Last modified: 25 Mar 2016 11:33
Anthropology is the comparative study of human ways of life through the study of societies and cultures around the world. In this course we introduce some of the key topics of contemporary anthropological inquiry: What is Anthropology? What do anthropologists do? What is ethnography? How can we see the diverse world of societies and cultures around us, not by looking from the outside, but by looking at how people themselves make their own lives and meanings?
| Study Type | Undergraduate | Level | 1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Term | First Term | Credit Points | 15 credits (7.5 ECTS credits) |
| Campus | None. | Sustained Study | No |
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This course is the basic introductory module to anthropology, and introduces students to the principal features of the discipline. Anthropology itself has many sub-branches, such as social, cultural, anthropology, forensic and evolutionary anthropology. The anthropology programme and courses at Aberdeen focus on socio-cultural anthropology, that is the comparative study of human societies and cultures through detailed ethnography. Ethnography is a way of describing social life that emerges from long-term fieldwork amongst and study of particular cultures and communities, to understand the way in which diverse communities and cultures organise their lives, interact with one another, form meaningful understandings of the world through religion, politics, kinship and language. In this sense, anthropology at Aberdeen is the study of societies and cultures from the “inside”, a perspective profoundly different from that which usually come across in news or television reports, travel shows or political rhetoric. It challenges our basic assumptions about the world we live in.
The course as a whole is comprised of three components: an introduction to socio-cultural anthropology itself, and two further substantive components, which change from year: the study of exchange and gift-giving; the formations of language, meaning and myth; the anthropology of politics and social movements.
Information on contact teaching time is available from the course guide.
1st Attempt: 1 two-hour written examination (60%), in-course assessment (40%).
Resit: 1 two-hour written examination.
Tutorial presentations and discussions.
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