Human, Social and Political Sciences

Peterhouse has a strong tradition in many of the subjects that make up the HSPS course. The College has excellent facilities, including a well-stocked library. Peterhouse is well located between the two main sites where HSPS teaching takes place. It is also extremely well situated for the University Library. Peterhouse also has a thriving student-run Politics Society.

Peterhouse has an internal Director of Studies for HSPS, Dr Laura Diaz Anadon. Laura is University Lecturer in Public Policy at the Department of Politics and international Studies.

No previous study of a social science is necessary. No specific A Level (or equivalent) subjects are required.

It may be helpful if your subjects relate to the area of the course in which you are hoping to specialise, e.g. History or Sociology for Social Anthropology etc. However, most subjects are relevant and a mix of science and arts subjects is welcomed. HSPS is a broad course, so a range of subjects will provide a good background – from Mathematics to social sciences (e.g. Psychology, Politics and Geography) and arts (e.g. English, History and modern languages).

We are looking for candidates with an outstanding academic track record, strong academic interests and a keen intellectual interest in the course. We do not expect students to be interested in all the subjects on offer in the degree. Neither do we expect you to know exactly what you wish to do when you apply. It is more important that you show an intellectual curiosity and a passion for understanding the world than that you have any particular set of subject interests.

All applicants for HSPS across the University will be asked to sit a pre-interview written assessment at their school, college or local testing centre on 2nd November. These will form part of our holistic assessment of candidates' achievements, abilities and potential and are no more, and no less important than any of the other pieces of information considered during the admissions process. Registration for this assessment closes on 15th October. Further information, including example papers and subject content, can be found on the University website. We ask candidates to submit two examples of recent written work.

Candidates should expect two interviews. Both of these will be subject-based, and before one of them you will be given 10 minutes to read a short text which will be discussed during the interview. No special preparation is required for the interviews, although applicants should ensure that they are fully familiar with all material that has been provided as a part of the application process (e.g. their Personal Statement and submitted written work). In addition, candidates are likely to be asked questions about their school or college work. More specific questions may focus on a wider exploration of intellectual matters and the candidates academic background and interests, as well as their awareness of, topics covered by the HSPS course.

Our typical conditional offer for HSPS is A*AA at A level. IB offers are usually for a minimum of 40-42 points, to include 776 or 777 at Higher level in relevant subjects. Offers are designed to be realistic, taking into account individual circumstances, and to reflect potential and likely levels of achievement. Most of those who receive offers will attain the grades required.

Students are not expected to have read certain things and we aren’t looking to test knowledge acquired from specific books. Reading, however, is central to learning and broadens anyone’s horizons. Applicants can also get a good sense of what some of the subjects available in HSPS are like by reading some of the books that students encounter while studying these subjects at Cambridge. Here you can find a suggested reading that might give you a flavour of the different types of subjects in the HSPS course. If you want to pursue independent reading from these lists, don't try to cover them all. Pick the subject or several subjects that interest you and read from that list.

POLITICS

Bernard Crick, Democracy: a very short introduction Oxford; Oxford University Press, 2002.

John Dunn, Western political theory in the face of the future revised edition; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992.

Raymond Geuss, History and illusion in politics; Cambridge University Press, 2001.

David Runciman, The politics of good intentions: history, fear and hypocrisy in the new world order; Princeton University Press, 2006.

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

Chris Brown and Kirsten Ainsley, Understanding international relations (4th edition); Palgrave Macmillan, 2009.

Jussi Hanhimaki, Joseph A. Maiolo, Kirsten Schulze, and Anthony Best, An international history of the twentieth century and beyond (2nd edition); London: Routledge, 2008.

Henry Kissinger, Diplomacy; London: Simon & Schuster, 1994.

James Mayall, World politics: progress and its limits; Cambridge: Polity, 2000.

Adam Watson, The evolution of international society; Routledge, 1992.

SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY

Lila Abu-Lughod, Veiled sentiments: honor and poetry in a Bedouin society Berkeley and London; University of California Press, 1986.

Rita Astuti, Jonathan P Parry, and Charles Stafford (editors), Questions of anthropology; Oxford, 2007.

Tom Boellstorff, Coming of age in second life; Princeton, 2008.

T.H. Eriksen, Small places large issues: an introduction to social and cultural anthropology (3rd edition); London: Pluto Press, 2010.

J. Hendry, An introduction to social anthropology: sharing our worlds; Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008.

Karen Ho, Liquidated: an ethnography of Wall Street; Raleigh: Duke University Press, 2009.

Adam Kuper, Anthropology and anthropologists; Routledge, 1983.

J. Monaghan, and P. Just Social & cultural anthropology: a very short introduction; Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2000.

SOCIOLOGY

J.C. Alexander and K. Thompson, A contemporary introduction to sociology: culture and society in transition; London: Paradigm Publishers, 2008.

Zygmunt Bauman, Thinking sociologically (2nd edition); Wiley-Blackwell, 2001.

R W Connell, Gender (2nd edition); Polity, 2009.

R. Crompton, Class and stratification (3rd edition); Cambridge: Polity Press 2008.

A. Giddens, Sociology (6th edition); Cambridge: Polity Press, 2009.

Richard Sennett, The corrosion of character; W W Norton, 1999.

Anthony Smith, Nations and nationalism in a global era; Polity, 1995.

BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY

R Boyd and J. Silk, How humans evolved (5th edition); New York: W. W. Norton & Co. 2009.

R. Dawkins, The selfish gene (3rd edition); Oxford: Oxford University Press 2006.

F de Waal, Tree of origin: what primate behavior can tell us about human social evolution; Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press 2001.

M. Ridley, Nature via nurture: genes, experience and what makes us human; London: Fourth Estate 2003.

Robert Boyd and Joan Silk, How humans evolved (5th edition); W.W. Norton & Co., 2009.

ARCHAEOLOGY

B. Cunliffe, Europe between the oceans 9000 BC-AD 1000; New Haven, Yale University Press 2008.

A. Colin Renfrew and Paul Bahn, Archaeology: theories, methods and practice (6th edition); Thames & Hudson, 2012.

C. Scarre (ed.), The human past; London: Thames and Hudson 2005.

R. Wenke and D.I. Olszewski, Patterns in prehistory (5th edition); Oxford: Oxford University Press 2006.

*AKKADIAN

Jeremy A. Black, A.R. George & J.N. Postgate, A concise dictionary of Akkadian; Harrassowitz, 1999.

Richard Caplice (ed.),  Introduction to Akkadian; Pontifico Istituto Biblico, 2002.

John Huehnergard (ed.), A grammar of Akkadian; Eisenbrauns, 2005.

* The books listed here are basic texts used in the first year of language classes; it is not expected that you will have read them before arriving in Cambridge.

* EGYPTIAN

Alan Gardiner, Egyptian grammar (3rd edition); Griffith Institute, 1957.

* The books listed here are basic texts used in the first year of language classes; it is not expected that you will have read them before arriving in Cambridge.

PSYCHOLOGY

Michael W. Eysenck and Mark T. Keane, Cognitive psychology: a student's handbook; Psychology Press, 2010.

C. Fraser and B. Burchell, Introducing Social Psychology; Oxford: Polity, 2001.

Richard J. Gerrig, Philip Zimbardo, Frode Svartdal and Tim Brennen, Psychology and life; Allyn & Bacon, 2012.

Michael Hogg and Graham Vaughan, Essentials of social psychology; Prentice Hall, 2010.

Susan Nolen-Hoeksema, Willem Wagenaar, Barbara Fredrickson and Geoffrey R. Loftus, Atkinson and Hilgard's introduction to psychology; Cengage Learning, 2009.

H Rudolph Schaffer, Key concepts in developmental psychology; SAGE, 2006.

Recent graduates in HSPS have pursued careers in research (both academic and policy research), the Civil Service (including the Foreign Office), journalism, management consultancy, museums, conservation and heritage management, national and international NGOs and development agencies, the Law, teaching, publishing, health management, and public relations.

The analytical and critical skills, intellectual versatility, multicultural sensitivity and international outlook you develop through this course are widely sought after by employers.