AN100GC Half Unit
Introduction to Social Anthropology (Spring Semester)
This information is for the 2020/21 session.
Teacher responsible
Dr Gisa Weszkalnys
Availability
This course is available on the Exchange Programme for Students in Anthropology (Cape Town), Exchange Programme for Students in Anthropology (Fudan), Exchange Programme for Students in Anthropology (Melbourne) and Exchange Programme for Students in Anthropology (Tokyo). This course is not available as an outside option. This course is available to General Course students.
This course is available to General Course Spring Semester students
Course content
This course provides a general introduction to Social Anthropology as the comparative study of human societies and cultures. Students will be introduced to key themes and debates in the history of the discipline. Ethnographic case studies will be drawn from work on a variety of societies, including hunter-gatherers, farmers, industrial labourers, and urban city-dwellers.
The Lent Term will address the different types of relations people have with other beings, with places, and with a variety of technologies and infrastructures, and what how these are mediated by and produce forms of power, identity, and differences. The term is also divided into three blocks: 1) Relations, 2) Place, 3) Technology. Some of the questions considered during the term include:
Is it valid to distinguish between people and things? What are the politics of human animal relations? To what extent is place a product of power? Can people only be dispossessed of material belongings? In what ways does technology mediate and reinvent expressions of race and racism? Do infrastructures only become visible on breakdown?
Teaching
10 hours of lectures and 10 hours of classes in the LT.
This year, some or all of this teaching will be delivered through a combination of virtual lectures, classes and online interactive activities. The contact hours listed above are the minimum expected. This course has a reading week in Week 6 of LT.
Formative coursework
Students are expected to prepare discussion material for presentation in the classes and are required to write assessment essays. Anthropology students taking this course will have an opportunity to submit one tutorial essay for this course to their academic mentor in the LT. For non-Anthropology students taking this course, a formative essay may be submitted to the course teacher in the LT.
Indicative reading
M Engelke, Think Like an Anthropologist (2017)
R. Govindrajan, Animal Intimacies: Interspecies Relatedness in India’s Central Himalayas (2018)
Assessment
Essay (100%, 2500 words) in the ST.
Important information in response to COVID-19
Please note that during 2020/21 academic year some variation to teaching and learning activities may be required to respond to changes in public health advice and/or to account for the situation of students in attendance on campus and those studying online during the early part of the academic year. For assessment, this may involve changes to mode of delivery and/or the format or weighting of assessments. Changes will only be made if required and students will be notified about any changes to teaching or assessment plans at the earliest opportunity.
Key facts
Department: Anthropology
Total students 2019/20: Unavailable
Average class size 2019/20: Unavailable
Capped 2019/20: No
Value: Half Unit
