Universität Wien
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240029 VS Anthropology of place and mobility (3.3.3) (2022S)

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

Participation at first session is obligatory!

The lecturer can invite students to a grade-relevant discussion about partial achievements. Partial achievements that are obtained by fraud or plagiarized result in the non-evaluation of the course (entry 'X' in certificate). The plagiarism software 'Turnitin' will be used for courses with continuous assessment.
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. 20 participants
Language: English

Lecturers

Classes

If possible, the course is to be conducted in presence. Due to the respective applicable distance regulations and other measures, adjustments may be made.

DI 01.03.2022 13.15-14.45 Übungsraum (A414) NIG 4. Stock (Bestätigt)
DI 08.03.2022 13.15-14.45 Übungsraum (A414) NIG 4. Stock (Bestätigt)
DI 22.03.2022 13.15-14.45 Übungsraum (A414) NIG 4. Stock (Bestätigt)
DI 29.03.2022 13.15-14.45 Übungsraum (A414) NIG 4. Stock (Bestätigt)
DI 05.04.2022 13.15-14.45 Übungsraum (A414) NIG 4. Stock (Bestätigt)
DI 26.04.2022 13.15-14.45 Übungsraum (A414) NIG 4. Stock (Bestätigt)
DI 03.05.2022 13.15-14.45 Übungsraum (A414) NIG 4. Stock (Bestätigt)
DI 10.05.2022 13.15-14.45 Übungsraum (A414) NIG 4. Stock (Bestätigt)
FR 20.05.2022 17.00-19.00 Excursion
DI 24.05.2022 13.15-14.45 Übungsraum (A414) NIG 4. Stock (Bestätigt)
DI 31.05.2022 13.15-14.45 Übungsraum (A414) NIG 4. Stock (Bestätigt)
DI 21.06.2022 13.15-14.45 Übungsraum (A414) NIG 4. Stock (Bestätigt)
DI 28.06.2022 13.15-14.45 Übungsraum (A414) NIG 4. Stock (Bestätigt)
DI 28.06.2022 13.15-16.30 Besprechungszimmer Sowi (C0628A) NIG 6. Stock (Bestätigt)

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

This course offers an introduction to the anthropological study of place, through the lens of mobility. Readings set for this course consider how people know, sense, and make places, and how they learn to interpret and act upon these experiences in distinct ways. Case studies include, for example, the place-naming practices of American Western Apache, the place-claiming strategies of cyclists in Vienna, and the transnational place-making practices of overseas Indians. Through the theme of mobility, students will specifically think about translocal, networked, and embodied aspects of place-making. Students will learn to think anthropologically through the focus on people-centric concepts, while also considering how (seemingly) local vocabularies and practices are related to wider, translocal, dynamics.

Readings set for the course include a handbook, a monograph, and academic articles/chapters. Through excursions, and some films and newspaper articles, the course invites students to apply concepts in real-life settings. In classroom discussions and presentations, students consider how anthropological studies of place can inform social science and public discussions about spatial justice, sustainability, and urban (re)development.

Learning goals
After completing this course,
-Students have gained theoretical knowledge about the anthropology of place, focussing on theoretical frameworks that address relations between place and mobility;
-Students have gained insight into a variety of understandings of place, as described concretely in ethnographic case studies;
-Students can reflect on the merits, critiques, and challenges of these perspectives in the social sciences and in public debates.

A bicycle excursion takes place on Friday 20 May, 17.00 to 19.30 hrs. To participate, you need to have (or borrow) a bicycle. Please contact the lecturer if you have difficulties finding a bicycle.

Assessment and permitted materials

There are 4 ECTS in this course.
-For 2 ECTS, there are two individual papers (each worth 40%, total 80% of the final grade).
-For 1 ECTC, students participate in an excursion paired with an observation, and ethnographic writing assignment, which results in a research report (worth 20% of the final grade).
-For 1 ECTS, to receive a passing grade, weekly participation and preparation of all classes is compulsory (to be evaluated as either “sufficient” or “not sufficient” at the end of the course). “Sufficient” participation includes a maximum of 2 missed classes, and evidence of active engagement with the study materials through participation in discussions and presentations.

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria
A = 1 (Very Good): 87 - 100%
B = 2 (Good): 75 - 86,99%
C = 3 (Satisfactory): 63 - 74,99%
D = 4 (Enough): 50 - 62,99%
F = 5 (Not Enough): 00 - 49,99%

Examination topics

The following topics will be discussed:
*theories of place in anthropology, and to some extent cultural and social geography;
*the social construction of place versus the social production of space;
*place-making: practices of naming, storytelling, dwelling, building, and moving;
*translocal place-making: urban mobility, regional orientations, transnational migration

Reading list

Students read one handbook, one ethnographic monograph, and some articles/chapters. The reading is divided in two blocks, each block ending with a paper. In addition, students participate in an excursion paired with an ethnographic writing assignment, to apply key ideas from the literature in a real-life situation.

The course handbook:
*Low, Setha. 2017. Spatializing Culture: The Ethnography of Space and Place. London: Routledge.

Monograph:
*Basso, Keith. 1996. Wisdom Sits in Places: Landscape and Language among the Western Apache. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press (accessible as audiobook on Audible, narrated by Steven Jay Cohen).

Chapters/articles:
* Chapter 3 of Emerson, R. M., R. I. Fretz, and L. Shaw. 1995. Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
* Furness, Z. 2007. Critical Mass, Urban Space and Vélomobility. Mobilities 2 (2): 299-319.
* Verstappen, S and M. Rutten. 2015. A global town in central Gujarat, India: Rural-urban connections and international migration. South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies, 38(2), 230-245.
*Chapter 1 (regional orientations) of Verstappen, S. 2022. New Lives in Anand: Building a Muslim Hub in Western India. Seattle: University of Washington Press.

Association in the course directory

Last modified: Mo 13.06.2022 10:09