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Digital Anthropology MSc

London, Bloomsbury

Digital anthropology studies the development, use and consequences of digital technologies for humans, social relations and society, including social media, artificial intelligence and the relationship between our online and offline lives.

This one-year (or two-year if part-time) Digital Anthropology MSc encourages practical explorations of the digital world to develop the next generation of understanding about the impact, consequences, aesthetics and politics of digital technologies and infrastructures.

You will graduate an expert in using anthropological research, analysis and theory to assess the consequences of digital technologies on society, including data, algorithms and smartphones.

UK students International students
Study mode
UK tuition fees (2025/26)
£20,500
£10,250
Overseas tuition fees (2025/26)
£33,000
£16,500
Duration
1 calendar year
2 calendar years
Programme starts
September 2025
Applications accepted
Applicants who require a visa: 14 Oct 2024 – 27 Jun 2025
Applications close at 5pm UK time

Applications open

Applicants who do not require a visa: 14 Oct 2024 – 29 Aug 2025
Applications close at 5pm UK time

Applications open

Apply for this course

Entry requirements

A minimum of an upper second-class Bachelor's degree in a relevant discipline from a UK university or an overseas qualification of an equivalent standard.

The English language level for this programme is: Level 4

UCL Pre-Master's and Pre-sessional English courses are for international students who are aiming to study for a postgraduate degree at UCL. The courses will develop your academic English and academic skills required to succeed at postgraduate level.

Further information can be found on our English language requirements page.

Equivalent qualifications

Country-specific information, including details of when UCL representatives are visiting your part of the world, can be obtained from the International Students website.

International applicants can find out the equivalent qualification for their country by selecting from the list below. Please note that the equivalency will correspond to the broad UK degree classification stated on this page (e.g. upper second-class). Where a specific overall percentage is required in the UK qualification, the international equivalency will be higher than that stated below. Please contact Graduate Admissions should you require further advice.

About this degree

The Digital Anthropology MSc is the first of its kind and will teach you the ethnographic research and analytical skills essential to understanding digital cultures and their impact on different human cultures and societies.

You will study core anthropological theories including the study of society and social relations, technology, materiality and immateriality, and their relevance to understanding digital technologies, platforms and practices, including social media, data and algorithms, digital infrastructures, smartphones and online politics.

You will join a world-leading research community and benefit from research-embedded teaching in social media and everyday life, including the work of the TikTok Ethnographic Collective, studies of data and algorithms and our research on the impact of smartphones on societies all around the world.

You will specialise in the elements of digital anthropology that interest you most, choosing from a range of optional modules to enhance your learning experience, and graduate equipped with the latest knowledge and insights in digital anthropology.

You will develop skills highly sought after by employers, including digital and offline ethnography, social data analysis and interpretation and the communication of complex ideas. These will also prepare you for PhD level study should you wish to pursue it.

You will study at the top university in London, and 4th in the world, for Anthropology (QS World University Rankings by Subject 2024) and The Times and Sunday Times University of the Year 2024.

You will study in a warm and welcoming department that is also one of the largest and most comprehensive anthropology departments in the UK, and which continually works to expand and reshape the discipline.

Who this course is for

This Digital Anthropology MSc is best suited to students looking to gain a qualification and training in anthropological approaches to digital culture as a foundation for professional practice or doctoral research, or for graduates from other fields or careers looking to supplement their existing knowledge and experience.

The degree is well-suited to working professionals who wish to study part-time over two years.

Read about what it takes to study for a Master's at UCL

What this course will give you

You will receive advanced academic training in the fundamentals of social scientific inquiry, including independent research design and implementation; ethics; practical approaches to evidence collection and analysis, including ethnographic studies; critical evaluation; and academic writing and publishing.

You will also develop demonstrable practical competencies, including understanding technology use in context, the ethical questions raised by new technologies and a comparative understanding of how digital objects are used by people around the world; complex problem solving and creative initiative; communication skills, including the ability to interpret and present complex evidence to diverse audiences; independent and team working; leadership; and time and project management.

Read about what you'll get out of a graduate programme

The foundation of your career

Graduates of this programme will be equipped to pursue a range of careers, including:

  • Design and user experience.
  • Consultancy.
  • Policy and advocacy in governmental, non-governmental (NGOs) and intergovernmental (IGOs) organisations.
  • Academic publishing.
  • Marketing and communications.
  • Media and journalism, including TV, radio and publishing.
  • Project management and research facilitation in universities, research centres and funding bodies.
  • A number of our graduates choose to progress to PhD-level study, either in the department or elsewhere.

Employability

There is growing demand for anthropologists with advanced research skills that can be translated into non-academic contexts, such as user research and digital design, in fields including the technology industries and government.

You will graduate an expert in applying anthropological and wider social science approaches to real-world challenges, fully equipped to pursue a successful career related to digital technologies or any profession requiring an understanding of the human context of digital technologies, problem-solving and communication skills.

Networking

As a student in the Department you have access to many opportunities to help further your career:

  • You will become part of the department's Centre for Digital Anthropology, learning from and networking with leading internal and external researchers through a weekly research seminar series. 
  • You will be encouraged to attend complementary departmental seminars given by active researchers and expert creative practitioners in environmental, evolutionary, medical, public and social anthropology and material and visual culture throughout your studies.
  • You will be encouraged to take advantage of the broader anthropology and digital communities at UCL, including our Centre for Digital Anthropology, our neighbouring institutions and across London more widely, including attending and participating in seminars, conferences, exhibitions and research partnership opportunities to help you establish industry connections and extend your professional networks.
  • You will be encouraged to engage with the department’s active careers support activities and initiatives, which include regular career development seminars and networking events.

All students are encouraged to host and/or participate in a Reading and Research Group (RRG), which are open spaces to exchange ideas on themes of mutual interest and welcome staff and student participation from across UCL and our neighbouring institutions.

The department's central London location presents a range of opportunities to work, volunteer and carry out fieldwork in major government, business and third sector organisations.

The department also houses London's global non-fiction film festival, Open City Documentary Festival, which all students are invited to volunteer to support to network with non-fiction film industry leading professionals.

Teaching and learning

You will learn through lectures, interactive seminars involving critical discussion, collaborative exercises including group presentations, practical work and independent directed and self-directed reading.

While researching and writing your dissertation, you will benefit from one-to-one academic supervision.

You will be assessed through essays with both textual content and multi-modal components, as well as your dissertation. We will also provide formative exercises with feedback to help prepare you for your assessed essays.

The compulsory module typically amounts to 36 contact hours (weekly 2 hour seminars). The three optional 15 credit modules typically amount to 54 contact hours but will vary according to module selection. Dissertation supervision typically amounts to 2 hours.

Modules

The programme runs over one year for full-time students and over two years for part-time students. The taught components are undertaken in the first two terms, whilst the third is dedicated to exam and dissertation preparation. Research and writing for the dissertation take place over the summer.

The programme comprises three key elements:
• Compulsory module (including Anthropological Research Methods in term 1)
• Three optional modules (with at least two modules to be taken from the Digital Anthropology MSc optional modules)
• Dissertation

In addition to these assessed components, your participation in the programme also includes the following activities:
• Material, visual & digital culture research seminars (weekly in terms 1 and 2)
• Postgraduate presentation day.

Students take the compulsory module (a weekly seminar and fortnightly practical seminar over terms 1 and term 2) and the research methods seminar in the first year. In the second year, you will take your three optional modules. You will choose to either stretch your dissertation out over two summers or complete it in the summer of the second year.

Compulsory modules




Optional modules


The Anthropology of Social Media
























Please note that the list of modules given here is indicative. This information is published a long time in advance of enrolment and module content and availability are subject to change. Modules that are in use for the current academic year are linked for further information. Where no link is present, further information is not yet available.

Students undertake modules to the value of 180 credits. Upon successful completion of 180 credits, you will be awarded an MSc in Digital Anthropology.

Fieldwork

You will spend the summer term researching and writing your dissertation, for which you can choose to conduct ethnographic, archival and/or library-based, original research, with many students choosing to undertake self-funded fieldwork-based projects in the UK or abroad.

The scope and nature of fieldwork is formulated in discussion with your appointed supervisor, and subject to departmental approval.

Accessibility

Details of the accessibility of UCL buildings can be obtained from AccessAble. Further information can also be obtained from the UCL Student Support and Wellbeing Services team.

Visit us

All open days and events

Online - Open day

Graduate Open Events: Digital Anthropology MSc Q&A

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An opportunity to meet the Digital Anthropology MSc programme lead and ask any questions you have about programme content, career prospects and life and study in the Department of Anthropology and at UCL.

Online - Open day

Graduate Open Events: Material and Visual Culture MA Q&A

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An opportunity to meet the Material and Visual Culture MA programme lead and ask any questions you have about programme content, career prospects and life and study in the Department of Anthropology and at UCL.

Fees and funding

Fees for this course

UK students International students
Fee description Full-time Part-time
Tuition fees (2025/26) £20,500 £10,250
Tuition fees (2025/26) £33,000 £16,500

The tuition fees shown are for the year indicated above. Fees for subsequent years may increase or otherwise vary. Where the programme is offered on a flexible/modular basis, fees are charged pro-rata to the appropriate full-time Master's fee taken in an academic session. Further information on fee status, fee increases and the fee schedule can be viewed on the UCL Students website: ucl.ac.uk/students/fees.

Additional costs

For Full-time and Part-time offer holders a fee deposit will be charged at 10% of the first year fee.

Further information can be found in the Tuition fee deposits section on this page: Tuition fees.

Students can choose to conduct ethnographic, archival and/or library-based research for their final dissertation projects, with many students taking the opportunity to do fieldwork-based projects in the UK or abroad. This can entail additional costs, including travel, accommodation and living costs, which students must cover themselves.

As this degree is based at the Bloomsbury campus, students choosing to take an optional module only available at the UCL East campus in Stratford will need to fund their own travel between campuses. Tickets from zone 1 to zone 2 costs £8.50 for students or a travel card zone 1-4 for £15.90.

There are a number of small to moderate grants available from funding organisations both within UCL and further afield. In recent years, our students have received fieldwork funding from the department’s Turing Scheme and Anna Sturm Law Travel Prize.

UCL’s main teaching locations are in zones 1 (Bloomsbury) and zones 2/3 (UCL East). The cost of a monthly 18+ Oyster travel card for zones 1-2 is £114.50. This price was published by TfL in 2024. For more information on additional costs for prospective students and the cost of living in London, please view our estimated cost of essential expenditure at UCL's cost of living guide.

Funding your studies

For a comprehensive list of the funding opportunities available at UCL, including funding relevant to your nationality, please visit the Scholarships and Funding website.

See all the ways you can fund your studies

Next steps

Students are advised to apply as early as possible due to competition for places. Those applying for scholarship funding (particularly overseas applicants) should take note of application deadlines.

There is an application processing fee for this programme of £90 for online applications. Further information can be found at Application fees.

When we assess your application, we would like to learn:

• why you want to study Digital Anthropology at graduate level
• why you want to study Digital Anthropology at UCL
• how your personal, academic and professional skills and experience inform your interest in, and will enable you to succeed on, this MSc degree
• where you would like to go professionally with your degree

Please note that you may submit applications for a maximum of two graduate programmes (or one application for the Law LLM) in any application cycle.

Choose your programme

Please read the Application Guidance before proceeding with your application.

Year of entry: 2025-2026

Apply for this course

Got questions? Get in touch

Anthropology
Anthropology

anthro-masters@ucl.ac.uk

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