Undergraduate Course: Fundamentals: Reading and Writing Anthropology (SCAN08009)
Course Outline
| School | School of Social and Political Science |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Course type | Standard |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 8 (Year 1 Undergraduate) |
Credits | 0 |
| Home subject area | Social Anthropology |
Other subject area | None |
| Course website |
None |
Taught in Gaelic? | No |
| Course description | This course introduces students to some of the theories of knowledge that underpin the ways in which anthropologists write, the questions they ask and the techniques they use to answer them. Through the close reading of two book-length ethnographies, students will begin to understand what it means to think and write anthropologically. The course will explore strategies for reading and comprehending different kinds of anthropological texts. Students will learn how to incorporate their responses to those texts into different kinds of writing exercises, including tutorial responses, exam essays and term papers. |
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
| Additional Costs | None |
Course Delivery Information
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| Delivery period: 2014/15 Semester 2, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Learn enabled: Yes |
Quota: None |
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Web Timetable |
Web Timetable |
| Course Start Date |
12/01/2015 |
| Breakdown of Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
0
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 10,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
5 )
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| Additional Notes |
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| Breakdown of Assessment Methods (Further Info) |
Please contact the School directly for a breakdown of Assessment Methods
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| No Exam Information |
Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes
| By the end of the course students will be able to read, understand and evaluate a range of ethnographic texts. They will be able to demonstrate their understanding of those texts using a variety of writing genres including tutorial responses, exam essays and term papers. Students will also have learnt key presentation skills and will be able to collaborate effectively in a group. |
Assessment Information
Assessment 1: Read and prepare a 500-word reading response to an ethnographic monograph: Bourgois and Schonberg¿s Righteous Dopefiend (2009).
Bourgois, P. & J. Schonberg. 2009. Righteous Dopefiend. Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: University of California Press.
Your reader response should address the following questions:
A. What is this book about?
B. How did the anthropologists conduct their research and what kind of relationship did they have with the people under study?
C. Why do you think anthropologists should be interested in this book (or not) or care about these people¿s lives?
D. Did the anthropologists demonstrate a genuine interest in their informants? If so, how did they communicate this to the reader? If not, could you suggest particular ways in which this interest could be foregrounded in the text?
E. Finally, why should anyone outside anthropology be interested (or not) in this ethnography and the people in it?
Assessment 2: Write a journal entry to share with your fellow students that reflects on the following questions: have you learnt about the way anthropologists write and how to read anthropology?
Assessment 3: In your allocated groups give a ten-minute presentation. Presentations will be given in teaching session 5. The presentation should consist of a detailed essay plan to answer the question set in week three:
¿Ethnography is the attempt to understand another life world using the self as the instrument of knowing¿ (Ortner 1995). Discuss in relation to the monograph that you have been allocated to read in full.
¿ include alternative essay sections and ethnographic examples
¿ demonstrate a clear understanding of how ethnography can be employed to strengthen your essay writing
¿ take the form of a simple powerpoint presentation, or any other mode of delivery you choose
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Special Arrangements
| None |
Additional Information
| Academic description |
Not entered |
| Syllabus |
Not entered |
| Transferable skills |
Not entered |
| Reading list |
Not entered |
| Study Abroad |
Not entered |
| Study Pattern |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Rebecca Marsland
Tel: (0131 6)51 3864
Email: r.marsland@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mrs Vanessa Feldberg
Tel: (0131 6)50 3933
Email: vanessa.feldberg@ed.ac.uk |
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