AN200
The Anthropology of Kinship, Sex and Gender
This information is for the 2024/25 session.
Teacher responsible
In the Autumn Term this course will be co-taught by Professor Sylvia Yanagisako and another teacher who is TBC.
In the Winter Term this course will be taught by Dr Mareike Winchell.
Availability
This course is compulsory on the BA in Social Anthropology and BSc in Social Anthropology. This course is available on the BA in Anthropology and Law, 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 available as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit and to General Course students.
Course content
This course provides an examination of the cultural frameworks and social aspects of kinship systems, gender roles, personhood and human sexuality, analysed through ethnographic examples from a diverse range of settings. It aims to equip students with the analytical tools to engage in theoretical debates concerning core concepts such as 'kinship', 'marriage', 'gender', 'sex', 'the person', and the relationship between 'nature' and 'culture', as well as exploring how the experiences of kinship, sex and gender vary according to the regimes of politics, law and materiality in which they are embedded. The course charts the history of anthropological debates on kinship, relatedness, sex and gender, and familiarises students with a range of contemporary approaches to these themes, placing ethnographic materials into a critical dialogue with recent developments in feminist theory, queer theory, the anthropology of colonialism, cognitive science, and psychoanalysis.
Teaching
10 hours of lectures and 10 hours of classes in the AT. 10 hours of lectures and 10 hours of classes in the WT.
The contact hours listed above are the minimum expected. This course has a reading week in Week 6 of both AT and WT.
Formative coursework
Students will be expected to produce 1 essay in the AT and 1 essay in the WT.
Indicative reading
Carsten, J. After Kinship (2003); Chodorow, N. The Power of Feelings: Personal Meaning in Psychoanalysis, Gender and Culture (1999); Donnan, H. and Magowan, F. The Anthropology of Sex (2010); Levi-Strauss, C. The Elementary Structures of Kinship (1969); Moore, H. L. A Passion for Difference: Essays in Anthropology and Gender (1994); Schneider, D. A Critique of the Study of Kinship (1984); Stone, L. Kinship and Gender: An Introduction (2006).
Assessment
Essay (50%, 3000 words) in the WT.
Essay (50%, 3000 words) in the ST.
Key facts
Department: Anthropology
Total students 2023/24: 77
Average class size 2023/24: 15
Capped 2023/24: No
Value: One Unit
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.