A graduate of the Bachelor’s program in Social and Cultural Anthropology is able to:

• Present the theoretical background of the field (i.e. define key terms, concepts, theories of social and cultural anthropology) and apply them in interpreting cultural phenomena and processes taking place in traditional and modern societies
• Identify specific elements of social and cultural anthropology’s perspective,  place this field into a larger framework of sciences concerned with human beings and compare this field with other disciplines such as sociology, archeology, history and philosophy
• Present and interpret authoritative works of social anthropology, name prominent anthropologists who significantly contributed to creating the field itself, explain its fundamental concepts, give examples of research studies in the 20th century which were carried out, and critically reflect on these studies in terms of current theoretical approaches
• Identify and characterize the essential schools, directions, and paradigms of anthropological thinking (diffusionism, functionalism, structuralism, cultural materialism, symbolic and interpretative anthropology, critical anthropology), define and specify sub-disciplines of social and cultural anthropology (economic anthropology, political anthropology, linguistic anthropology, historical anthropology, visual anthropology, applied anthropology, etc.)
• Present ethnographic and historical facts on important “native societies” and “minority groups” in a European and non-European geographical context
• Describe the basic methodological approaches used in social and cultural anthropology (i.e. methods for analyzing interviews, non-verbal communication, written documents, visual material, artifacts, etc), propose research projects which use these approaches in accordance with selected theoretical standpoints, and collect and interpret data from such a project
• Use specialized computer technology for analyses, identify current information sources (including foreign language sources) and critically process them in scientific, research, and practical situations
• Identify problems of current complex societies stemming from social and cultural differentiation and discuss the possibilities, limits and risks of solving such problems based on anthropological theory.

Professional capabilities of graduates in the workplace

The curriculum of Social and Cultural anthropology is created so as to foster graduates in finding a place in the workforce not only in state and local government institutions, non-governmental, non-profit organizations focused on integration activities dealing with immigrants or other disadvantaged populations, but also in education, museums and cultural institutions. Graduates of the study program Social and Cultural Anthropology can also continue their studies in post-graduate degrees, namely in the master’s programs of Social and Cultural Anthropology, Anthropology of Past Populations, Modern History, Cultural Anthropology of the Near East, or European Cultural Studies at the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen.

The Centre for Applied Anthropology and Field Work completed an analysis in the year 2010 focused on the qualifications of Social and Cultural Anthropology graduates. This analysis shows that, over the past ten years, the majority of graduates have found employment in state and local government administrations (in departments dealing with the area of social welfare, integration of foreigners and disadvantaged groups, culture, care of historical monuments, and education). They also find employment often in non-governmental, non-profit organizations (as social workers, development workers on foreign missions, lecturers and coordinators of educational activities, or in media work, as analysts, or in management), in commercial organizations (mainly agencies focusing on the area of market or other research and analysis). Also, a large number of graduates have become subsequently employed in the area of education as teachers (university and secondary level) or as course lecturers in adult-level education or in the sphere of museum work, archiving, or other cultural institutions such as galleries. Concerning graduates of the bachelor’s degree, roughly half of our graduates enter a post-graduate program, namely master’s degrees in Social and Cultural Anthropology, Anthropology of Past Populations or European Cultural Studies.

The results of this analysis correspond to the prerequisites necessary for an education in anthropology in terms of Czech society – prerequisites corresponding to the general goal of the education program in Social and Cultural Anthropology at the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of West Bohemia. Changes which have been introduced in the curriculum have been done so in order to make education in the field as appropriate and adaptable to the given requirements of the modern job market as possible in terms of high-quality preparation of students for professional careers or subsequent paths of learning.