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Postgraduate Taught

MA Food Studies

Please note: The below is for 2025 entries. Click here for 2024 entries.
UCAS code 1234
Duration 1 year full time
2 years part time
Entry year September 2025
Campus Streatham Campus
Discipline Anthropology
Contact

Professor Harry West
Web: Enquire online 
Phone: 
0300 555 6060 (UK)  
+44 (0)1392 723192 (non-UK)

Typical offer

View full entry requirements

2:2 Honours degree

Contextual offers

Overview

  • We’ll prepare you to understand, critically assess and practically engage with foodways and food systems in industrialised and non-industrialised societies
  • Our core modules provide interdisciplinary perspectives drawing from fields such as archaeology, classics, history, anthropology, sociology, geography, political economy, business and the life sciences.
  • Optional modules allow you to develop focused expertise in areas such as sustainable food production, health and nutrition, community development, education, or business and social enterprise or to prepare for further research by studying theory and methods in a range of disciplines.
  • Optional programme pathways will allow you to specialise in either Food, Society and Culture, or Food Systems and Sustainability
  • You can choose to undertake a placement or internship to gain valuable experience and develop professional networks
  • Engage with real-world examples, such as the impact of COVID-19, learning about their implications, and rise to the challenges and opportunities they present. Read more here.

Apply online

View 2024 Entry

Fast Track (current Exeter students)

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Contact

Programme Director: Professor Harry West

Web: Enquire online

Phone: +44 (0)1392 72 72 72

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82% of our research is internationally excellent

Based on research rated 4* + 3* in REF 2021, our research in Sociology, Philosophy, Anthropology and Criminology was returned to this UoA

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Top 15 in the UK for Anthropology

11th in the Guardian University Guide 2025

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Internationally recognised for work in philosophical anthropology and the sociology of culture

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Optional work placement or internship

Entry requirements

We will consider applicants with a 2:2 Honours degree with 53% or above in any social science, humanities or environmental studies. Applications from candidates with relevant professional experience and evidence of good research and writing skills will also be considered.

Also, as this is a specialist and multi-disciplinary programme, students who do not meet the general admissions requirements but who have substantial professional or personal experience which is directly related to the programme will be considered. Students who wish to be considered on the basis of professional or personal experience should submit a detailed personal statement outlining their relevant experience. Students who do not fulfil the general admissions requirements may also be required to attend an interview and/or complete an assignment in order to assess their academic ability.

Entry requirements for international students

Please visit our entry requirements section for equivalencies from your country and further information on English language requirements.

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Entry requirements for international students

English language requirements

International students need to show they have the required level of English language to study this course. The required test scores for this course fall under Profile B2. Please visit our English language requirements page to view the required test scores and equivalencies from your country.

Course content

This programme will prepare you to understand, critically assess, and practically engage with foodways and food systems.

Our core modules provide interdisciplinary perspectives drawing from fields including archaeology, classics, history, anthropology, sociology, geography, and political economy. You will survey the historical development of agriculture and food and develop an understanding of its place in the constitution of social identities and institutions. You will also analyse the workings of mainstream and alternative food systems and food chains as well as studying the challenges and proposed solutions to making foodways and food systems more sustainable.

A wide range of optional modules allows you to develop focused expertise in areas such as sustainable food production, health and nutrition, community development, education, or business and social enterprise.

An optional placement or internship will afford you the opportunity to gain valuable professional experience and to develop networks, while the dissertation will provide you with the chance to acquire expertise in a particular area of study and to develop research and writing skills.

The programme is studied over 12 months (full time) or 24 months (part time) and is University-based throughout the period. The programme comprises 180 credits in total: taught modules worth 120 credits in total and a supervised dissertation worth 60 credits. Teaching takes place over two terms (October to May), followed by completion of the dissertation over the summer (June to September). Each taught module spans one term and is normally taught through seminars, underpinned by reading and essay assignments. The taught element consists of core modules, directed options and free options.

The modules we outline here provide examples of what you can expect to learn on this degree course based on recent academic teaching. The precise modules available to you in future years may vary depending on staff availability and research interests, new topics of study, timetabling and student demand.

120 credits of compulsory modules, 60 credits of optional modules

You may choose either the 15 credit or the 30 credit version of each module, you cannot choose both

 

 

Compulsory modules

 

CodeModule Credits
SSIM909 Dissertation in Food Studies 60
ANTM004 Food and Agriculture in Historical Perspective or15
HISM041 Food and Agriculture in Historical Perspective 30
ANTM021 Food, Body and Society or15
SOCM022 Food, Body and Society 30
POLM016 Food Systems, Alternative Food Networks, and Ethical Consumption or15
SOCM021 Food Systems, Alternative Food Networks, and Ethical Consumption 30
SOCM044 Food and Sustainability: Economy, Society and Environment or15
SOCM045 Food and Sustainability: Economy, Society and Environment 30

Optional modules

Programme Pathways

 

Our flexible programme enables you to choose either a specific pathway or a selection of modules, which might be at a much later date than date of entry to the MA Food Studies. All students graduate with a Masters in Food Studies, but if you elect to specialise, you will have one of the following pathways named in your degree title:

 

Food, Society and Culture (MA)

 

This pathway allows you to focus study on the social, cultural and historical dimensions of food and foodways. Modules fulfilling compulsory requirements must include: either the 15 or 30 credit version of Food and Agriculture in Historical Perspective; and either the 15 or 30 credit version of Food, Body and Society. Your dissertation will also focus on a theme in the area of Food, Society and Culture.

ANTM004

Food and Agriculture in Historical Perspective

15

 

or

 

HISM041

Food and Agriculture in Historical Perspective

30

 

 

 

ANTM021

Food, Body and Society

15

 

or

 

SOCM022

Food, Body and Society

30

 

Food Systems and Sustainability (MSc)

This pathway allows you to focus study on food systems, alternative food networks and sustainability. Modules fulfilling compulsory requirements must include: either the 15 or 30 credit version of Food System, Alternative Food Networks and Ethical Consumption; and  either the 15 or 30 credit version of Food and Sustainability: Economy, Society and Environment. Your dissertation will also focus on a theme in the area of Food Systems and Sustainability.

POLM016

Food Systems, Alternative Food Networks, and Ethical Consumption

15

 

or

 

SOCM021

Food Systems, Alternative Food Networks, and Ethical Consumption

30

 

 

 

SOCM044

Food and Sustainability: Economy, Society and Environment

15

 

or

 

SOCM045

Food and Sustainability: Economy, Society and Environment

30

 

 

 You may also choose from the following list to satisfy the 60 credit optional module requirement.

 

 

 

 

CodeModule Credits
MA Food Studies Option Modules 2024-5
ANTM003 Theory and Methods of Food Preservation 15
ANTM006 Gardening, Wellbeing and Community 15
SSIM908 Directed Practical Study: Agriculture and Food 30
ARCM120 Themes in Archaeological Theory and Practice 15
ARCM130 Discovering the Past with Molecular Science 15
ARCM403 Advanced Zooarchaeology 15
ARCM407 Zooarchaeology 15
BEMM487 Entrepreneurship: Venture Launch 30
BEMM374 Tourism and Marketing 15
BIOM568 Blue Planet 15
BIOM4040 Fisheries Management 15
CTHM007 Research Skills in Classics, Ancient History and Theology 30
SOCM052 Cultures and Environments of Health 30
GEOM143 Global Systems Thinking 15
GEOM145 Theory for Sustainable Transitions 15
GEOM407 Perspectives on Sustainable Development 15
HISM016 Advanced Historical Research Skills 30
HPDM027 Contemporary Environment and Human Health 15
HPDM122 Planetary Health 15
SOCM019 Research Methods in the Social Sciences 15
SOCM023 Social Theory 15
SOCM053 Making, Using and Contesting Evidence 30

Fees

2025/26 entry

UK fees per year:

£12,500 full-time; £6,250 part-time

International fees per year:

£25,300 full-time; £12,650 part-time

Scholarships

We invest heavily in scholarships for talented prospective Masters students. This includes over £5 million in scholarships for international students, such as our Global Excellence Scholarships*.

For more information on scholarships, please visit our scholarships and bursaries page.

*Selected programmes only. Please see the Terms and Conditions for each scheme for further details.

Teaching and research

Core teaching takes place over the first two terms, leaving the third for your dissertation. Research-centred teaching is at the heart of the programme. Teaching is done in small seminar groups, through individual presentations and round table discussions of common readings. Some optional modules include practical work combined with reading.

Students have the opportunity to engage in a substantial piece of research into a topic of their choosing through the dissertation module. You will be assessed through coursework which will vary depending on the modules you choose, as well as the completion of a dissertation.

Careers

Employer valued skills

  • Research skills specific to foodways and food systems past and present on an international scale
  • Understanding of the economic, political and cultural dynamics of food systems and foodways
  • Ability to identify issues and problems faced by a range of stakeholders and the potential consequences of various forms of intervention and transformation
  • Researching, analysing and assessing sources of information
  • Written and verbal communication skills
  • Managing and interpreting information
  • Developing ideas and arguments

Career paths

Depending upon your interests and career objectives, you may go on to conduct doctoral research, or you may find employment in:

  • food industry or small and medium-sized food businesses and social enterprises;
  • government departments and agencies engaging with agriculture, fisheries, food manufacture, food safety, public health, or culture and heritage;
  • food-focused print, broadcast and new media;
  • or third-sector organisations focused on issues such as environmental sustainability, trade policy, food safety, public health, food poverty, or social isolation.

Career support

The College's Employability Officer works with our central Career Zone team to give you access to a wealth of business contacts, support and training, as well as the opportunity to meet potential employers at our regular Careers Fairs.

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