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240026 VO+UE VM4 / VM6 - Confined Development: Ethnic Minorities in the Border Regions between Mongolia, Russia a (2024W)

Problems and Conflicts, Chances and Hopes

4.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 24 - Kultur- und Sozialanthropologie
Continuous assessment of course work
Moodle

Registration/Deregistration

Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).

Details

max. 25 participants
Language: English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

  • Monday 28.10. 11:30 - 14:45 Seminarraum 7, Kolingasse 14-16, OG01
  • Thursday 31.10. 09:45 - 13:00 Seminarraum 7, Kolingasse 14-16, OG01
  • Monday 11.11. 11:30 - 14:45 Seminarraum 7, Kolingasse 14-16, OG01
  • Thursday 14.11. 09:45 - 13:00 Seminarraum 7, Kolingasse 14-16, OG01
  • Monday 25.11. 11:30 - 14:45 Seminarraum 7, Kolingasse 14-16, OG01
  • Thursday 28.11. 09:45 - 13:00 Seminarraum 7, Kolingasse 14-16, OG01
  • Monday 09.12. 11:30 - 14:45 Seminarraum 7, Kolingasse 14-16, OG01
  • Monday 16.12. 13:15 - 14:45 Seminarraum 8, Kolingasse 14-16, OG01

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

Goal of the course is to provide students with an overview of the region and its societies with a special focus on the culture and history of indigenous population groups up to current conditions and to lead the students to own critical analyses of historical and current processes in connection with these groups.

Course contents:
• Geography: landscapes, climate, flora, fauna, natural resources;
• History of research: early Chinese and Arabic sources, European travelogues and research from the 17th to the 20th century, Soviet ethnography and Western research in the 20th century, current research;
• History: early history, the Mongolian empire, Russian and Chinese colonialism, socialist period, post-socialism, current conditions.
• Ethnicities: Mongols, Buryats, Tyvans, Altaians, Evenks, Tibetans and several smaller groups:
- Economies: traditional livestock breeding, hunting and reindeer husbandry and their modernizations and re-traditionalizations;
- Social organizations: traditional kinship systems and social organizations and the processes of their changes;
- Religions: Shamanism, Buddhism and Burchanism and Russian Orthodox, other Christian, and other historical and current missionary activities;
- Cultural life: science, arts, sports and leisure and their transformations.
• Analysis of problems, conflicts and recent developments:
- Effects of modernization processes;
- Effects of the socialist transformation and post-socialist re-traditionalization processes;
- Effects of ethnic and national identity constructions, ethnocentric and nationalistic ideologies and state minority policies;
- Causes and effects of ethnic conflicts;
- Effects of environmental destruction and disasters;
- Effects of the Russian-Ukrainian war;
- Possibilities, opportunities and risks of promoting the extraction of raw materials;
- Possibilities, opportunities and risks arising from the development of tourism;
- Possibilities, opportunities and risks arising from the Chinese economic growth.

Teaching methods:
- Lectures by the course instructor, supported by visual aids such as PowerPoint slides, films, videos and photos;
- Discussion in class of the presented topics and materials;
- Discussion in class of the mandatory readings;
- Short in-class-presentations by students and their discussion;
- Possibly guest lectures by experts on specific topics.

Assessment and permitted materials

Students´ performance will be assessed by evaluating the following tasks:
- active participation in class work (20 points);
- active participation in the discussions of mandatory readings (15 points);
- literature and internet research and a short presentation on a topic of the student's choice (25 points);
- short written closed-book exam to be taken in-person at the end of the semester (40 pts).
Using AI tools is prohibited.

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

The minimum requirements are regular class attendance and that at least half of the possible points of each assessment part will be achieved.

Grading scale:
91-100 points: 1 (“sehr gut” = excellent)
81-90 points: 2 (“gut” = good)
71-80 points: 3 (“befriedigend” = satisfactory)
61-70 points: 4 (“genügend” = sufficient)
0-60 points: 5 (“nicht genügend” = insufficient)

Examination topics

The possible examination topics will be all the topics presented and discussed in class as well as the contents of the mandatory readings. The exam will consist of both multiple-choice and open-ended questions. For answering the latter critical thinking should be applied. Using AI tools is prohibited.

Reading list

Mandatory and recommended readings will be announced topic by topic as the semester will progress.

Association in the course directory

VM4 / VM6;

Last modified: Tu 10.12.2024 11:26