Program Overview

How do cultural boundaries affect human rights? What are the challenges for human rights practitioners when dealing with radically different cultures? This course combines an anthropological approach to the study of society and social interaction whilst considering human rights issues in local contexts. You explore how human rights are applied across multiple cultures and the ways in which local communities can promote and protect human rights

Grow your understanding of both social anthropology and human rights, developing a wide array of practical research skills and exploring the broadest questions about our society. You investigate the many different social tensions, interactions and networks that make up everyday life, as well as the definition, development, and abuse of rights around the globe. You study a wide range of topics including:

• Multiculturalism and human rights
• The politics of indigeneity and indigenous human rights
• Anthropological approaches to gender and ethnicity
• How to analyse human rights in an international context
• Anthropological research methods 

Study abroad

Your education extends beyond the university campus. We support you extending your education through providing the option of an additional year. The four-year version of our degree allows you to spend the third year studying abroad, while otherwise remaining identical to the three-year course.

Studying abroad allows you to experience other cultures and languages, to broaden your degree socially and academically, and to demonstrate to employers that you are mature, adaptable, and organised.

If you spend a full year abroad you'll only pay 15% of your usual tuition fee to Essex for that year. You won't pay any tuition fees to your host university