Master's Programme in Ethnology and Folkloristics

The Master’s Programme in Ethnology and Folkloristics at Uppsala University helps you understand how culture, traditions, and everyday life shape societies in a rapidly changing world. Through a combination of theoretical insights and hands-on research methods you will be able to study everything from heritage and identity to digital cultures and global mobility.

You will analyse cultural processes across time and place, gaining skills that are highly relevant in today’s knowledge-driven and culturally complex societies. A strong research foundation and emphasis on independent critical thinking builds a foundation from which you can engage with real-world challenges.

During the programme, you can expect to:

• study in an international environment where 50% of the students come from outside of Sweden;
• carry out your own qualitative fieldwork; and
• do an internship in an organisation that fits your interests.

Student profile

You have a strong interest in the traditional customs and cultural performances of the communities in which you live or that you visit. You now want to know more about their cultural meanings and effects. Maybe you are working with cultural heritage or adult education in a field related to ethnology and folkloristics and seek more in-depth academic knowledge.

You have a strong motivation and are prepared to take responsibility for shaping your education through the range of courses that we offers. You are used to planning your own work and staying within given time frames.

Career

Our previous students currently work as, for example, programme coordinators, museum educators, curator in organisations like Save the Children, at the Upplands Museum, and the Swedish History Museum.

These are solid first jobs, and a few years further down the road, former students have gained important positions in state authorities or started their own companies.

Experience shows that the focus of research that students carry out for their Master's thesis is vital for what kind of job they will get. Therefore, if you know where you want to work, this Master's degree from us and a thesis with the right focus will help take you there.

The programme provides you with professional, analytical capacities in areas such as public cultural activities, migration, multiculturalism, journalism and media, tourism, museums and exhibitions. It also gives you a solid basis for pursuing a research career in ethnology and folkloristics as well as other related subjects.

Content

The focus of the programme is ethnology and folkloristics as well as ethnographic research and archival research. While most students choose to complete a two-year degree, it is also possible to follow a one-year course of study. The one-year programme provides in-depth knowledge of theory and methods in ethnology and includes the opportunity to complete a minor ethnology field study.

The first semester is pre-planned to give you time to settle in. Four compulsory courses are scheduled, among them a methods course in ethnography. During the first semester, you will also spend time designing your thesis project. You will study together with the students in the Master's Programme in Cultural Anthropology.

The next three semesters are more flexible, allowing you to specialise and select courses that suit your research focus. During these semesters, you will carry out fieldwork for approximately two months and work on your thesis under the guidance of your supervisor.

If you have previously completed the one-year Master's degree in Ethnology, you may be admitted to the second year of the programme and will then write a 15-credit essay during the second year.

You may also take advantage of the possibilities for inspiring and challenging international student exchanges and internships. Such an internship can be done in Sweden or abroad and lasts for five or ten weeks (7.5 and 15 credits, respectively). Previous students have done internships in, for example, Luxembourg.

Courses within the programme

Compulsory courses

• Advanced Study of Anthropological Theory, 7.5 credits
• Contemporary Culture Theory, 7.5 credits
• Ethnography, 7.5 credits
• Introduction to Writing a Master's Thesis in Cultural Anthropology and Ethnology, 7.5 hp
  

Example of elective courses in the field of ethnology

• Anthropology and Ethnology in Practice, 7.5 credits
• Ethnography of Difference, 7.5 credits
• From Medievalism to Climate Change Apocalypse: Folkloristic Perspectives on Cultural Heritage, Disaster and Climate, 7.5 credits
• Methods and Texts in Current Ethnological and Folkloristic Research, 7.5 credits

Additional courses are available as elective courses and you may select from among more than 50 courses in other departments in the Faculty of Arts.

Learning experience

Normally, two courses on half speed are read in parallel. The courses include both lectures and seminars, mostly on campus in Uppsala. Individual lectures and seminars can take place remotely via zoom. The courses are examined through oral and written seminar assignments, which sometimes take place in groups, as well as through home exams and shorter essays.

All courses are given in English.

Degree

The programme leads to the degree of Master of Arts (120 credits) with Ethnology as the main field of study. After one year of study, it is possible to obtain a degree of Master of Arts (60 credits).