Geography and Anthropology BA (Hons)

Modules

• Year 1 at Sussex

  Your modules

  Core modules

  Core modules are taken by all students on the course. They give you a solid grounding in your chosen subject and prepare you to explore the topics that interest you most.

  Autumn teaching

  • Difference and Diversity: Humans and Beyond
  • Human Geographies of the Modern World
  • Making Sense of Humanity: Key Concepts in Anthropology
  • The Geographer’s Toolkit 1: Reading, Writing, Research and Fieldwork

  Spring teaching

  • Geographies of Cities and Mobilities
  • Making Money, Making Life: Capitalism, Care and the Environment
  • The Geographer’s Toolkit 2: Maps and Stats
  • Worlds and Selves

  Your degree

  In your first year, you’ll:

  • learn about the history and development of geography and anthropology, and the relevance of these disciplines in the modern world
  • explore the qualitative and quantitative skills, as well as analytical concepts important to both subjects
  • discover how anthropologists analyse the dynamics of kinship and family life, and the world of work in the context of capitalism
  • learn about the approaches taken by geographers to analysing cities and the forms of mobility important to them.

  Hands-on fieldwork will bring your studies to life as you explore Brighton and the surrounding area.

  Teaching

  Teaching methods typically include lectures, seminars, one-on-one meetings, and other activities including film screenings.

  

  50%: Lecture
  40%: Seminar
  10%: One-to-one

  Assessment

  Assessment methods typically include essays and creative assignments, such as posters and reflexive writing, as well as some examinations.

  Contact hours and workload

  This year of study includes approximately 1,200 hours of work. This breaks down into about 180 hours of contact time and about 1,020 hours of independent study.

  Engage and actively participate throughout your studies to get the most out of your course.

• Year 2 at Sussex

  Your modules

  Core modules

  Core modules are taken by all students on the course. They give you a solid grounding in your chosen subject and prepare you to explore the topics that interest you most.

  Autumn teaching

  • Ethnographic Research Methods
  • Global Geographies of Economic Change
  • Religion, Ritual & Global Transformation
  • Understanding Global Migration

  Spring teaching

  • Politics and Power

  Options

  Alongside your core modules, you can choose options to broaden your horizons and tailor your course to your interests. This list gives you a flavour of our options, which are kept under review and may change, for example in response to student feedback or the latest research.

  While it’s our aim for students to take their preferred combinations of options, this can’t be guaranteed and will be subject to timetabling. Options may be grouped and if so, students will be able to choose a set number of options from the selection available in any particular group.

  Spring teaching

  • Cities and Urban Lives
  • Culture and Representation
  • Environmental Perspectives on Development
  • Ethnographic Field Research
  • Geography Overseas Field Class
  • Social Geographies
  • Southeast England Field Class
  • Visual Anthropology

  Field trips

  Get involved in fieldwork from the start of your course. You develop research, analytical and team-working skills in regions where our academics actively conduct research. 

  In Year 2, you can pick from an exciting range of locations: recent destinations include China, Greece, Marseille, Corsica, Las Vegas and the Mojave Desert. There is also a UK-based field trip.

  Find out more about Geography field trips at Sussex

  Your degree

  In your second year, you’ll:

  • cover the core areas of human geography and anthropology in-depth
  • engage with approaches developed by scholars in both these connected disciplines to study global migration, economic change and transformation, politics, religion and identity
  • have the opportunity to learn more about areas of geographical and anthropological expertise at Sussex including the study of visual anthropology, journalism and the media, urban life, culture and its representation, and the field of social geography.

  There will also be opportunities for you to join field trips, internationally and in the UK.

  Teaching

  Teaching methods typically include lectures, seminars, one-on-one meetings, and other activities including film screenings.

  

  50%: Lecture
  40%: Seminar
  10%: Practical

  Assessment

  Assessment methods typically include longer-form essays, and practical exercises such as learning diaries, multimedia projects and field research reports.

  Contact hours and workload

  This year of study includes approximately 1,200 hours of work. This breaks down into about 265 hours of contact time and about 935 hours of independent study.

  Engage and actively participate throughout your studies to get the most out of your course.

• Experience Year

  Study abroad (optional)

  Apply to study abroad – you’ll develop an international perspective and gain an edge when it comes to your career.

  If your application to study abroad is successful, you’ll have to meet the academic requirements at Sussex and also at the partner university. Find out more about studying abroad as a Sussex student

  Beautiful scenery, welcoming people, and unforgettable experiences, from the Barrier Reef to the Snowy Mountains. I’m so grateful for the opportunity!”James Johnson
  Geography and International Development BA
  Studied abroad in Australia 

  Placement (optional)

  To help you gain experience and increase your employability, you can apply for an optional placement as part of your course. You’ll be responsible for applying for and securing your placement. Our dedicated careers team can provide you with information and advice. If you’re successful in obtaining a placement, this will form part of your course.

  Find out more about placements and internships

  Please note that if you’re receiving – or applying for – USA federal Direct Loan funds, you can’t transfer to the version of your course with an optional study abroad period in any country or optional placement in the USA if the number of credits for the placement/internship exceeds 25% of the total credits for your course. Find out more about American Student Loans and Federal Student Aid

• Year 3 at Sussex

  Your modules

  Options

  You choose options to broaden your horizons and tailor your course to your interests. This list gives you a flavour of our options, which are kept under review and may change, for example in response to student feedback or the latest research.

  While it’s our aim for students to take their preferred combinations of options, this can’t be guaranteed and will be subject to timetabling. Options may be grouped and if so, students will be able to choose a set number of options from the selection available in any particular group.

  Autumn and spring teaching

  • Anthropology Thesis

  Autumn teaching

  • Advanced Sustainable Development: Sustainability in Policy and Practice
  • Anthropology in the World: Theory, Knowledge, Action (and back again)
  • Decolonial Movements
  • Disasters, Environment and Development
  • Geographies of Money, Finance, and Debt
  • Global Work Experience
  • Living Geopolitics: Re-Thinking the World (Dis) Order
  • Mobilities and Global Inequalities
  • Slavery, Emancipation and Legacies

  Spring teaching

  • Class, Community, Nation
  • Critical perspectives on home
  • Development, Business and Corporate Social Responsibility
  • Embodied Minds: Culture, Politics, and Psychotherapy
  • Ethical Worlds
  • Global Food Security
  • Global South Asia
  • Political Ecology and Environmental Justice
  • Race, Ethnicity and Identity

  Your degree

  The final year is all about flexibility.

  You’ll shape your degree by choosing from a range of advanced specialist subjects in anthropological and geographical research. Our research focuses on global challenges relating to the environment, development and food security, human rights, geopolitics, violence and armed groups, slavery and inequality, death and dying, mobility, refugees and inequality, and ethics.

  You may also undertake a research project and explore your own interests through the lens of anthropological debate.

  Teaching

  Teaching methods typically include interactive workshops, and one-to-one meetings where staff and students discuss specialist topics.

  

  80%: Practical
  20%: One-to-one

  Assessment

  Assessment methods typically include dissertations and creative portfolios. Some students will complete an extended research-based thesis. 

  Contact hours and workload

  This year of study includes approximately 1,200 hours of work. This breaks down into about 130 hours of contact time and about 1,070 hours of independent study.

  Engage and actively participate throughout your studies to get the most out of your course.

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We’re planning to run these modules in the academic year 2026/27. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to feedback, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum. We’ll make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.

We’ll do our best to provide as much optional choice as we can, but timetabling constraints mean it may not be possible to take some module combinations. The structure of a small number of courses means that the order of modules or the streams you choose may determine whether modules are core or optional. This means that your core modules or options may differ from what’s shown here.