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Anthropology Degree: Master

Black women on market, Tanzania 2010. (Photo: Sandra Staudacher)

Professionalization in an international field

The Master's Degree Program in Anthropology, which is taught in English, combines the scholarly traditions of social anthropology in the UK and cultural anthropology in the US. The program prepares students for an academic or applied career in an international professional field. At the University of Basel, students focus on the research areas of political anthropology, visual culture and medical anthropology. The heart of the MA in Anthropology is the ethnographic research project, which includes a six-week field trip in a region of the global South.

Program structure

A master’s is a second degree that a person can earn after completing a bachelor’s. The master’s program requires a total of 120 credit points (CP). The Master's Degree Program in Anthropology is combined with a second degree subject, each worth 35 CP. The subject in which students write their master’s thesis (30 CP) is considered to be their major; the other subject is their minor. Free electives (20 CP) are also included. One ECTS credit point equates to approximately 30 hours of work.

Master of Arts (120 CP)
Major of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
65 CP (35 CP + 30 CP for the master thesis)
Minor of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
or extra-faculty
35 CP
Free electives
20 CP
Two degree subjects

Combination of subjects

Students are free to select a second master’s degree subject that meets their specific interests. Students can choose a subject offered by the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences or a subject from another faculty. Anthropology is a particularly useful subject to combine with any discipline dealing with societies and their cultures or cultural subsections (such as art or language) or with human actions, norms (law), history, and their natural environment. 

Students are free to choose any free elective. These courses allow students to deepen their knowledge of their degree subjects, gain an insight into other degree subjects offered by the University of Basel, or acquire language skills.

Career opportunities

Graduates in anthropology are characterized by a high degree of sensitivity to cultures and societies, and their ability to respond to different situations and individuals. Key qualifications arise in particular from the practice of field research, where methods such as participation, observation, recognition, understanding and communication play a crucial role. This qualifies them in particular for professional activity in development cooperation, migration and refugee assistance, NGOs (e.g. in integration work and intercultural communication), but also assignments to international organizations, e.g. as delegates or administrators of the International Committee of the Red Cross. In addition, our alumni find employment in tourism, art trade, cultural management, teaching and research, or museums. As humanities and social science graduates, further career opportunities are available to them in the areas of media, PR and marketing, fundraising or adult education.

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