Social Anthropology
Code: 101136 ECTS Credits: 6| Degree | Type | Year | Semester |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2500262 Sociology | OT | 4 | 1 |
Contact
- Name:
- Daniel Ahmed Fernandez Garcia
- Email:
- danielahmed.fernandez.garcia@uab.cat
Use of Languages
- Principal working language:
- spanish (spa)
- Some groups entirely in English:
- Yes
- Some groups entirely in Catalan:
- Yes
- Some groups entirely in Spanish:
- Yes
Other comments on languages
This course include text and audiovisual material in English, in addition to Spanish and CatalanPrerequisites
There is no prerequisites.
Objectives and Contextualisation
The main goal of this course is to focus on the questions raised by the apparent paradox of a shared yet diverse humanity. After considering some of the historical foundations of the discipline, we will explore cultural diversity by reading ethnographic monographs and viewing documentaries about a variety of peoples and their ways of life in different areas around the world. We will critically analyse the existant relations between the local, regional and global context in some of the most important challenges facing human societies today.
The course will develop a comparative approach that will include the anthropological analysis of our own sociocultural context, specifically addressing the issue of the construction of otherness, its contents, reasons and impacts. It will allows to develop a capacity to recognize preconceptions and assumptions of our own social and cultural environments and how anthropology contributes to unpacking, understanding and questioning these processes in the world and in our multicultural experience.
Competences
- Applying the concepts and approaches of the sociological theory, specially the explanations of social inequalities between classes, between genders and between ethnic groups, to the implementation of public policies and to the resolution of conflict situations.
- Demonstrating a comprehension of the approaches of the sociological theory in its different aspects, interpretations and historical context.
- Describing social phenomena in a theoretically relevant way, bearing in mind the complexity of the involved factors, its causes and its effects.
- Developing self-learning strategies.
- Respecting the diversity and plurality of ideas, people and situations.
Learning Outcomes
- Defining the sociological concepts that interpret the cultural phenomena.
- Developing self-learning strategies.
- Distinguishing the underlying cultural phenomena of specific policies or conflicts.
- Explaining the social interpretations of culture according to these approaches.
- Relating the debates regarding these approaches, that refer to culture, with the historical context in which they emerged.
- Respecting the diversity and plurality of ideas, people and situations.
Content
Part 1:
Unit 1: Brief history and principal characteristics.
Unit 2: Culture.
Unit 3: Methods and main techniques.
Unit 4: The construction of an Other.
Unit 5: Identity.
Part 2:
Unit 6: Sex/Gender systems
Unit 7:Kinship systems and reproduction
Unit 8: The "typology feber" in anthropology. Impact of nationalism, colonialism and globalisation.
Unit 9: Applied anthropology and social intervention
Methodology
Based on the idea that in the teaching and learning process the student take the leading role, active participation in class will be expected. The class method will include:
- Lectures on the topics of the program with ICT support.
‐ Reading and discussing specific chapters and articles in each section of the program.
- Viewing and discussing specific audiovisual materials in each section of the program.
- Class exercises carried out in small groups; discussion and presentation of group remarks, questions and conclusions.
- Group project. Students will be expected to work in small and cooperative working groups, focusing in one specific challenge in relation to issues studied in class. The project will be presented in class (groups and presentation calendar in the virtual campus)
15 minutes of a class will be reserved, within the calendar established by the center / degree, for the completion by the students of the surveys of evaluation of the performance of the teaching staff and of evaluation of the subject.
Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.
Activities
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type: Directed | |||
| Discussion of written and audiovisual texts. | 25 | 1 | |
| Lectures with ICT support | 30 | 1.2 | 1 |
| Type: Supervised | |||
| Class exercises and discussions. Group project. | 35 | 1.4 | |
| Type: Autonomous | |||
| Reading and text reviews and group project | 60 | 2.4 | 1 |
Assessment
The evaluation of the subject will be carried out in a progressive way through various assessments:
- Oral participation and debate in class in working groups. This is an exercise in the analysis of written, visual or audiovisual material and its presentation in the classroom. 10%
- Individual written tests. Two to four reviews or reading notes will consist of a critical, argued and documented reflection on all the contents worked on in the classroom. The date will be announced through the virtual campus of the course. 50%
- Group work and group presentation of the group project on a topic of your choice. There will be a script for the work and a rubric for the oral presentation on the virtual campus. There will be two tutorials that will serve to guide the critical in-depth work and analysis. The presentation will be delivered on the date indicated on the virtual campus: 40%.
The final mark will be the average of the marks obtained in all the above sections.
Students who do not achieve a mark of 5 will be considered to have failed and may opt for a retake if they have been previously assessed in activities equivalent to a minimum of two thirds of the total grade for the subject. The recovery will consist of a final synthesis test.
At the time of each evaluation activity, the teacher will inform the students (Moodle) of the procedure and date for the revision of the grades.
The student will receive a grade of "Not evaluable" if he/she has not handed in more than 30% of the evaluation activities.
In case of any irregularity by the student that may lead to a significant variation in the grade of an evaluation act, this evaluation act will be graded with 0, regardless of the disciplinary process that may be initiated. In the event of several irregularities in the assessment acts of the same subject, the final grade for this subject will be 0.
Assessment Activities
| Title | Weighting | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Group project and presentation | 40% | 0 | 0 | 2, 3, 5 |
| Individual written papers | 50% | 0 | 0 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 |
| Oral participation and class discussion | 10% | 0 | 0 | 1, 3, 4, 5 |
Bibliography
AADD (1993) Diccionari d’Antropologia. Barcelona, TERMCAT.
Banard, A. (2000) History and Theory in Anthropology, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press
Ember, C.R.; Ember, M. y Peregrine, P. (2004) “¿Qué es la antropología?” en Antropología. Madrid: Pearson - Prentice Hall.
Eriksen, Thomas Hylland, 2000. Small Places, Large Issues: an Introduction to Social and Cultural Anthropology (2nd ed) Pluto Press.
Hendry, J. (1999) An Introduction to Social Anthropology. Other’s People’s Worlds, London, Macmillan Press.
Kottak, C. (2007) Introducción a la antropología cultural: espejo para la humanidad Madrid, McGraw-Hill.
Software
No specific software required.