This module introduces students to the discipline of social anthropology, its history, methods, and theories. The focus is on the study of human cultural diversity and social organization, through a critical awareness of the ways anthropologists theorise "culture" and "society". Students will encounter a range of ethnographic and case study materials, learning about the aesthetics of nomadic peoples, Big Men in Papua New Guinea, and New Reproductive Technologies in contemporary societies, to choose just a few examples. Students will furthermore learn about anthropological approaches to gender, ethnicity, race, and kinship and develop a critical awareness of the ways in which culture - be it our own or that of others - can be studied.
Category: Department of Sociology and Criminology