Undergraduate Course: Social Anthropology 1B: Anthropology Matters (SCAN08012)
Course Outline
| School | School of Social and Political Science |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 8 (Year 1 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | What does anthropology have to say about some of the most important issues facing us today? Anthropologists don't just engage with small-scale exotic societies but have always contributed to public debates about global issues that affect us all. In this course we examine how concepts and ideas that have driven anthropology help us shed new light on debates that are at the heart of contemporary questions about how our societies work. Each week will include two sessions exploring a single issue and anthropological contributions to surrounding debates relating to that issue. The issues explored will vary from year-to-year, examples include: climate change, hunger, well-being, body modification, and human rights. |
| Course description |
What does anthropology have to say about some of the most important issues facing us today? Anthropologists don't just engage with small-scale exotic societies but have always contributed to public debates about global issues that affect us all. In this course we examine how concepts and ideas that have driven anthropology help us shed new light on debates that are at the heart of contemporary questions about how our societies work. Each week will include two sessions exploring a single issue and anthropological contributions to surrounding debates relating to that issue. The issues explored will vary from year-to-year, examples include: climate change, hunger, well-being, body modification, and human rights.
Sample readings:
* Drugs.
* Sleep.
* Love.
* Gender.
* Euthanasia.
* Organ Transplantation.
* Circumcision.
* Cosmetic Surgery.
* Ethical Consumption.
* Choice.
* Violence and War.
* Peace and Reconciliation.
* Globalization and Development.
* Development and Applied Anthropology.
* Race and Ethnicity.
* Human Rights.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2021/22, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: None |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
196 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Short Essay: 1500-2000 words (40% of the overall mark)
Long Essay: 2500-3000 words (60% of the overall mark).
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| Feedback |
Not entered |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Through critical debate and analysis, students will gain a clear understanding of the relevance of social anthropology and its findings to the resolution of important social and cultural issues worldwide.
- They will enrich their appreciation of social and cultural commonalities and differences both within and between nations.
- Students will also strengthen their own cultural self-awareness.
- Students will develop the ability to apply moral and practical reasoning in culturally sensitive ways to current affairs
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Reading List
- Checker, Melissa (2009) ¿Anthropology in the public sphere, 2008: emerging trends and significant impacts.¿ American Anthropologist 111(2):162¿169
- Fassin, Didier (2013) ¿Why ethnography matters: on anthropology and its publics.¿ Cultural Anthropology 28,4:621-646
- MacClancy, Jeremy (2013) Anthropology in the Public Arena: Historical and Contemporary Contexts. Chichester, UK: Wiley |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
¿ apply different theories to the interpretation and explanation of human conduct and patterns of behaviour;
¿ recognise and account for the use of such theories by others;
¿ judge the value and relevance of empirical evidence and theoretical argument and interpretation in social science;
¿ identify and design ways of solving problems with a social and cultural dimension;
¿ question cultural assumptions;
¿ be able to sustain intellectual interest by remaining receptive to both new and old ideas, methods, and ways of thinking
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| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Tobias Kelly
Tel: (0131 6)50 3986
Email: toby.kelly@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Katarzyna Pietrzak
Tel: (0131 6)51 3162
Email: K.Pietrzak@ed.ac.uk |
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