Psychological and Psychiatric Anthropology MSc

Study this course and you will investigate psychological and psychiatric issues from an anthropological perspective, addressing issues at the forefront of debates in social policy, morality, personal identity, and mental health.

By considering cases from around the world you’ll explore how person, consciousness, and experience are shaped through cultural practices and political realities.

Examining world ethnography (including the UK), you’ll learn about selfhood, emotion, personality, and understandings of ‘madness’ and mental illness in cultural context.

Brunel students come from varied professional and academic backgrounds, many taking time out for professional development. If you haven’t studied anthropology before, you’ll be offered introductory modules in anthropological theory to help prepare you for the rest of the course.

Anthropology at Brunel is well-known for its focus on ethnographic fieldwork and you will be expected to get out of the library and undertake your own, original research – whether in the UK or overseas – and to present your findings in a dissertation.

Careers and your future

Through this course, you will acquire analytical and research skills that can be used in a wide range of careers. In particular, the course is ideal for enhances professional development in psychology, psychiatry, nursing, social work, education, social policy, charities, and development.

There is also the opportunity for you to do further research for a PhD in psychiatric focussed anthropology.

This course will lead you to opportunities in a range of career opportunities in the health sectors, including charities, development, NGOs, and anything requiring cultural expertise.