Archaeology & Anthropology

Applying to St Hugh’s for Archaeology & Anthropology

We are looking for students from any background who we think will thrive on our course. Tutors will be looking for the following qualities at interview:

• an ability to think independently
• potential and motivation for studying archaeology and anthropology
• enthusiasm and interest in the combined disciplines
• commitment to the requirements of the course.

Choosing St Hugh’s for Archaeology & Anthropology

St Hugh’s is fortunate to have a Tutorial Fellow in Archaeology & Anthropology, Professor Peter Mitchell, and a permanent lecturer, Dr William Kelly, both at the frontiers of active research in their fields, and who between them cover a very broad range of teaching interests, such as social memory, heritage and nostalgia; methodology and explanation in the social sciences and the relationship between society and technology.

St Hugh’s normally offers six places every year, making it the largest college for this degree in the University. Particular strengths include its strong library holdings, distinguished past examination performance, a location only a few minutes walk from several of the key lecture venues and libraries and the fact that it was the first college to appoint a Tutorial Fellow in the subject and is now the only one to have three Fellows in relevant fields (Archaeology, Social Anthropology and Palaeoanthropology).

We’re the largest – and the most successful – college for this degree. – Professor Peter Mitchell

Professor Peter Mitchell

Dr William Kelly

Studying and Living at St Hugh’s

Our students are dedicated and enthusiastic, participating in the Oxford University Archaeological Society and the Oxford University Anthropological Society; volunteering at both the Pitt Rivers and Ashmolean Museums; and assisting with both fieldwork and museum work, in the UK and abroad.

Both disciplines have a long history: archaeology grew from eighteenth-century antiquarianism, while anthropology began even earlier in the first days of colonial encounter. Today both subjects involve a range of sophisticated approaches shared with the arts, social sciences and physical sciences.

Boasting a distinguished tradition that includes the former Principalship of Kathleen Kenyon, who excavated at Jerusalem and Jericho in the 1950s and 1960s, St Hugh’s was one of the first colleges to take students for Archaeology and Anthropology, something we feel is intrinsic to our College identity today.

Travel grants are available to help fund the costs of fieldwork or dissertation research. First year tutorials are given in College, along with the majority of those for the core papers taken in the second year, although second and third year options frequently involve teaching from staff elsewhere in the University. The interdisciplinary nature of Archaeology and Anthropology means that there are no specific subject requirements: arts, sciences and a mixture of both are equally suitable.

Possible careers

Our students go on to successful careers in a variety of areas, including academia, museum work, archaeological employment, business, teaching, journalism, and the volunteer sector.