African Studies and Anthropology

Join an internationally renowned department of African Studies and Anthropology and conduct anthropological research with a focus on communities in Africa or the African diaspora.

You’ll be supported by an interdisciplinary department with strengths in both African studies and Anthropology. We'll provide you with expert supervision and knowledge of each discipline to enhance your research.

Our Department of African Studies and Anthropology (DASA) is internationally recognised as a centre of excellence in research and postgraduate training. Benefit from the department’s international staff, interdisciplinary approach, diverse range of expertise, and active research community.

Academics in the Department of African Studies and Anthropology can supervise research projects drawing on archival, ethnographic and/or textual and media sources.

We have thematic expertise in topics including migration and diasporas, religion and society, economic inequality and insecurity, youth, the urban, popular culture, kinship, gender and sexuality.

We encourage you to consult our staff profile pages to identify a suitable lead supervisor before applying.

- Be part of world-leading research. The Department was ranked second among all Area Studies departments in the UK in the Research Excellence Framework (REF) exercise 2021, according to Times Higher Education, with 100% of published research deemed "world-leading" or "internationally excellent".

- Get involved with a range of activities, from weekly departmental seminars to our frequent international conferences on cutting-edge research topics hosted on campus.

- The Department is home to an energetic and friendly community of anthropologists and Africanists – you'll forge valuable research connections during your time at Birmingham.