Key Debates in Contemporary Anthropology (001AN)
Key Debates in Contemporary Anthropology
Module 001AN
Module details for 2023/24.
15 credits
FHEQ Level 5
Module Outline
This module grounds students in Key Debates in Contemporary Anthropology, building on their first year ‘Key Concepts in Anthropology’ that provides a basic theoretical framework, and preparing students for their third year Advanced Topics options, so that their learning is informed by the debates that vex current anthropological inquiry in the department, across the UK and beyond. Whilst these debates draw on broader social theoretical literatures, the aim is to examine how they are mobilised within current empirical anthropological inquiry, and how this can shape wider debates in the social sciences, arts and humanities. Topics will vary but may include:
• Perspectivism, ontology and the new Orientalism
• Society beyond the human: multi-species sociality and the Anthropocene
• Affect and emotional labour
• Precarity, politics and the popular
• Secularism, religions and intolerance
• Producing and claiming subjectivity and identity
• Anthropology beyond ‘Ethnography’: fiction, narrative and depicting the social.
• Anthropology beyond ‘logocentrism’: physicality and performance
• Infrastructure, technology and cyborg sociality
• The ‘good’, the ‘bad’ and the ‘ugly’: anthropology and morality
Module learning outcomes
To demonstrate knowledge of a variety of current theoretical debates within anthropology.
To demonstrate knowledge of anthropological contributions to broader theoretical debates within the social sciences.
To critically assess/evaluate how key debates in the social sciences are informing contemporary anthropological research and writing.
To demonstrate how key debates in anthropology are shaped by, and are shaping, contemporary empirical inquiry.
| Type | Timing | Weighting |
|---|---|---|
| Essay (1500 words) | Semester 1 Assessment Week 2 Mon 16:00 | 80.00% |
| Coursework | 20.00% | |
| Coursework components. Weighted as shown below. | ||
| Essay | T1 Week 7 | 100.00% |
Timing
Submission deadlines may vary for different types of assignment/groups of students.
Weighting
Coursework components (if listed) total 100% of the overall coursework weighting value.
| Term | Method | Duration | Week pattern |
|---|---|---|---|
| Autumn Semester | Workshop | 2 hours | 11111111111 |
How to read the week pattern
The numbers indicate the weeks of the term and how many events take place each week.
Dr Jon Mitchell
Convenor
/profiles/35384
Dr Karis Jade Petty
Assess convenor
/profiles/202499
Dr Evan Killick
Assess convenor
/profiles/248956
Dr James McMurray
Convenor, Assess convenor
/profiles/244445
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