Our impact
Impact forms an integral part of research and teaching, through the work of both staff and students. The Department sees impact as those outcomes that bring about significant changes, locally in the lives of our field companions, extending outwards to regional, national and international institutions, governing bodies and corporations, and through research-led, innovative teaching that prepares our students for the skills they need in the wider world.
Impact activities have included intangible cultural heritage and skill preservation, economic, political and ethical impact, widening access to equality of opportunity and resources, and enhanced cultural understanding across disciplines and international boundaries.
Methods used to achieve impact include interdisciplinarity, collaborations, public engagement, knowledge exchange events, and teaching.
The Department is at the forefront of innovation in the field of collaborative anthropology – where anthropologists plan, implement and disseminate research projects in conjunction with research participants and local interlocutors.
The Department encourages a range of impact methods within the postgraduate environment through the Masters course, the MRes Anthropology, Art and Perception, which attracts students from diverse backgrounds including art colleges, design schools, art history and anthropology. The course curriculum includes sessions on collaboration, knowledge exchange and public engagement at postgraduate level, along with a special focus on sensory anthropology.
Research impact
Dr Patrick O’Hare has translated his research on the grassroots Latin American Cartonera publishing movement into workshops in Scotland.
Dr Tony Crook is conducting research into aligning development policy and practice around gender inequality with Pacific community understandings of social change and collective rights.
Professor Sabine Hyland's research at St Andrews is helping to recover the cultural heritage of indigenous Andeans.
Dr Stephanie Bunn’s collaborative research expands awareness of Scottish social history and heritage through a focus on its basket-weaving.
Dr Pauline Destrée has launched the Africa@2050 Climate Fiction writing competition and workshop project.
Dr Paloma Gay y Blasco is chronicling Romani experiences during Covid-19 across five countries.
Dr Mattia Fumanti is exploring patients and family centred accounts in the postcolonial present.
Led by Dr Emilka Skrzypek, this project explores the impact of one of the largest undeveloped copper and gold deposits in the world.
Historical research, photographic exhibitions and policy engagement on zoonoses and epidemic control by Dr Christos Lynteris.
Dr Melissa Demian explores co-operative forms of organisation for mutual support in pursuing business and community action projects with urban women's groups in Papua New Guinea.
In this project Professor Roy Dilley took a selection of Henri Gaden's photographic collection out into the public domain
Dr Stephanie Bunn is studying how links between local felt textile practitioners and international craft organizations has increased their international profile.
Dr Sean Field and PhD Candidate Sarah O’Brien launched The Art of Energy virtual gallery and inaugural Art of Energy Award.
Directed by Dr Mette High, the Centre for Energy Ethics provides a rare platform for collaboration across arts, humanities, social and natural sciences.
Dr Leyla Sayfutdinova’s research is concerned with the social and cultural legacies of the oil industry and the future of the localities where oil has been produced.
Teaching impact
The Department of Social Anthropology at St Andrews has long been celebrated for its teaching impact. The teaching staff include lecturers and professors, postgraduate researchers and tutors, as well as visiting scholars from across the world, all of whom combine to form a unique and intimate community of experts in the field.
The focus on research-led, innovative teaching prepares our students for a range of career paths through recognising the potential for anthropological thinking as a tool for engaging with the wider world.
The Department strives to create impact through teaching to all students, as well as the wider community through ongoing work with local schools and colleges, widening access events and supported pathways. We pride ourselves on receiving outstanding feedback from our students, as well as teaching and curriculum awards. Each year the Department maintains consistently high rankings for teaching excellence and student satisfaction.
Awards
Students Association Teaching Awards
| 2022 | Winner: Gabriela Manley (outstanding graduate teaching assistant) |
| 2021 | Winner: Karen Lane (outstanding teacher – evening degree) |
| 2020 | Shortlist: Karen Lane (outstanding teacher, evening degree) |
| Shortlist: Laura Roe (postgraduate student who tutors) | |
| 2018 | Shortlist: Raluca Roman (outstanding teacher) |
| 2017 | Shortlist: Adam Reed (academic mentorship award) |
| 2016 | Winner: Paloma Gay y Blasco (excellence in teaching – honours) |
| Winner: Nigel Rapport (postgraduate thesis supervisor) | |
| Shortlist: Daniel Knight (dissertation/project supervisor) | |
| Shortlist: Mhairi Aitkenhead (commitment by a support staff member) | |
| Shortlist: Michele Wisdahl (teaching excellence by postgraduate student tutor) |
Sustainability in the Curriculum Prize
Awarded to Bridget Bradley, The Anthropology of Planetary Health – best new module addressing sustainability 2021
Golden Dandelion Prize 2021
Two of our Honours-level courses were recently recognised for their excellence in addressing topics of sustainable development: The Anthropology of Energy, taught by Dr Mette High, Dr Sean Field and Dr Pauline Destrée, and The Anthropology of Catastrophe, taught by Dr Richard Irvine.
University rankings
St Andrews is ranked in the top 3 best places to study anthropology in the UK, and considered the best for anthropology in Scotland, according to the Guardian University Guide 2023.
Our Department was also named top in the UK for student experience in the National Student Survey 2022.