ANTH44115: Interrogating Ethnography

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• To explore the practical, epistemic and methodological aspects of ethnography as the distinctive method of socio-cultural anthropology
• To understand the workings of ethnographic writing and ethnographic argument through detailed engagement with book-length monographs
• To enable students to develop the specific critical and theoretical skills required to unpack others' (and construct their own) ethnographic accounts

• Ethnographic methods and their relationship to theory:
• Topics covered will vary from year to year but may include: the relationship of explanatory theories to ethnographic research: learning and interpreting everyday life; non-participant observation; film and visual anthropology; participation, power and collaborative ethnography; reflexivity in ethnographic research; ethical issues in ethnographic research; and writing ethnography
• Close reading and discussion of full-length ethnographic texts: One of the most distinctive aspects of anthropology as a discipline is the way in which theoretical arguments are articulated through detailed, in-depth ethnographic accounts.

Subject-specific Knowledge:

• Advanced knowledge of some key ethnographic texts in recent anthropology.
• Advanced knowledge of key theoretical issues and debates relating to anthropological enquiry.
• Understand and critically evaluate the relevance of ethnography as a mode of anthropological research
• Ability to apply theoretical insights to ethnographic texts and contexts.

Subject-specific Skills:

• An ability to read and critically evaluate book-length ethnographic arguments.
• Competency to conduct in-depth and theoretically informed analysis of a particular issue in relation to detailed ethnographic material.
• Engage anthropological arguments in relation to ethnographic methodology, ethics and epistemology.

Key Skills:

• Prepare and present scholarly work for seminars and assessment.
• Independent and critical reading of ethnographies.
• Ability to integrate and apply new knowledge and skills in professional practice.

• Each fortnight (across one term) students will engage with a full-length ethnographic monograph through (a) in the first week, a one-hour seminar introducing the text and discussing key themes; followed by (b) in the second week, a two-hour workshop with student-led discussion of particular aspects of the text in greater depth.
• Assessment will be a 3000-word essay critically reflecting on one or more full-length ethnographic texts, with a shorter formative piece to help prepare for this.

750-word written piece outlining the basic argument of the summative essay, with an indicative bibliography (with written individual feedback).

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