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PhD Programme

The department of Social and Cultural Anthropology at the University of Cologne is one of the largest departments of its kind in Germany. It therefore offers expertise on diverse topics within the discipline and has a wide geographical scope.

The main (but not exclusive) regional focus lies on Africa (especially Sub-Sahara Africa) and Asia (especially East and Southeast Asia). The following themes are prominently included in teaching and research at the department:

Facilities of the Department

All courses offered at the department are open to registered PhD-students, and several courses are even tailor-made for advanced MA-students as well as PhD-students. Supervisors regularly organize colloquia for their PhD-students. Furthermore, other institutions of the University of Cologne, such as the Global South Studies Centre (GSSC) and Graduate School a.r.t.e.s., offer public lectures, opportunities for collaboration and funding possibilities. As a PhD-student, one can make use of the University and City Library as well as of the well-stocked Institute's Library.

Networking with other PhDs: The 'EthnoDocs'

The department has a large number of PhD-students, which makes for a lively and supportive working environment. The PhD-students together are loosely organized within an independent and informal network, the 'EthnoDocs'. They form a diverse and international group, working on diverse topics and in different areas of the world. They discuss literature as well as their individual research projects, organize workshops and symposia, take care of administrative issues of general concern, and sometimes just meet up for a drink. Where possible, they also try to link up to events taking place at the university. In this way, the EthnoDocs have managed to organize workshops with among others John and Jean Comaroff, James Ferguson, Tim Ingold, Robert Gordon and An Ansoms.

The working language of the network is English. The EthnoDocs warmly welcome PhD-students in the field of cultural anthropology at the University of Cologne, or those who are interested in pursuing such a PhD, to join. 

Write us an e-mail: ethnodocs-list@uni-koeln.de