Second Cycle Studies

As a master student at the department of Cultural Anthropology and Ethnology, you will take advanced courses in your field of study and bordering subjects.  

Master thesis

An important part of the master’s programmes of the department is the master thesis. The thesis is a minor research project, where you have the opportunity to focus on a topic of your choice. Under guidance of one of the department’s researchers as supervisor, you work independently to collect and analyze data in a scientific way. You will have 45 ECTS worth of thesis writing during the programme, and become specialized in the topic you choose to write about. This is a chance to deepen you competences for the career path you are interested in. In the Diva-portal you can read master theses written by prior students in ethnology and cultural anthropology.

Fieldwork

Ethnologists and anthropologists work with qualitative research methods and ethnography. In order to practice those skills, you will carry out a fieldwork or archive studies for 1-2 months. The data you collect during fieldwork, is used for your master thesis. Fieldwork can be conducted anywhere in the world, and the department has researchers with experience from a wide range of countries, from Siberia to Argentina. You can read more about an earlier master student’s fieldwork in Japan here.

Scholarship opportunities

There are a number of stipends that are open for students to apply for, in order to cover costs in connection to fieldwork, participation in conferences etc. Read more about the stipends and scholarships.

Internship

To do an internship at an organization, government agency or company can be a bridge between your studies and your future career. There are also students who combine an internship with the topic of their thesis, as a way to deepen the fieldwork. A former student who did his internship through Erasmus+, has written about the process. 

Exchange studies

Uppsala University has several partnerships with foreign universities, where you can apply for one semester of tuition-free exchange studies. A semester abroad can be used in order to improve your language skills, deepen your understanding of a cultural context, as part of preparing for your fieldwork, and/or broaden your international network. More information about exchange studies can be found on the Student Portal.

Engaging Vulnerability

In cooperation with the department’s PhD programme and the Engaging Vulnerability research program, we also offer combined masters and PhD courses that are multi-disciplinary and thematic. See past courses.