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School of Social Sciences

Current Research Students

This list gives a selection of topics of current PhD and MPhil research degrees and supervised by academic staff in Social Anthropology.

Students indicated by an asterisk * are enrolled on the PhD with Visual Media programme or the MPhil in Ethnographic Documentary programme delivered in conjunction with the Granada Centre. Further details about some of these projects may be found at that programme's projects webpage.

Name Thesis title
Allegretti, Antonio Conceptualizing Wealth and Poverty Among Pastoralists Maasai of Northern Tanzania: Socio-Political and Economic Implications of a Mixed Economy
Araújo, Natalie Sin dejar: the cosmopolitan negotiations of Colombian migrants in London
Atkins, Michael * Looking for business: social and visual ambiguity of men that sell sex on the street
Bluett, Michael *  (MPhil in ED) British Army personnel in Iraq
Brkovic, Carna Health Care, the State, and Philanthropy on the Transforming Bosnian-Serbian Border
Brisley, Adam Cancer and The Patient Choice Agenda: An Ethnographic Study of the Policy and Practice of Cancer Service Delivery in Greater Manchester
Bullen, Claire Everyday cosmopolitanism in Liverpool and Lyon? Developing a comparative framework of inter-ethnic relations at the city-level
Cabezas, Angelica *  (MPhil in ED) 'I promise to return': Peruvian female migrants in Chile
Celebicic-Arielli, Vanja Hope and Entrapment on the border between Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia
Chalk, Hannah How are natural objects attributed value? The uses, meanings and treatment of university earth science collections
Clarke, Hester The relationship between Muslim communities in the UK and the Home
Colucci, Erminia Spirituality and spiritual healing in mental health: a research project using film and photo-documentary
Corral Paredes, Carolina * Indefinite Sentence. The enduring presence of imprisonment in the lives of former inmates in Mexico.
Dal Pos, Monica                Street food catering: a comparative study of Akwa and Bonanjo (Douala, Cameroun)
Del Pozo, Miguel Who owns the fish? Puerto Rico's management policies in a contested environmental resource
Dietrich, Martha Cecilia * Sensing prison: the bodily and imaginative aspects of imprisonment among female prisoners in Peru
Dixon, Laura Chasing the Rainbow: cosmopolitanism, migration and space in a gay tourist town
Dokic, Goran Between warfare and welfare: veterans organisations and social security in rural Serbia
Dolezalova, Marketa Identity and cultural perception of health and the body of Roma immigrants from former Czechoslovakia in N. England
Druker, Sofia Knowledge and identity in Aymara constructions of sense regarding education, learning and school in Northern Chile
Ferrarini, Lorenzo * The social aesthetics of the Mande hunters brotherhood
Figueiredo, Ana Paula Silva * Explorations of the Brazil/London cultural encounter within historical and economic contexts
Folz, Jasmine Out-sourcing of high-tech work from a South Asian perspective
Garnica, Frances Paola * Visual perception and urban life: the importance of clothing in Mexico City
Gaspar, Andrea * Conceptions of the visual in the contemporary design world: an ethnography in a design studio in Milan (Italy)
Geall, Sam Environmental politics and pollution in rural China
Gonzalez, Maria Eugenia * (MPhil in ED) From the Anaconda to the tourist market: making and living with geometric designs in an Amazonian society
Gonzalez, Sofia * Black, Afro-Colombian, Maroon and Islander communities in the National Museum of Colombia: an approach from visual and reflexive anthropology
Gore, Rachael * Rhythmic horizons: mapping sound from and in the London Borough of Newham
Hodges, Andrew Physical scientists' networks and physics knowledge configurations after the break-up of Yugoslavia
Jaramillo Vazquez, Alejandra Open museums - closed museums. Situations of social exclusion for visiting museums 
Jeong, Jong Min Healing the brain through sensory stimulation and activities
Jordan, Laura Going union: processes of organising, work and power in a Canadian unionisation campaign
Jovanovic, Deana Human capital, gender and privatization in Serbia
Kremer, Flavia * Representing contemporary Bororo culture: video-exploration of a Bororo cultural revitalization project
Kyriakides, Theodorus Mapping the Cypriot biopolitical sphere
Lang Reinisch, Luciana "Traditional peoples" as a political category in Brazil
Lewis, Camilla Class, community and 'social cohesion': the effects of urban regeneration in East Manchester
Lorenz, Jan * 'Relentless dybbuk': the loss, the memory and the revival of Jewish life in post-socialist Poland
Maggio, Rodolfo Pentecostalism, economy, morality and sociality in the Solomon Islands
McComsey, Tiffany The stolen generations: models of being, models of doing and the dialogues between them: 'post colonial' experiences of Aboriginal well-being in Redfern
Mirza, Noreen The middle class Pakistani diaspora
Moise, Valentina Identity, ethnicity and perception of sameness and otherness in the town of Gorizia, Nova Gorica
Montoya, Ainhoa Echoes of the past: violence and political division in post-war El Salvador
Morelli, Camilla Movement, Materiality and Imagination: world-making and knowing amongst Matses children of Amazonian Peru
Munoz Moran, Placido * Street art, cultural identity and public space in Barcelona
O'Sullivan, Sinead The relationship between Métis people and the Canadian state
Poulton, George 'Our club, our rules': FC United of Manchester fans and the transformation of English football
Ponte, Maria Ines * Placing objects: gathering voices of Southwestern Angolan dolls
Peachey, Jenny Witnessing beauty: aesthetics and law in Goroka, Papua New Guinea
Radu, Cosmin New border regimes at the edge of empire: changing state and mobility practices in the making of the EU external border between Romania and Serbia
Rajkovic, Ivan The privatisation of (post-)Yugoslav pride: hope-remaking, time reconstruction and intergenerational dynamics in the transformation of a Serbian car factory
Ramirez Sanchez, Martha Areli The councils of good government: the transition from natural community to political community
Riedner, Lisa The right to have rights? Negotiations of (un)documented migrant workers' 'rights' in Berlin and Munich
Remtilla, Aliaa * Relying on Relationships: Adapting to Change in Tajik Ishkoshim
Salazar, Maria  Lourdes (Lulu) From seasonal farm workers program to permanent ethnic inequalities: a comparative analysis between Mexico and Peru
Scalco, Patricia Reconciling boundaries: deconstructing virginity in contemporary urban Turkey
Schaumberg, Heike Neoliberalism and its frontiers: spontaneity, work and self-organisation. Remaking class based defiance in Argentina
Scott, Victoria * Disruptive change: place, memory and cultural identity amongst refugees and asylum seekers in Northern England
Skipalis, Brandi Genealogy, local identity and heritage tourism in Eyam
Smith, Rachel E. Domestic Moral Economy:An Ethnographic Study of Value in the Asia-Pacific Region
St Clair, Adam Deliver my husband's tiffin! A rhythm analysis of food assemblages and affective intensities in urban Mumbai
Sturtevant, Chuck *  (MPhil in ED) Afro-Bolivian Identity and cultural mestizaje in the Yungas of La Paz
Spissu, Giovanni * The People of Long Street, Cape Town
Symons, Jessica Contexts and complexes: exploring influences on decision making through artistic engagement to reveal the dynamics of capitalism and sustainability
Trinidad, Ana Raissa Learning and indigenous people's education in the Southern Philippines
Upton, Mike * Patent fever: intellectual property and access to HIV treatment
Valencia, Lorena Assisted mothers: embodied experiences of class, gender and race
Wadle, Hannah Sharing contested space. Locals, Germans, and sailors in Szynort, a village in the Masurian Lake District, Poland
Wake, Shotaro * Empathy and stigma: their consequences for cancer survivors
Webster, Rachel * The changing perceptions of childhood, space and Islam amongst the nomadic Bakarwals of Indian Kashmir
Wilde, Rachel Neoliberalism and personhood at a Gap Year charity
Zevallos, Raul * Artisans, pilgrims and healers in the north of Peru

Recently-Passed Theses

Name Thesis title
McArthur, Gavin Culture, ethnicity and politics of belonging: the case of Zanzibar
Bonifacio, Valentina *The passion for civilisation: encounters between Paraguayan and Maskoy people in Puerto Casado, Paraguayan Chaco
Bornholdt, Luciano Social reproduction and large scale projects
Boudreault-Fournier, Alexandrine * On the beat: composing with cultural policies and music in Cuba
Brown, Hannah Constructions of Womanhood among Luo women in Western Kenya involved in voluntary health care programme
Bryer, Alice Workers' self-management in Argentina
Carty, Anne-Marie* (MPhil in ED) Tir Cyffredin - Shared Land: the creation of identity, cultural tradition and community in the Dyfi valley, West Wales
Cheung, Chi Pui Legality and legitimacy: land, development and rural cadres in a Chinese urbanised village
Cicalo, Andre * Urban Encounters: racial university quotas, racial inequality and black identity in Brazil
Coxshall, Wendy Rebuilding disrupted relationships: Widowhood, narrative and silence in contemporary Ayacucho, Peru
Crossley, Paul The Culture of informality: anthropological perspectives on the informal sector in Mexico
Cubero, Carlo * Mobility and insularity in the Caribbean: island identities of Culebra
Fletcher, Rebecca Teenage girls and the contraceptive pill
Flynn, Alex Artistic impression: empowerment and the MST
Georgousis, Konstantinos*  (MPhil in ED) Skitzaftiko: shepherding in a small rural community in Western Greece.
Gordon, Doreen Blackness and social mobility in Bahia, Brazil
Grisaffi, Tom Community media and cultural activism in the Chapare, Bolivia
Grossman, Alyssa * Chorographies of memory: everyday sites and practices of remembrance work in post-socialist, EU accession-era Bucharest
Hawkins, Paul Rhetorics of self: Between dividual and individual in spiritual subjectivity
Jaramillo Salazar, Pablo Politics of performance and ideology of multiculturalism in the Colombian indigenous movement
Kent, Michael Indigenous people and protected areas: the use of state and customary normative systems in the regulation of territorial conflicts (Titicaca, Peru)
Luna, Laura Learning in diversity: ethnography of a multicultural British school
Martin, Keir After the volcano; the language of custom and conflict in post-urban Papua New Guinea
Moore, Penelope * Living a Musical Life: Musicians, Music-Making and the Creation of Space in Vienna
Morgan, Jennifer Change and everyday practice at the museum: an ethnographic study
Navarro-Smith, Alejandra * Structural racism and the indigenous struggle for land, justice and autonomy in Chiapas, Mexico
Oien, Cecile * Invisible/visible: ethnic and gender identity among Angolan women living in Lisbon
Pickering, Lucy Consuming place and embodying substance: making an alternative America in Hawaii
Pinheiro, Joceny * Authors of authenticity: indigenous leadership and the politics of identity in the Brazilian Northeast
Rahman, Tanzima True blues, blacks and in-betweens: changing categories of ethnicity in the wake of Maine Road and the approaching gentrification of Moss Side
Rickett, Michelle Remembered place, cultural icon: locating memories of Cape Town's District Six
Rollason, William Doubting persons: participatory & collaborative research in Milne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea
Sánchez-Vásquez, María Social understanding and usage of scientific knowledge in Mexico
Sherrington, Richard Developing disparities: consumption and social differentiation in post-adjustment Dar es Salaam
Simic, Marina "Exit to Europe": state, travel, popular music and 'normal life' in a Serbian town
Staves, Sarah Ethnic identity, nationhood and destination image in Nepal
Strauss, Paul Netculture and the politics of ethnic identity in an East London borough
Walmsley, Emily Blackness and belonging: race, representation and embodiment in an Ecuadorian coastal city
Wormald, Tom Visions of the future: the promise of new technology for the new civil society in Hungary
Wu, Guofu New wine in old bottles: the role of local government in resettlement and development in south China
Yamakawa, Sayumi Youth in Transition: The Status of Youth, Marriage and Intergenerational Practices in Northern Namibia