Note about optional modules (if available): The below is indicative of the typical modules offered, but is not intended to be construed or relied on as a definitive list of what might be available in any given year. The module content and availability is subject to change.
Year 1
In your first year, you'll take the following compulsory modules.
Of these modules, you will need to select either Global Connections or Historical Controversies. If you choose to study Global Connections you will be able to choose one 15-credit optional module from across the Department. If you choose to study Historical Controversies, then you will be able to choose two 15-credit optional modules from across the Department.
Examples of optional modules can be seen on this list approved annually by the Department of History.
Module title |
Credits |
Reading and Writing History
|
15 Credits |
Global Connections: the violence and exchanges that shaped the modern world
|
30 credits |
or |
Historical Controversies
|
15 credits |
Anthropological Ideas
|
15 credits |
Anthropological Methods
|
15 credits |
Identity, Agency & Environment 1
|
15 credits |
Identity, Agency & Environment 2
|
15 credits |
Year 2
In your second year, you'll have more freedom to expand your intellectual horizons, with your choice of optional modules to the value of 90 credits. 30 credits of this will be taken in the Department of Anthropology, and up to 30 credits can be a University of London intercollegiate Group II module, and the rest will be taken from the Department of History.
Examples of optional modules can be found on the list of year 2 modules approved annually by the Department of History.
Compulsory modules
Module title |
Credits |
The Goldsmiths Elective
|
15 credits |
Goldsmiths’ Social Change Module
|
15 credits |
Department of Anthropology optional modules
Module title |
Credits |
Working with Images
|
15 credits |
Anthropology of Religion
|
15 credits |
Anthropology and Public Policy
|
15 credits |
Critical Ecologies: black, indigenous and transnational feminist approaches
|
15 credits |
Indigenous Cosmopolitics, Anthropology and Global Justice
|
15 credits |
Year 3
In your final year, you will develop your specialist interests and knowledge.
You have the option to take more History-orientated, or more Anthropology-orientated approaches This depends on whether you choose a History Special Subject (with dissertation) or a linked History-Anthropology dissertation.
Your final year study options will be:
Either
- 30 credits of optional modules from a list published annually by the Department of Anthropology
- 30 credits of History Special Subject modules
- 30 credit dissertation linked to a Special Subject
- 30 credits of optional modules from a list published annually by the Department of History, of which 15 credits you can choose to study in the Department of Anthropology
OR
- 30 credits of optional modules from a list published annually by the Department of Anthropology
- 30-credit linking dissertation supervised jointly across both departments
- 60 credits of History modules, of which 15 credits can be taken from a list published annually by the Department of Anthropology
Any Special Subject History module you choose may be from a wide range of subjects offered not only at Goldsmiths but also by history departments throughout the University of London.
Teaching style
The programme is cumulative and progressive, with knowledge and skills building on previous years and growing year on year. Basic skills and competencies are delivered in the first year which sets the broad agenda for the programme as a whole. In the second year, the modules contain increasingly challenging and demanding material which provides the foundations for the significant independent scholarly work required and undertaken in the final year.
Teaching may be delivered in the form of lectures and seminars or other forms of contact time such as extended seminars, workshops, field trips, and film screenings. Lectures introduce subject specific skills and understandings and provide the basis for discussions, activities, group work, and debates. Seminars linked to lectures provide a space for further exploration of the lecture topics and materials and they reinforce the knowledge gained from the lectures and from independent reading and studying. Seminars also involve field-trips and site visits to relevant places including museums, galleries, archives, and sites of historical interest.
Throughout the programme students are taught to critically engage with the inter-relationship between history and anthropology. In the final year, this interdisciplinary knowledge, understanding, skill, and experience is tested through the compulsory interdisciplinary linking dissertation project. The variety of theoretical and empirical material throughout the programme, covering a wide range of topics, periods and regions, provides students with the opportunity to pursue their own interests while examining and interrogating the linkages between the two disciplines. Under close co-supervision from both departments, students develop a substantial and sustained individual project in which they form and present their own critical arguments in an extended format. In the context of this joint degree, students are required to produce a genuinely interdisciplinary piece of work that reflect their abilities to analyse and assess historical evidence, their awareness of anthropological methods and concepts, and a knowledge of relevant empirical work and debates in each discipline.
Lecturers also make themselves available for tutorials either during their Consultation and Feedback hours or by appointment. These provide opportunities to ask questions about modules and their content, to receive support and guidance on independent work, and to receive feedback on submitted work.
The following information gives an indication of the typical proportions of learning and teaching for each year of this programme*:
- Year 1 - 16% scheduled learning, 84% independent learning
- Year 2 - 13% scheduled learning, 87% independent learning
- Year 3 - 14% scheduled learning, 86% independent learning
How you’ll be assessed
A wide and innovative variety of different methods are used to assess learning, these include essays, reviews, source analyses, blogs, videos, walks, presentations, exams, and dissertations. Some modules are assessed by portfolios of coursework, or by a combination of coursework and an examination. Others are assessed by long essays or dissertations on topics approved with the tutor. Assessments vary in length according to the type of assessment and/or level of module.
Assessment supports student progression across the programme, as assessments in the first year aim to measure a set of baseline skills and competencies which are enhanced, deepened and broadened in subsequent years. Lecturers return assessments and provide useful and constructive feedback in a timely manner so as to ensure that students learn from the feedback and have the opportunity to improve subsequent work.
The following information gives an indication of how you can typically expect to be assessed on each year of this programme*:
- Year 1 - 44% coursework, 56% written exam
- Year 2 - 88% coursework, 13% written exam
- Year 3 - 100% coursework
*Please note that these are averages are based on enrolments for 2020/21. Each student’s time in teaching, learning and assessment activities will differ based on individual module choices. Find out more about .
You will also take 30 credits of modules offered by the Department of Anthropology. The following is an indicative list.
Module title |
Credits |
Anthropological Approaches to History
|
15 credits |
Anthropology of Health 1
|
15 credits |
Anthropology and Gender Theory
|
15 credits |
Anthropology and the Visual 2 |
Material Cultures |
Anthropology in Public Practice
|
30 credits |
Borders and Migration
|
15 credits |
Learning from Social Movements
|
15 credits |
Psychological Perspectives in Anthropology
|
15 credits |
Anthropology of Art
|
15 credits |
Anthropology of Rights
|
15 credits |
Anthropology and the Visual: Production Module
|
15 credits |
Digital Anthropology
|
15 credits |
Anthropology of Violence
|
15 credits |
Anthropology of Development
|
15 credits |
Gender Theory in Practice
|
15 credits |
Staff/Student Research Project
|
15 credits |
Teaching style
The programme is cumulative and progressive, with knowledge and skills building on previous years and growing year on year. Basic skills and competencies are delivered in the first year which sets the broad agenda for the programme as a whole. In the second year, the modules contain increasingly challenging and demanding material which provides the foundations for the significant independent scholarly work required and undertaken in the final year.
Teaching may be delivered in the form of lectures and seminars or other forms of contact time such as extended seminars, workshops, field trips, and film screenings. Lectures introduce subject specific skills and understandings and provide the basis for discussions, activities, group work, and debates. Seminars linked to lectures provide a space for further exploration of the lecture topics and materials and they reinforce the knowledge gained from the lectures and from independent reading and studying. Seminars also involve field-trips and site visits to relevant places including museums, galleries, archives, and sites of historical interest.
Throughout the programme students are taught to critically engage with the inter-relationship between history and anthropology. In the final year, this interdisciplinary knowledge, understanding, skill, and experience is tested through the compulsory interdisciplinary linking dissertation project. The variety of theoretical and empirical material throughout the programme, covering a wide range of topics, periods and regions, provides students with the opportunity to pursue their own interests while examining and interrogating the linkages between the two disciplines. Under close co-supervision from both departments, students develop a substantial and sustained individual project in which they form and present their own critical arguments in an extended format. In the context of this joint degree, students are required to produce a genuinely interdisciplinary piece of work that reflect their abilities to analyse and assess historical evidence, their awareness of anthropological methods and concepts, and a knowledge of relevant empirical work and debates in each discipline.
Lecturers also make themselves available for tutorials either during their Consultation and Feedback hours or by appointment. These provide opportunities to ask questions about modules and their content, to receive support and guidance on independent work, and to receive feedback on submitted work.
The following information gives an indication of the typical proportions of learning and teaching for each year of this programme*:
- Year 1 - 16% scheduled learning, 84% independent learning
- Year 2 - 13% scheduled learning, 87% independent learning
- Year 3 - 14% scheduled learning, 86% independent learning
How you’ll be assessed
A wide and innovative variety of different methods are used to assess learning, these include essays, reviews, source analyses, blogs, videos, walks, presentations, exams, and dissertations. Some modules are assessed by portfolios of coursework, or by a combination of coursework and an examination. Others are assessed by long essays or dissertations on topics approved with the tutor. Assessments vary in length according to the type of assessment and/or level of module.
Assessment supports student progression across the programme, as assessments in the first year aim to measure a set of baseline skills and competencies which are enhanced, deepened and broadened in subsequent years. Lecturers return assessments and provide useful and constructive feedback in a timely manner so as to ensure that students learn from the feedback and have the opportunity to improve subsequent work.
The following information gives an indication of how you can typically expect to be assessed on each year of this programme*:
- Year 1 - 44% coursework, 56% written exam
- Year 2 - 88% coursework, 13% written exam
- Year 3 - 100% coursework
*Please note that these are averages are based on enrolments for 2022/23. Each student’s time in teaching, learning and assessment activities will differ based on individual module choices. Find out more about .
Credits and levels of learning
An undergraduate honours degree is made up of 360 credits – 120 at Level 4, 120 at Level 5 and 120 at Level 6. If you are a full-time student, you will usually take Level 4 modules in the first year, Level 5 in the second, and Level 6 modules in your final year. A standard module is worth 30 credits. Some programmes also contain 15-credit half modules or can be made up of higher-value parts, such as a dissertation or a Major Project.
Download the programme specification.
Please note that due to staff research commitments not all of these modules may be available every year.