Structure of the Master's programme in Social Anthropology - Major 90

The study programme is research-based. Students carry out fieldwork, a project in the museum or do literature-based research in the library. They attend a preparatory and follow-up colloquium, and their work culminates in the Master's thesis. In preparation for their research activities, they also take modules on anthropological theories and methods.

ISEK - Social and Cultural Anthropology has three main research areas/ foci: “Transformation and Development”; “Material Culture and Museum” and; “Ethics, Religion, Knowledge”. It offers modules in these fields of study, and students engage in smaller research-projects on these topics. Further modules with a regional, theoretical or methodological focus are also part of the study programme.

The Master's programme can be completed in four semesters. It is consecutive, i.e. a Bachelor's degree in Social Anthropology is required for admission. Admission without conditions is granted to students with a Bachelor's degree in the major programme Social Anthropology, or in the minor programme Social Anthropology of the University of Zurich. In the case of other degrees, the university examines whether or which additional requirements have to be fulfilled (see link to study regulations below).

The information on this page is valid until the end of the spring semester 2024. From fall semester 2024, the new study regulations for the Master's programme Major 90 in "Social and Cultural Anthropology" will apply.