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2022/2023

Ethnographic Texts and Audiovisual Resources

Code: 101277 ECTS Credits: 6
Degree Type Year Semester
2500256 Social and Cultural Anthropology FB 1 1

Errata

“The subject 101277, Ethnographic Texts and Audiovisual Material, is taught in Catalan. There is no group entirely in Spanish”.

Contact

Name:
Jorge Grau Rebollo
Email:
jordi.grau@uab.cat

Use of Languages

Principal working language:
catalan (cat)
Some groups entirely in English:
No
Some groups entirely in Catalan:
Yes
Some groups entirely in Spanish:
No

Other comments on languages

Some of the materials used in class are in English or in Spanish

Prerequisites

No specific requirements are needed to follow the course

Objectives and Contextualisation

This course develops basic training in Social and Cultural Anthropology. It is part of the "basic concepts and fields of anthropology" subject.

This course will anlyze concepts and classic fields of anthropology through ethnographic texts and audiovisual sources by placing descriptive and theoretical categories in the historical context of the discipline and by crititcally aprproaching stylistic resources of ethnographic documents.

 After this course, the student will be able:

  • To recognize cultural variability and to prevent the formulation of ethnocentric judgments.
  • To manage classic and current ethnographic information sources in order to retrieve relevant data.
  • To explain and to present the analytical outcomes of the selected ethnographic corpus.

Competences

  • Apprehending cultural diversity through ethnography and critically assessing ethnographic materials as knowledge of local contexts and as a proposal of theoretical models.
  • Carry out effective written work or oral presentations adapted to the appropriate register in different languages.
  • Demonstrate skills for working autonomously or in teams to achieve the planned objectives including in multicultural and interdisciplinary contexts.
  • Students must be capable of collecting and interpreting relevant data (usually within their area of study) in order to make statements that reflect social, scientific or ethical relevant issues.
  • Students must have and understand knowledge of an area of study built on the basis of general secondary education, and while it relies on some advanced textbooks it also includes some aspects coming from the forefront of its field of study.
  • Take sex- or gender-based inequalities into consideration when operating within one's own area of knowledge.
  • Use digital tools and critically interpret specific documentary sources.
  • Using the discipline's ethnographic and theoretical corpus with analytical and synthesis skills.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Applying the knowledge of cultural variability and its genesis to avoid ethnocentric projections.
  2. Apprehending cultural diversity through ethnography.
  3. Assess the reliability of sources, select important data and cross-check information.
  4. Communicate using language that is not sexist or discriminatory.
  5. Express ideas with a specific vocabulary appropriate to the discipline.
  6. Identifying the sociocultural variability through ethnographic texts and audiovisual resources.
  7. Identifying the theories concerning the different meanings of the concept of culture.
  8. Interpreting the cultural diversity through ethnography.
  9. Plan work effectively, individually or in groups, in order to fulfil the planned objectives.
  10. Theoretically analysing ethnographic examples of cultural diversity in the fields of kinship, economy, politics and religion.
  11. Using the ethnographic corpus in the cultural critique.

Content

1. Culture, ethnography and otherness.

2. Audiovisual productions as ethnographic documents.

3. The historical contexts of ethnography. Contributions of ethnography to current social contexts.

4. Ethnographic approaches to systems of: subsistence, sex/gender, kinship, social control and beliefs.

 

Methodology

Methodology:

  • Lectures with IT support.
  • Presentation and specific guidelines for the autonomous search of documentation in archives and ethnographic databases.
  • Viewing and discussion of ethnographic documentaries.
  • Collaborative teamwork.
  • Elaboration of concept maps and abstracts.
  • Active participation of students in class activities.


Training activities:

  • Theoretical classes and discussion sessions oriented by audio-visual and written documents.
  • Definition and disciplinary genesis of key words and concepts.
  • Simulations of search and ethnographic data-gathering in multimedia formats.
  • Comprehensive reading and discussion of texts and analysis of audiovisual products with ethnographic content.Individual study and team discussion prior to papers submission.

 

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      
Lectures and analysis of textual, audiovisual and archival ethnographic documents 42.5 1.7 10, 1, 6, 7, 8, 2, 11
Type: Supervised      
Tutoring 4 0.16 6, 8
Type: Autonomous      
Individual study and preparation of essays 39 1.56 10, 1, 6, 7, 8, 2, 11
Information search (archives, repositories...) 20 0.8 6, 11
Reeading and documentary viewings 20 0.8 10, 6, 7, 8

Assessment

The evaluation of the subject will consist of four items:

Module 1: Group work. [35%]

  • At the beginning of the course, the lecturer will set a series of work groups. Each group will have to work on a specific question or topic by using ethnographic information extracted from ehraf World Cultures files. 
  • Complete guidelines, evaluation criteria, format issues and delivery deadline will be available at the course's Moodle.

Module 2: Co-evaluation by group members. [5%]. This module is excluded from re-assessment.

  • Team members should evaluate the performance of their team members.
  • Due to the nature of this assessment, the module is excluded from re-assessment.

Module 3: Exam. [40%].

  • The specific kind of exam (in situ, online, test, short question, etc.) shall be adapted to the dynamics of the course. The teacher will inform the students well in advance.
  • The specific date of the exam, as well as the materials required, will be specified at the course's Moodle.

Module 4. Active participation and classroom activities. [20%]. This module is excluded from re-assessment.

  • This module will assess each student's active involvement and participation throughout the semester. The continuous dynamics of evaluation do not make this module's re-assessment possible.
  • The dates of tests andsubmissions are specified in the course calendar, published in Moodle at the beginning of the semester. Any change will be duly announced.

Procedure for reviewing grades awarded.

  • On carrying out each assessment activity, lecturers will inform students (on Moodle) of the procedures to be followed for reviewing all grades awarded, and the date on which such a review will take place.

Consideration of "Not avaluable."

  • In order to get a final course grading, the student must complete at least modules 1 and 3.
  • Therefore, a student who has not completed these modules during the semester will NOT be EVALUABLE.
  • If the student is assessable but fails to pass modules 1 or 3, s/he can reassess them at the date established by the Academic Administration (published on Moodle).

 Conditions for re-assessment.

  • Modules 1 and 3 can be re-assessed. However, in order to do so, the student must comply with the conditions mentioned above.
  • Modules 1 and 3 will require a minimum grade of 3.5 to do this weighting. Any lower grade would require the student to reassess that module.
  • Having met these conditions, the student must retake the suspended module(s) if the subject's final grade, calculated according to the weighting explained, is lower than 5.

The highest grade in a re-assessment exercise will be 5.

Other conditions.

  • The final course grade will result from the weighting indicatedin each module.
  • The subject will be considered as passed if the final grade, calculated according to such weighting, is equal to or higher than 5.

Other general evaluation considerations.

  • Evaluation evidences delivered beyond the due date or not fitting the format standards will not be accepted.

Plagiarism 

  • All sources must be appropriately quoted (see Moodle for further information). 
  • Should any question about what does constitute plagiarism arise, please find more information at the guide "Com citar i com evitar el plagi" (Faculty of Politics and Sociology of the UAB) for students [in catalan]

In the event of a student committing any irregularity that may lead to a significant variation in the grade awarded to an assessment activity, the student will be given a zero for this activity, regardless of any disciplinary process that may take place.

In the event of several irregularities in assessment activities of the same subject, the student will be given a zero as the final grade for this subject.

Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Active participation and classroom activities 20% 6 0.24 10, 1, 4, 6, 8, 2
Co-evaluation of group members 5% 1 0.04 9
Exam 40% 1.5 0.06 1, 5, 7, 2
Exercise, in group, of search and analysis of ethnographic information. 35% 16 0.64 10, 1, 8, 2, 11, 3

Bibliography

On-line database (only available form UAB-connected computers or those connecting via Virtual Private Network):

 Compulsory monograph:

  • KROEBER, Theodora; DESMONTS, Antonio [traductor]. (2019 [1964]). Ishi : el último de su tribu / Theodora Kroeber; Antonio Desmonts (traductor). Antoni Bosch editor. (Find it online at UAB). Permalink.

Additional compulsory readings:

  • BOHANNAN, Laura (1998 [1996]) "Shakespeare en la Selva", in Boivin, Mauricio, Rosato, Ana y Arribas, Victoria (eds.) (1998). Constructores de otredad. Una introducción a la Antropología Social y CulturalBuenos Aires: Eudeba; pp: 75-80. [Original: Bohannan, Laura (1966) "Shakespeare in the bush" Natural History, 75: 28-33. Disponible en línia.
  • MALINOWSKI, Bronislaw (1986 [1922]) "Introducción: objeto, método y finalidad de esta investigación", a Los Argonautas del Pacífico Occidental,  Vol.1. Barcelona: Planeta. pp. 19-42. Find it online.
  • MOLINA, Josué; RICART, Joana; RODRÍGUEZ, Elisabet. (2007). “Teresa San Román, antropòloga”, Perifèria: revista de investigación y formación en antropología, 7. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5565/rev/periferia.180. Disponible online.

 Bibliografía general

It is strongly advised to have a general anthropology handbook to follow the course. You can use, for example, any of the following list:

  • ANTA FÉLEZ, José Luis; LAGUNAS ÁRIAS, David. (2002) Introducción a la Antropología Social. Pachuca (México): Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo. Find it at UAB libraries.
  • BEATTIE, John. (1978) Otras culturas. México D.F.: F.C.E. Find it at UAB Libraries.
  • BOHANNAN, Paul. (1992) Para raros, nosotros. Introducción a la antropología cultural. Madrid: Akal. Find it at UAB libraries.
  • EMBER, Carol; EMBER, Melvin. (1997) Antropología cultural. Madrid: Prentice Hall. Find it at UAB libraries.
  • FRIGOLÉ, Joan. [et al.] (1995) Antropologia Social. Barcelona : Proa. Find it at UAB libraries.
  • HARRIS, Marvin. (2004 [1981]) Introducción a la antropología general. Madrid: Alianza. Find it at UAB libraries.
  • KOTTAK, Conrad Ph. (2007) Espejo para la humanidad. Introducción a la antropología cultural. Madrid: McGraw-Hill. Tercera edición. Find it at UAB libraries.
  • LLOBERA, Josep Ramon. (1999) Manual d’antropologia social. Barcelona: Àgora, Edicions de la Universitat Oberta de Catalunya. Find it at UAB libraries.

 As for Anthropology dictionaries, you can use, among others, any of the following list: 

  • AGUIRRE, Ángel. (Ed). (2018) Diccionario temático de antropología social. Madrid: Delta Publicaciones. Find it at UAB libraries.
  • BONTE, Pierre; IZARD, Michael; ABÉLÈS, Marion [et al] (1996) Diccionario de Etnología y Anrtopología. Madrid: Akal. Find it at UAB libraries.
  • GRESLE, François [et al] (1994) Dictionnaire des sciences humaines : sociologie, anthropologie. Paris : Fernand Nathan. Find it at UAb libraries.
  • ORTÍZ GARCÍA, Carmen; SÁNCHEZ GÓMEZ, Luis Ángel (Eds.) (1994) Diccionario histórico de la Antropología Española. Madrid: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Departamento de Antropología de España y América. Find it at UAB libraries.

 Course filmography will be posted on Moodle at the beginning of the course.

 Should any change be made, it will be promptly announced at the Moodle of the subject.

Software

There is not specific software for this course.