Student testimonials
Jess Symons (part-time PhD student, 2009-)
Jess is doing a PhD on how NGOs, local government and activist groups in Manchester engage with "creativity" in negotiations over cultural policy and the organisation of cultural activity in the city.
"Anthropology is THE discipline for today's complex and interconnected communities. It seeks understanding and acknowledgement of difference as well as commonalities, in communities ranging from Amazonian tribal societies to Western workplaces. Manchester as a university inspires me with its impressive alumni, current teaching staff and engaged students. Manchester as a place inspires me with its notable history at the heart of emergent industrialisation, socialism, Marxism, the computer age and universal suffrage over 150 years. Thinking and doing anthropology here in Manchester makes me want to maximise the potential of the discipline to explore and bring about social change myself."
Jenny Peachey (PhD student, 2010)
Jenny transferred to Manchester in 2010, in the middle of her PhD. Her research is based around child maintenance cases in the highlands of Papua New Guinea. She is concerned with the role of ambivalence, emotional pain and love in reconfiguring the kin relationships that are the focus of such cases.
"Manchester is an immensely inspiring and intellectually stimulating research environment. Students and staff alike are friendly, passionate about their work and engaging to talk to. Perhaps what I love most about it is that the atmosphere is supportive rather than competitive. It is a fantastic department - I'm proud to be a part of it."
Rodolfo Maggio (MAAR 2010-11, PhD 2011-)
Rodolfo finished the MA in Anthropological Research in 2011 and then moved on to a PhD, as part of an ESRC-funded project run by Professor Karen Sykes on "The Domestic Moral Economy: An Ethnographic Study of Value in the Asia Pacific Region". Rodolfo himself works on "Pentecostalism, economy, morality and sociality in the Solomon Islands".
"Our department of anthropology is a place where you can grow professionally and personally, thanks to trained teachers, job opportunities, continuous possibilities for improvement and an overall friendly atmosphere."
Gillian Thomas (part-time MAAR student, 2010-)
Gillian is a professional social researcher who came to do our MA in Anthropological research on a part-time basis.
"I've loved my part time studies at Manchester, it has been highly relevant to my professional life as well as being rewarding in its own right. The quality of the teaching is much higher than in some of the professional development courses I've taken in the business world and I'm really glad I decided to embark on the course."
André Cicalo (MA in Anthropological Research, PhD in Social Anthropology with Visual Media, 2006-2010)
André started his PhD in 2006, after completing the MAAR, all funded by the ESRC and a studentship from the School of Social Sciences. His PhD thesis was titled "Urban Encounters: racial university quotas, racial inequality and black identity in Brazil". In 2010, he began a two-year post-doctoral position at the Frei University in Berlin
"I've been based at several institutions during my postgraduate life, and I definitely recommend Social Anthropology at the University of Manchester: efficient and friendly staff, great supervision, innumerable opportunities for learning and job experience, and a thriving international environment. Manchester has been an amazing choice in my life."
Luciana Lang (PhD 2010-)
Luciana is a Brazilian student who works on a small fishing colony just on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, which is undergoing rapid social change. Her topic is: "Once there were fishermen: nostalgia, environmentalism and negotiated landscapes at Colony Z-10".
"One of the things I like most about being at the Department of Social Anthropology at the University of Manchester is the buzz I get from being with my colleagues, each immersed in research but also eager to exchange the joys and anxieties of preparing a proposal or figuring out the most adequate theoretical reference for the object in question. I look forward to being back after my time spent with fieldwork, and to the reflections which will most likely ensue from our exchanges."
Doreen Gordon (PhD student, 2005-09)
Doreen is a Jamaican student who came to Manchester after doing an MA at the LSE. She did her thesis on social mobility and identity among middle-class Afro-Brazilians in the city of Salvador, Bahia. She then got a job as a lecturer in the University of the West Indies
Compared to previous experiences where I felt constrained to adopt particular theoretical frameworks, I felt that the programme at Manchester encouraged innovative thinking and exploration of perspectives or approaches that I found useful for my work. It is this freedom that I enjoyed the most - and the fact that people were engaging with their work through a variety of different techniques - for example, visual media, different forms of writing, art and so on. The range of interests and creativity of my fellow colleagues was inspiring and stimulating. At the same time there was academic rigour and professionalism - and in my view, tremendous commitment from the staff to mentoring and supervising their students.
Aliaa Remtilla (PhD student, 2007-)
.jpg)
Aliaa came from Harvard University to do the MA in Social Anthropology first and then continued on to the PhD programme with Visual Media researching post-Soviet change in Tajik Ishkashim.
"The best part of the Manchester Anthropology department are the people. Not only are the professors absolutely brilliant, but they are also incredibly friendly and willing to help with any question, big or small. Their passion for what they do is contagious and regularly spills out of the classroom and into the pub. If you want more than just a degree, come to Manchester; you'll be inspired to keep learning more and more and more - and you'll have fun while you do!"
Rachel Wilde (PhD student, 2008-)
Rachel studied anthropology at Manchester as an undergraduate and a masters student, before beginning the PhD in 2008. She works on "Neoliberalism and Personhood at a Gap Year Charity."
"Being an anthropology postgraduate at the University of Manchester means being part of a supportive and brilliant intellectual community. Whether you're stressing over a deadline or chewing on a tough piece of theory there is always someone willing to help."