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Current Debates in Anthropology: Practice

Module description

In this module, you will be able to broaden and deepen your understanding of what it means and entails to be an anthropologist today. Building upon the term one module (ANT 2003) examining current theoretical and methodological trends in the discipline of anthropology, term two looks at these in practice, examining the work of anthropologists engaging with debates of public interest. The course asks what insights anthropological theory and methods bring to the examination of timely issues, as well as what challenges such issues pose to the discipline today and how, consequently, the discipline is changing.

Module aims - intentions of the module

The primary aim of the module is to further build on your existing knowledge of anthropological theory, and introduce you to a body of concepts and approaches developed by practitioners of this dynamic subject in response to conducting fieldwork in a changing world. The module also aims to equip you with the necessary knowledge and skills to enable you to understand and evaluate the differing views expressed by established anthropologists in relation to key theoretical debates. Through constructive seminar discussions they will be also be empowered to feel confident in utilising anthropological theory as a tool for analysing your own research.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. display knowledge of specific theoretical concepts and methodological approaches in anthropology and the intellectual debates concerning them;
• 2. display awareness of, and sensitivity to, human diversity, and a reflexive appreciation of its scope and complexity;
• 3. evaluate the ethical implications of anthropological research in relation to a selection of ethnographic case studies and in relation to the Association of Social Anthropologists' Ethical Guidelines for Good Research Practice;

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 4. demonstrate a competence in using major theoretical perspectives and concepts in anthropology via the application of appropriate theoretical models in the analysis of ethnographic case studies;
• 5. demonstrate a recognition of the politics of language, indirect forms of communication, forms of power, theoretical statements and claims of authority, and an ability to analyse them;
• 6. plan, undertake and present scholarly work that shows an understanding of anthropological aims, methods and theoretical considerations;

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 7. express your own ideas in writing, summarize the arguments of others, and distinguish between the two;
• 8. engage in constructive discussion in group situations; and
• 9. evaluate your strengths and weaknesses in learning and study skills and to take action to improve your capacity to learn.

Syllabus plan

Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover some or all of the following topics:

Lectures and Tutorial Topics

• Civil Disobedience and Activism
• The Animals in our Food
• Desire, Consumption and Waste
• New forms of Kinship
• The Crisis of Pity
• Non-binary Genders and Non-normative Sexualities
• Who is / What is a person anyway / anymore?
• Tourism and the Commodification of Culture
• Conflict, Violence and Terrorism
• Pornography and the production of fantasies

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

Burr, R. 2002. Shaming of the Anthropologist: Ethical Dilemmas during and in the Aftermath of the Fieldwork Process. Anthropology Matters, 4(1).

Chouliaraki, Lilie (2008) Symbolic power of transnational media: managing the visibility of suffering. Global Media and Communication, 4 (3). pp. 329-351.

Giri, A. K. 2006. Cosmopolitanism and beyond: Towards a multiverse of transformations. Development and Change, 37(6): 1277-1292.

Graeber, David (2011) “Consumption,” Current Anthropology 52 (4): 489-511.

Pachirat, Timothy. 2013. Every Twelve Seconds: Industrialized Slaughter and the Politics of Sight. Yale Agrarian Studies Series. New Haven, Conn.: Yale Univ. Press.

Sahlins, M. 1999. Two or Three Things that I Know about Culture, The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, Vol.5 (3), p.399-421

Key words search

Anthropology, practice, ethnography