240503 SE MM1 Anthropology’s Concepts: Key Debates and Structural Contradictions (2024S)
Continuous assessment of course work
Labels
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.
The use of AI tools (e.g. ChatGPT) for the attainment of partial achievements is only allowed if explicitly requested by the course instructor.
The use of AI tools (e.g. ChatGPT) for the attainment of partial achievements is only allowed if explicitly requested by the course instructor.
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).
- Registration is open from Th 01.02.2024 00:01 to Mo 26.02.2024 23:59
- Deregistration possible until Mo 18.03.2024 23:59
Details
max. 25 participants
Language: English
Lecturers
Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N
UPDATE 13.03.2024: changed dates
UPDATE 06.05.2024: changed dates
UPDATE 15.05.2024: changed dates
Friday
01.03.
13:15 - 14:45
Hörsaal A, NIG 4.Stock
Monday
11.03.
11:30 - 14:45
Hörsaal C, NIG 4. Stock
Tuesday
07.05.
13:15 - 16:30
Seminarraum A, NIG 4. Stock
Friday
17.05.
11:30 - 14:45
Seminarraum A, NIG 4. Stock
N
Wednesday
29.05.
13:15 - 16:30
Seminarraum A, NIG 4. Stock
Friday
31.05.
11:30 - 14:45
Übungsraum (A414) NIG 4. Stock
Friday
14.06.
11:30 - 14:45
Übungsraum (A414) NIG 4. Stock
Wednesday
19.06.
11:30 - 13:00
Hörsaal C, NIG 4. Stock
Information
Aims, contents and method of the course
This course is part of the introductory curriculum for MA students in social and cultural anthropology. As such, it introduces MA students not to anthropology’s key concepts—with which MA students should already be familiar—but to debates over those concepts. Moreover, rather than locating these conceptual debates solely within a discipline and its internal discourses, the course asks how debates over anthropology’s concepts have instead been shaped in many cases by historical and material forces beyond the discipline. We will consider, then, not anthropology as a bounded discursive field, but rather anthropology as a discipline that often reflects real structural contradictions, not least those of empire, colonialism, and global racial capitalism. The anthropological concepts this course will examine include, but are not limited to, culture and society; race, capital, and economy; structure and symbol; and ethnography and participant observation.
Assessment and permitted materials
The course requires students to read each session’s assigned readings; reflect on the readings in the form of one response paper per session; make one in-class presentation; participate actively in in-class discussion; and submit a final term paper.
Minimum requirements and assessment criteria
Response papers: 30%
Participation: 30% (5% attendance, 10% in-class participation, 15% in-class presentation)
Term paper: 40%91-100 points: 1 (excellent)
81-90 points: 2 (good)
71-80 points: 3 (satisfactory)
61-70 points: 4 (sufficient)To complete the course, students need to obtain at least 61 points.
Participation: 30% (5% attendance, 10% in-class participation, 15% in-class presentation)
Term paper: 40%91-100 points: 1 (excellent)
81-90 points: 2 (good)
71-80 points: 3 (satisfactory)
61-70 points: 4 (sufficient)To complete the course, students need to obtain at least 61 points.
Examination topics
The course does not require an exam.
Reading list
Possibilities below - full syllabus available on the first day of class.Abu-Lughod, Lila. 1991. “Writing Against Culture.” In Richard G. Fox, ed., Recapturing Anthropology. American Research Press.Asad, Talal. 1973. “Introduction.” In Talal Asad, ed., Anthropology and the Colonial Encounter. Ithaca Press, 9-20.Boas, Franz. 1911. The Mind of Primitive Man. The Macmillan Company.Durkheim, Emile. 1895. “What Is a Social Fact?” From The Rules of Sociological Method. The Free Press.Eriksen, Thomas Hylland. 2001 (1995). Small Places, Large Issues: An Introduction to Social and Cultural Anthropology. Pluto Press.Evans-Pritchard, E. E. 1940. "The Nuer of Southern Sudan." In Fortes, M. and E. E. Evans-Pritchard, eds., African Political Systems. Oxford University Press, 272-296.Geertz, Clifford. 1973. The Interpretation of Cultures. Basic Books.Günel, Gokçe. 2019. Spaceship in the Desert: Energy, Climate Change, and Urban Design in Abu Dhabi. Duke University Press.Hurston, Zora Neale. 1935. Mules and Men. Indiana University Press.Jobson, Ryan Cecil. 2019. “The Case for Letting Anthropology Burn: Sociocultural Anthropology in 2019.” American Anthropologist 122(2): 259-271.Malinowski, Bronislaw, 1922. Argonauts of the Western Pacific. Routledge.Mauss, Marcel 1950 (1925). The Gift: Forms and Functions of Exchange in Archaic Societies. Norton.Mintz, Sidney. 1986. Sweetness and Power: The Place of Sugar in Modern History. Penguin.Morgan, Lewis Henry. 1877. Ancient Society. Henry Holt & Co.Wolf, Eric. 1982. Europe and the People without History. University of California Press.
Association in the course directory
Last modified: We 15.05.2024 15:26