Cultural Anthropology MA

Welcome to the Master of Arts program in Cultural Anthropology, offered to you by the Department of Cultural and Visual Anthropology at the University of Miskolc, Hungary. This website provides information on the admission policy of our MA program in English, the faculty and staff of the Department and other lecturers of the program, our degree and course requirements, the courses offered during the four semesters, an overview of the examination and grading policy.

More information on the program and the Department of Cultural and Visual Anthropology is available at http://anthropology.uni-miskolc.hu. Should the need arise, please do not hesitate to contact the program coordinator – miskolc.anthropology@gmail.com – for further information.

We hope that our program detailed in the website and the Student Manual on the MA academic program in Cultural Anthropology will meet your expectations and we will have you on our anthropology courses in Miskolc, Hungary.

The Faculty & Staff of the Department of Cultural and Visual Anthropology, University of Miskolc, Hungary

Cultural anthropology is quite a newly emerged social science to be taught in the system of the Hungarian higher education. After the fall of the socialist regime in 1989 the practice of Hungarian social scientific education has also experienced significant changes. Despite our discipline’s, cultural anthropology’s more than one hundred years of history in the Anglo-Saxon world, it was only the newly emerging approaches that made it possible to include cultural anthropology to the Hungarian higher educational system. Before that cultural anthropology did not have institutional background, professional recognition or acknowledged publication resources in the country.

To introduce cultural anthropology into the Hungarian higher education, in 1990 the ELTE University (Budapest) established its own cultural anthropological group. In 1992 the first independent cultural anthropological department of Hungary was founded at the University of Miskolc, under the name of Department of Cultural and Visual Anthropology.

The founder and the first head of the department was Ernő KUNT (1948–1994), a well-known scholar in Hungary in the field of the anthropology of death and visual anthropology. In 1993 both the ELTE and the University of Miskolc received the right to offer a five-year program (BA and MA degree together) on cultural anthropology. Both universities experienced a huge interest by students both toward the discipline and the program.

When the system of differentiating between university degrees (BA and MA) was implemented in the Hungarian higher educational system, the program on cultural anthropology became one of the 102 majors offered in Hungary. In 2006, the University of Miskolc accredited the first and only BA program in cultural anthropology in Hungary. In 2008, the MA program has also been accredited at the University of Miskolc. In 2015, the BA program was terminated together with other BA programs in social sciences according to the then relevant amendments of the Hungarian education law. After significant changes made in the curriculum, integrating different applied aspects of contemporary sociocultural anthropology, the new BA program in Cultural Anthropology has been accredited in 2019.

In September 2020, the Department proceeds to educate and train students in accordance with the new application-oriented and, as it is, the only Bachelor’s degree program in Cultural Anthropology in Hungary. The Department also offers a two-year long MA program in Cultural Anthropology in English as of 2020/2021.

General Information on the Program

Name of the education program: Cultural Anthropology
Level of degree: master’s
Qualification: Cultural Anthropologist, MA
Field of study: Social Sciences
Duration: 4 semesters
Credits needed to complete the program: 120 credits
Orientation: balanced: theory and practice (50-50%)

Our Master of Arts program in Cultural Anthropology offers students a twofold opportunity at a university in Central Europe in English. One is to explore historically and socially variable cultural phenomena, from Europe and North America to Africa, Asia and South America (mandatory courses on People of the World) with a special emphasis on Central Europe. The other is to deepen and broaden their knowledge and understanding of local contexts and sociocultural processes in our fully globalized world. We welcome students from all over the world who are interested in various aspects and dimensions of culture (cultural diversity) and human nature, the application of social scientific knowledge and the special sociocultural contexts of Central Europe.

Cultural Anthropology is a master degree (MA) program including courses on history and theory of anthropology, qualitative research methods, and on subdisciplines of contemporary sociocultural anthropology, especially different aspects of applied and visual anthropology. The courses offer deep understanding of and broad knowledge on the structure of Hungarian and Central European societies, regional and local social and cultural conflicts, an analysis of the effects of globalization, and on the evolution and workings of local sociocultural changes. Strength of our program is that it provides a deep insight into recent anthropological discourses and practices in and on Central Europe. We place special emphasis on complementing theoretical education with practical experiences, as students are also required to carry out fieldwork in their home country or joining the fieldwork programs of the Department of Cultural and Visual Anthropology assisted by an instructor acting as interpreter.

We provide help to international students in adapting to their new environment, if necessary. We offer peer assistance from senior Hungarian students and international students also have ’tutors’: instructors who support them in their work throughout their studies here.

Course requirements for the Master of Arts program in Cultural Anthropology

The two-year MA program in Cultural Anthropology requires students to take a total of 120 credits to successfully meet the minimum requirements of the program, of these 82 credits are to be taken in coursework (core training and optional subjects, courses have generally 2-3 credits). Students undertake 24 credits of internship (I-IV. – 16 credits) and fieldwork (I-II. – 8 credits) praxis in the first three semesters. Students also need to successfully accomplish the final exam (14 credits) at the end of the second year.

To finish their studies (and receive the absolutorium), students are required to pass all the exams, achieve 120 credits in 4 semesters including carrying out individual fieldworks and accomplishing the internship requirements, and write their master’s thesis.

Students pass the final exam when they receive the absolutorium, their final thesis is accepted by their supervisor and two reviewers, and is successfully defended in front of a final examination committee, and they succeed in the professional complex final oral exam.

The core program consists of the following domains:

1. knowledge necessary for gaining a deeper insight into the theoretical and methodological fundamentals of contemporary cultural anthropology: 14-26 credits of Theory and Methodology of Cultural Anthropology, such as Contemporary tendencies in anthropological theory: gender and globalization, anthropology of identity and mobility, research methods in qualitative inquiry. We also offer assistance in studying different academic genres and learning about the process and various strategies of writing and dissemination in and beyond academia: courses of Academic Writing I-II.
2. cultural anthropology has various subfields and we offer a wide range of them to broaden our students’ knowledge within the realm of contemporary sociocultural anthropology: 20-32 credits of the Subdisciplines of Cultural Anthropology, such as applied and visual anthropology, anthropology of religion or urban anthropology.
3. in our program we also put emphasis on introducing students to the history and culture of traditional field sites of anthropology under and beyond colonialism: 6-14 credits of Anthropology of the Culture of the World: People of the World: Oceania and Australia (1), America (2), Africa (3) and Asia (4).
4. in order to prepare students to work as practitioners in fields related to applied and visual anthropology or any other subdisciplines of contemporary sociocultural anthropology either in the civil society, in the business world or in the government sector, we offer courses systematically challenging students to critically approach and discuss the application of social scientific knowledge and its ethical dimensions: 5-13 credits of Application of Cultural Anthropological Knowledge, such as Applied Anthropology: Theory and Practice, Cultural Marketing and Tourism, and Methodology of Anthropological Documentary.
5. our program in Cultural Anthropology requires students to do their own research (carry out fieldwork) using qualitative data collection methods (such as different types of observation, preferably the participant one, and/or diverse interview techniques) either in their home country or in Hungary, taking part in one of the fieldwork programs of the Department of Cultural and Visual Anthropology (students are assisted by an instructor acting as interpreter): 9-17 credits of Praxis of Cultural Anthropology, out of which Fieldwork I-II. are 8 credits.
6. 16 credits of internship (Internship I-IV.). The purpose of the Internship I-IV. is to ensure that during their studies students get acquainted with the requirements and possibilities of working as anthropologist in the labour market. The MA II. internship is compulsory and is to be accomplished in the summer of the first year. The vocational training can be fulfilled at any organization, institution, company, or other market player with which the Anthropology Department already has an official contract or is to have one. International students can choose any organization, institution, company or other market player operating either in their home country or in Hungary. Duration of the traineeship / vocational training: 4 x 1 week (4 x 5 x 8 hours). The requirements to fulfil the professional practice / internship period are: 1. a written report prepared by the student (summary of the work carried out) and 2. a certificate issued by the organization on the completion of the practice period.
7. 6 credits of elective/optional courses: students are to choose 2 (3 credits each) from a range of optional courses, such as minority rights and ethnic groups, trends of Central European philosophies or history of political development in Central Europe.
8. and 14 credits of the final exam.

The Department of Cultural and Visual Anthropology uses a five-grade marking scale (as follows: 5 = excellent, 4 = good, 3 = satisfactory, 2 = sufficient, 1 = fail) for evaluating students’ work, including the thesis. Lectures, seminars and practices are all part of this grading system in line with the grading policy of the Hungarian education, and that of the University of Miskolc, Hungary. A written or oral exam closes all lectures. Practical courses require students to do various activities, presentations, to read and to debate. Fieldwork (I-IV.) and Internship practices (I-IV.) as praxis of sociocultural anthropology are inherent part of the program, and are accepted as accomplished by submitted reports. Grades of the final oral examination (oral defense of the thesis, professional complex final oral examination: themes on the general field of study) and that of the thesis will be combined to a Final Grade for the Master of Arts Degree. The Final Grade will be used to distinguish levels of achievement in the course of study, as outlined in the current university rules.

Graduation requirements:

• Students must have completed all the core and elective course requirements.
• Students must have achieved a minimum of 120 credits.
• Students will have submitted their thesis work.
• Students will have fulfilled all the administrative and financial requirements towards the university.

The final examination, which is an oral exam, consists of two parts: defense of the thesis and a professional complex final oral examination. The complexity of the professional final exam refers to its content; it has two major parts: A, themes on the general field of study and B, a carefully planned final project in the field of applied anthropology.

A, Themes on the general field of study discuss the following four main domains for the final oral exam:

1. History and Theory of Anthropology – 5 general topics
2. Research Methodology: Interconnections of Theory and Practice – 4 general topics
3. Subdisciplines of Sociocultural Anthropology – 5 general topics
4. Applied Dimensions of Contemporary Anthropology – 5 general topics

B, Final project in the field of applied anthropology The project is based on students’ individual work and studies in applied anthropology and is developed mainly in the fourth semester with the assistance of an instructor.

The general procedures and rules regulating education, teaching and examinations are enlisted in the Requirements for Students, University of Miskolc, Hungary (volume III. of the Organizational and Operational Regulations of the University of Miskolc, Hungary). See the official website here.

Electronic Administration

At the University of Miskolc, Hungary, the dominant part of the administrative tasks during one’s studies is to be completed via the Neptun education system for students. Neptun allows students to complete registration for a semester, follow courses and sign up for exams as well as to submit applications and manage financial duties.

The Neptun student web interface of the university is available through the central homepage: https://neptun.uni-miskolc.hu. The Neptun User Guide for Students can be found at the above-mentioned homepage with all the relevant, detailed information. (Neptun User Guide for Students)

Work opportunities

The master’s degree in Cultural Anthropology prepares students to proceed:

1. to advanced postgraduate research / program. Various opportunities to acquire a PhD in cultural anthropology can be found here, for example
2. or to work
1. as practitioners in fields related to applied and visual anthropology both in the civil society and the business world;
2. as researchers to use different kinds of qualitative methods of data collection and analysis;
3. as experts to prepare and make policy briefs and recommendations in the government sector;
4. as visual experts possessing diverse knowledge on documentary making, video and digital tools, design and movie editing;
5. and as change agents to identify, understand and analyze various types of sociocultural conflicts.