires a minimum of five papers.

Two first-year papers provide an introduction to Anthropology:

ANTH 103 Introduction to Anthropology

An introduction to the fundamental concepts and history of general anthropology, including archaeology and social anthropology.

ANTH 105 Global and Local Cultures

Being human, and humane, in a world where worlds collide. An introduction to cultural studies of globalisation, multiculturalism, tourism, media.

At the second- and third-year levels of the degree, you will begin to specialise in the areas of social anthropology that interest you the most, drawing on the specialisations and research interests of our internationally recognised lecturing staff.

Topics include Pacific societies, current issues in anthropology, and the ethics, politics and practice of ethnographic representation, a chance for 'hands-on' learning through immersion in the ongoing friendship research project, cultural politics, grieving and ritual, new reproductive technologies, the anthropology of money, the study of religion and the supernatural, and ideologies of health.

These subjects lead to our strong postgraduate programme, which offers papers in the Anthropology of Evil, Transnationalism, Medical Anthropology, Anthropology and the Past, and independently studied research dissertations. Students may then continue to a Master of Arts or a PhD.

Teaching style

Our programme offers a relaxed intellectual exchange with staff dedicated to good learning outcomes for students. All of our staff are active researchers and award-winning teachers who incorporate their research findings into their teaching.

Double major/degree options

It is possible to qualify with an Anthropology degree in which all of the papers are social anthropology, although we recommend taking some archaeology papers.

In addition, some useful double major options include History, Classics, Politics, Film and Media Studies, Māori Studies, Pacific Studies, Languages, Gender, Sociology, Criminology, and Religious Studies. Social Anthropology (because of its diverse subject area) also combines well in double degrees with subjects in Commerce, Law, Science and Health Sciences.

Student exchange

The University of Otago has exchange agreements with more than 70 institutions in over 30 countries. If your marks average B or better, you may qualify to attend one of these institutions for one semester or one year. Exchange programmes are particularly beneficial to Anthropology students for the learning experience of deep immersion into another culture.

Recommended background

There are no specific subjects you need to have studied at school in order to study Anthropology.

Choose a study option

Whether you're embarking on your academic journey with our comprehensive undergraduate programmes or aiming to reach new heights through our advanced postgraduate offerings, Otago is here to support your aspirations.

Undergraduate qualifications

For new and current students studying towards a Bachelor's or other first degree. Explore undergraduate qualifications at Otago, designed to build a strong foundation in your chosen field, preparing you for a successful career or further study.

Note: this subject can also be studied as a minor.

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Further study opportunities

Whether you are looking to bridge your undergraduate studies to advanced knowledge or aiming to specialise in a specific field, Otago offers a range of graduate and postgraduate options to suit your aspirations.

Programme details

Compare programmes for this subject as a major and minor (where available).

Papers

View a list of all related papers below.

More information

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Regulations on this page are taken from the 2025 Calendar and supplementary material.

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