Postgraduate Course: Spectacles and Crowds: anthropology through publics (SCAN11028)
Course Outline
| School | School of Social and Political Science |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | A large part of the human experience involves engaging with public spaces, whether that includes attending festivals, being part of a commuting crowd, or posting something online. This course offers students comparative insight into the nature and purpose of large-scale gatherings in different media ecosystems and cultural contexts. |
| Course description |
A large part of the human experience involves engaging with public spaces, whether that includes attending festivals, being part of a commuting crowd, or posting something online. Yet rarely do we stop to reflect on the nature of collectives, or on the way technology is altering their purpose. This course offers students deeper insight into the nature and purpose of large-scale gatherings in different media eco systems and cultural contexts.
From Juergen Habermas definition of the public sphere as a domain of social life where public opinion can be formed, to Victor Turners concept of ritual communitas as social bonding, this course will pursue the topic of the collective through a range of fascinating theoretical and ethnographic intersections, including (but not limited to) the physical and the digital, the religious and the political, heritage, sport, media, and art. What is a public and who is a public? How do we make ourselves legible in different types of social context? And what (contested) purpose do spectacles, festivals, and different online platforms serve? This course will explore how old and new kinds of collectives work to animate visions of markets, value, and creative labour, and show how publics underpin transformations in the practices and politics of knowledge production.
Through lectures and seminars incorporating multi-modal forms of learning, this course gives students the tools to think critically and cross-culturally about crowds, spectacles, and other large-scale technologies for gathering. It will also make them familiar with contemporary dilemmas for the discipline of anthropology in relation to wider audiences and public interests.
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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 |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Critically compare and contrast similarities and differences in the ways public spaces and mass gatherings are understood and experienced across cultures
- Identify advantages and limitations to different theoretical approaches to the question of collectives, including but not limited to 19th and 20th century anthropological theories, political concepts of the public sphere, and psychological approaches to crowds.
- Use ethnographic accounts of publics and large-scale events to develop anthropological arguments
- Reflect critically and comparatively on contemporary issues surrounding publics spheres and festival ecologies
- Demonstrate an advanced understanding of how contemporary issues relate to anthropological publics
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Reading List
Frost, N. 2015. Anthropology and Festivals: festival ecologies. Ethnos 81 (4): 569-583
Habermas, J.(1991): The public sphere In Mukerji, C.; Schudson, M.(Ed.): Rethinking popular culture. Contemporary perspectives in cultural studies. Berkeley/Los Angeles: University of California Press. pp.398-404.
Pink, S. & Abram,S. 2015. Media, Anthropology and Public Engagement. Berghahn.
Steffan, Megan. (Ed.). 2020. Crowds. Ethnographic encounters. Routledge.
Throop, J. and Loughlin, C. (2002) Ritual, collective effervescence and the categories: toward a neo-Durkheimian model of the nature of human consciousness, feeling and understanding. Journal of Ritual Studies. 16 (1): 40-63.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Research and enquiry
Cognitive skills - evaluation and critical analysis
Creative problem solving and question posing
Personal and intellectual autonomy
Self motivation and organizational skills
Communication skills
Accountability and working with others
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| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Maya Mayblin
Tel:
Email: maya.mayblin@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | |
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