What Makes Life Meaningful? Perspectives from Anthropology



Overview

Anthropology studies how and why people live as they do around the world and offers a framework for investigating what makes life meaningful. Meaning in life is a philosophical topic without supposing an absolute notion of ‘the meaning of life’. Anthropology illustrates multiple meanings that people inherit, construct, and seek across the varied circumstances of humankind.

The course will identify the cultural shaping of meanings, their social experience, and their subjective dynamism in a person’s mind and memory. An anthropological approach fosters interest in human diversity while nurturing the common ground of our shared humanity. The course explores commonality and difference through a life course approach. Having a finite life and body puts all human beings in the same boat.

Meanwhile, meanings are experienced differently across ages and activities, from childhood to work to family to ageing. As people navigate life’s paths, and confront the limits of their existence, how do they make sense of their lives and what do they do within them? The course approaches our education therapeutically, involving ourselves as subjects of inquiry. Class activity will combine lectures and group discussions to address how human beings experience their lives and attempt to infuse their time with significance.

Programme details

Seminars

Participants are taught in small seminar groups of up to 10 students, and receive two one-on-one tutorials with their tutor.

Sunday

Seminar 1

An introduction to the anthropology of socio-cultural and personal meaning

This seminar introduces students to anthropology’s ways of working. We will ask to what extent concerns about meaning are specific to the human species. We will consider meanings as something produced culturally and personally and explore historical shifts from collective to subjective attributions of meaning.

Seminar 2

A life course approach: to what extent do we stay the same or change over the years?

This seminar develops perspectives on the life course as a framework and foundation of human existence. We will consider how biological ageing interacts with culture and associated debates on nature versus nurture. We will consider mortality and the passage of time and their implications upon life’s meanings.

Monday

Seminar 3

Childhood, education, and freedom

This seminar examines meanings associated with childhood and youth. We will explore varied constructions and experiences of these ages with a particular focus on gender. We will examine meanings of freedom for young people and contradictory experiences of education.

Seminar 4

Meanings in work

This seminar explores historical and cross-cultural perspectives on work as an aspect of people’s lives and interrogates work’s subjective meanings. Careers will be considered as a source of identity with ensuing fulfilment and/or frustrations. Intrinsic and extrinsic motivations towards work will be compared to unpack where meaning is located in the times, spaces, and social aspects of working lives.

Tuesday

Seminar 5 

Leisure, hobbies, travel, and escape

This seminar engages leisurely activities and the notion of ‘free time’. How do people engage in leisure, privately and socially? What is meaningful about different leisurely activities, and how do they feature in routines, identities, values, and rationales for working or being alive?

Seminar 6

Friendships, partnerships, and romance

This seminar considers cross-cultural ideals and challenges of relationships, covering how meaning may emerge through connection. Perspectives are offered on individualism and its appeal and setbacks, from sexual liberalism to loneliness. The value of friendships and partnerships are examined in relation to the qualities and emotions they elicit.

Wednesday

Seminar 7

Meanings of home: from comfort to identity to existential boredom

This seminar examines the existential implications of material dwelling. How do forms of homemaking and souvenirs affect senses of self across different ages of life? To what extent does continuity or change in the material surroundings of a person’s life affect their identities and becoming?

Seminar 8

Materiality, cultural meaning, and personal meaning: field trip to the Pitt Rivers museum

In this study session, we will walk together to this remarkable museum collection. Students will be encouraged to consider art and artefacts as tools that help people in their quests to live. We will consider how materiality may form a vehicle for both cultural and personal meaning.

Thursday

Seminar 9

Family, children, responsibility, and care

This seminar engages meanings within family, child-raising, responsibility, and care. We will consider meanings of procreation in the context of passing on the species before perishing. We also explore the role of responsibility and care in infusing life with meaning and purpose. 

Seminar 10

Meanings in older age

This seminar considers changes and challenges that occur through ageing and closer confrontation with mortality. We will explore themes of loss and continuity and how people adjust their horizons and activities with actual and anticipated decline. The notions of legacy and ‘rippling’ will be critically explored regarding the meanings of leaving a mark.

Friday

Seminar 11

Religion, politics, art, and euphoria: a search for something more

This seminar engages forms and meanings of transcendence. The centrality of religion to many people’s senses of meaning is explored. Other forms of higher experience are addressed such as political aspirations, artistic expression, and cultures of music and hedonism.   

Seminar 12

Course conclusions: theorising and applying searches for meaning and motivation

This seminar draws together themes from the course and asks students for their insights on what they have learned. We will consider contemporary challenges of mental health and how these may relate to absences of meaning and motivation. We will discuss how to keep the spirit of learning alive after the course has ended.

Programme timetable

The daily timetable will normally be as follows:

Saturday

14.00–16.30 - Registration

16.30–17.00 - Orientation meeting

17.00–17.30 - Classroom orientation for tutor and students

17.30–18.00 - Drinks reception

18.00–20.00 - Welcome dinner

Sunday – Friday

09.00–10.30 - Seminar

10.30–11.00 - Tea/coffee break

11.00–12.30 - Seminar

12.30–13.30 - Lunch

13.30–18.00 - Afternoons are free for tutorials, individual study, course-related field trips or exploring the many places of interest in and around Oxford.

18.00–19.00 - Dinner (there is a formal gala dinner every Friday to close each week of the programme).

A range of optional social events will be offered throughout the summer school. These are likely to include: a quiz night, visit to historic pubs in Oxford, visit to Christ Church for Evensong and after-dinner talks and discussions.

Fees

Description Costs
Fee Option 1 (Single en suite - inc. Tuition and Meals) £2050.00
Fee Option 2 (Double en suite - inc. Tuition and Meals) 1 person £2100.00
Fee Option 3 (Twin en suite - inc. Tuition and Meals) per person £1680.00
Fee Option 4 (No Accommodation - inc. Tuition, Lunch & Dinner) £1250.00

Funding

Concessionary rates are available on a non-residential basis for those that qualify, more information can be found here.

Unfortunately we do not offer any specific scholarships or funding opportunities for OUSSA programme, but you can visit our departmental funding webpage, where you may be able to find a particular source of funding that matches your requirements alongside meeting the funding criteria.

Payment

All fees are charged on a per week, per person basis.

Please be aware that all payments made via non-UK credit/debit cards and bank accounts are subject to the exchange rate on the day they are processed.

Tuition and meals are included in the programme fee, with both residential and non-residential options available.

Course change administration fee: Please note that course transfers may be permitted in exceptional circumstances; however, in accordance with our Terms and Conditions, an administration fee of £50 will be charged.

Payment terms

  • If enrolling online: full payment by credit/debit card at the time of booking
  • If submitting an application form: full payment online by credit/debit card or via bank transfer within 30 days of invoice date

Cancellations and Refunds

1. Cancellation by you

Participants who wish to cancel must inform the Programme Administrator in writing: by email to oussa@conted.ox.ac.uk or by post to OUSSA, OUDCE, 1 Wellington Square, OXFORD, OX1 2JA, UK.

The following cancellation and refund policy applies in all cases:

  • Cancellation within 14 days of online enrolment / payment of fees – full refund of all fees paid.
  • Cancellations received up to and including 30 April 2025 – OUDCE will retain an administration fee of £100 per week booked; all other fees paid will be refunded.
  • Cancellations received between 1-31 May 2025 – OUDCE will retain 60% of the fees paid; the remaining 40% of fees paid will be refunded.
  • Cancellations received on and after 1 June 2025 - no refunds will be made.

2. Cancellation by us

Where there is good reason, OUDCE reserves the right to cancel a course by giving you notice in writing at any time before the course is due to start. In these cases, we will endeavour to offer a transfer to another available course if practical and acceptable to you, subject to payment or refund of any difference in the course fees. Alternatively, we will refund the course fees that you have already paid. If we cancel a course, our liability is limited to the fees that we have received from you; this means that we will not compensate you for any pre-booked travel costs or any other expenses incurred. The status of this course will be reviewed on 1 May 2025. If it is likely that the course may be cancelled, anyone affected will be notified by email within 7 days; if you have not heard from OUDCE by 8 May 2025, you should assume that your course will be running. You may wish to delay finalising your travel arrangements until after this date.

OUDCE reserves the right to cancel a course at short notice in exceptional circumstances that would prevent the course from being delivered e.g. tutor illness. In these rare instances, we will notify you as soon as possible and arrange a transfer to another available Oxford Experience course. If we cancel a course, our liability is limited to the fees that we have received from you; this means that we will not compensate you for any pre-booked travel costs or any other expenses incurred.

Where course fees have been paid in currencies other than pounds sterling, refunds will be subject to the exchange rate on the day they are processed.

3. Travel insurance 

The Department cannot be held responsible for any costs you may incur in relation to travel or accommodation bookings as a result of a course cancellation, or if you are unable to attend the course for any other reason. You are advised to check cancellation policies carefully and to purchase travel insurance.

Tutor

Dr John Loewenthal

Tutor

John Loewenthal rejoins the Oxford University Department for Continuing Education where he taught anthropology courses in-person and online over five years. John has held other research and teaching positions at Oxford Brookes University, New York University, the Centre for Research and Advanced Studies (Mexico), the University of Edinburgh, Keele University, and now SOAS, University of London. At SOAS, John works at the Centre for Anthropology and Mental Health Research in Action (CAMHRA) and leads the research project, ‘Anthropology, talking therapy, and education: intersections between theory and practice’. Alongside this, John practices as an integrative counsellor working with individuals and couples. John holds a First Class BA in Archaeology and Anthropology (University of Oxford), an MA in Anthropology and Education, as a Margaret Mead Fellow (Columbia University), and a PhD in Education entitled, ‘Aspirations of university graduates: an ethnography in New York and Los Angeles’ (Oxford Brookes University).

Course aims

This course aims to:

  • Introduce students to anthropology and/or develop their anthropological thinking.
  • Grounded in academic literature and informed by ethnographic examples, the course also aims to include students' own lives and experiences as part of our anthropological inquiry.
  • To equip students with a capacity to unpack what different activities and spaces may mean to people across societies and at different life stages.
  • Through an anthropological approach, the course aims to highlight that what makes life meaningful is open to social, cultural, historical, and subjective influence.
  • To help students to make sense of and make the most of their lives.

Teaching methods

The teaching methods used during this course may include:

  • Short lectures/presentations
  • Physical handouts
  • Seminars/group discussions
  • Writing exercises and analysis of published passages.

Learning outcomes

By the end of this course, students will be expected to understand:

  • Conceptual and methodological approaches in anthropology and some differences and debates within the discipline. 
  • Theoretical perspectives on the social construction of reality. 
  • How the life course forms a medium for thinking about life’s meanings, and how meanings may change with age. 
  • The multiplicity and subjectivity of how meanings in life are experienced. 
  • Some ethnographic examples from around the world and the value of considering oneself as part of the anthropological project. 
     

Assessment methods

Participants are required to undertake preparatory reading and complete a pre-course assignment of 1,500 words. Although this does not count towards credit, it is seen as an important way of developing your ideas and is mandatory. The pre-course assignment is typically due in the first week of June.

You will be assessed during the summer school by either a 1,000 word written assignment or a presentation supported by individual documentation. To successfully gain credit (10 CATS points) students should attend all classes and complete the on-course assignment. Participants will attend two one-on-one tutorials with their tutor during the week.

OUSSA is an accredited summer school taught at undergraduate level; each one-week course carries 10 CATS (Credit Accumulation and Transfer Scheme) points at FHEQ (Framework for Higher Education Qualification) Level 4. Learn more about CATS points.

Certificate of Higher Education

Credit earned from OUSSA can be transferred towards our flexible Certificate of Higher Education.

Study when and where it suits you by gaining credit from short courses, including short online courses, weekly classes and OUSSA, and build your way to an Oxford University award. This part-time undergraduate programme lasts between two and four years depending on how intensively you want to study.  

Find out more about the Certificate of Higher Education.

Application

Most courses fill quickly so early registration is strongly recommended. If your preferred course is fully booked, you may wish to add yourself to the waiting list and the Programme Administrator will contact you should a place become available.

Please note, the programme is only open to those over the age of 18.

Single accommodation, double room for 1 person and non-residential places may be booked online by clicking on the “Book now” button in the “Course details” box at the top right-hand side of the course page.

Those requiring twin, double or accessible accommodation should complete an enrolment form as these rooms cannot be booked online. Please send the completed enrolment form to the email address below. Both the PDF and Word option of the form below are editable, so you can complete them online before saving and sending to us as an email attachment. You do not need to print and scan them. (Please use these forms only if you are making a twin or double booking for two people.)

Online enrolments require payment in full at the time of registering.

Those who do not wish to register online or who have specific requirements (eg an accessible bedroom) should contact the Programme Administrator directly at oussa@conted.ox.ac.uk or OUSSA, OUDCE, 1 Wellington Square, Oxford, OX1 2JA, UK.

Accommodation

More information about our accommodation can be found here.

Terms & conditions for applicants and students

Information on financial support