Not available in 2021/22
AN469 Half Unit
The Anthropology of Amazonia
This information is for the 2021/22 session.
Teacher responsible
Dr Harry Walker OLD 5.06B
Availability
This course is available on the MSc in Anthropology and Development, MSc in Anthropology and Development Management and MSc in Social Anthropology. This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit.
Course content
The course will introduce students to selected themes in the anthropology of Amazonia. It will provide a grounding in the ethnographic literature of the region while seeking to engage with current theoretical debates, highlighting their potential importance to the discipline of anthropology. Topics to be covered include history, indigenous social movements; sexuality and gender; trade and inter-ethnic relations; politics and power; illness, well-being and death. Students will be encouraged to reflect on the broader relationship between ethnography and theory, to challenge common stereotypes of Amazonia and its inhabitants, and to explore ways in which the region has inscribed itself on the imagination of anthropologists and laypersons alike.
Teaching
10 hours of lectures and 15 hours of seminars in the MT.
This course has a reading week in Week 6 of MT.
Formative coursework
Students will be expected to produce 1 essay in the MT.
Indicative reading
Clastres, Pierre. 1987. Society Against the State: Essays in Political Anthropology.
Overing, Joanna. & Alan Passes (eds). 2000. The Anthropology of Love and Anger: The Aesthetics of Conviviality in Native Amazonia.
Walker, Harry. 2012. Under a Watchful Eye: Self, Power and Intimacy in Amazonia.
Descola, Philippe. 1994. In the Society of Nature: A Native Ecology in Amazonia.
Gow, Peter. 2002. An Amazonian Myth and its History.
Fisher, William H. 2000. Rainforest Exchanges: Industry and Community on an Amazonian Frontier.
Seeger, Anthony. 2004. Why Suyá Sing: A Musical Anthropology of an Amazonian People.
Gregor, Thomas. 1985. Anxious Pleasures: The Sexual Lives of an Amazonian People.
Lévi-Strauss, Claude. 1984. Tristes Tropiques.
Conklin, Beth. 2001. Consuming Grief: Compassionate Cannibalism in an Amazonian Society.
Assessment
Take-home assessment (100%) in the MT.
The take home exam will be held the week following the end of the MT.
Course selection videos
Some departments have produced short videos to introduce their courses. Please refer to the course selection videos index page for further information.
Important information in response to COVID-19
Please note that during 2021/22 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 differing needs of students in attendance on campus and those who might be studying online. For example, this may involve changes to the mode of teaching 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 2020/21: Unavailable
Average class size 2020/21: Unavailable
Controlled access 2020/21: No
Value: Half Unit
