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ANTH47030: Understanding Society and Culture

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Type Open
Level 4
Credits 30
Availability Available in 2023/24
Module Cap None.
Location Durham
Department Anthropology

Prerequisites

  • None.

Corequisites

  • None.

Excluded Combinations of Modules

  • None.

Aims

  • To explore the history and some of the recent developments in the theory of socio-cultural anthropology
  • To enable students to assay critically theoretical debates in socio-cultural anthropology and to engage with them in their research
  • To enable students to understand how anthropological fieldwork is influenced by the researcher's theoretical orientation

Content

  • Selected issues in the theory of socio-cultural anthropology

Learning Outcomes

Subject-specific Knowledge:

  • Broad knowledge of selected issues in the theory of socio-cultural anthropology
  • Broad knowledge of the history of socio-cultural anthropology
  • An understanding of how anthropological fieldwork is influenced by the researcher's theoretical orientation

Subject-specific Skills:

  • To develop ability to formulate theoretically informed research aims
  • To develop ability to present an effective argument (both orally and in writing) that demonstrates an awareness of the complexity of selected theoretical issues

Key Skills:

  • Communication: students will be taught how to communicate clearly (both orally and in writing) their understanding of the material they have read
  • Improving their own learning and performance: students will learn to use a variety of web tools for searching the primary and secondary literature

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

  • Lectures: to introduce and provide an overview of each topic and associated literature.
  • Seminars: student-led discussions, facilitated by the tutor, based on weekly readings on anthropological theory.
  • Summative assessment: 5000-word critical review of history/debates within anthropological theory and its relationship with fieldwork.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

ActivityNumberFrequencyDurationTotalMonitored
Seminars94-5 per term2 hours18 
Lectures94-5 per term1 hour9 
Preparation and Reading273 
Total300 

Summative Assessment

Component: CourseworkComponent Weighting: 100%
ElementLength / DurationElement WeightingResit Opportunity
Essay2500 words50 
Essay2500 words50 

Formative Assessment

Two 500 word essay plan (one in Michaelmas and one in Epiphany), outlining the key argument of the summative essay with indicative bibliography.

More information

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