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AT403A: ANTHROPOLOGY, MUSEUMS AND SOCIETY (2023-2024)

Last modified: 27 Oct 2023 11:16


Course Overview

This course examines museums as sites for the production and dissemination of anthropological knowledge. Through seminars, museum visits, and access to the resources of the University’s Museums and Special Collections, students will consider the legacies of historic collecting practices and the challenges of ethically engaging with collections in the present. Students will gain experience of conducting research in a museum environment, learn about the limits of material culture as an anthropological data source, and engage with theoretical and methodological frameworks for working with collections.  They will also become familiar with how museums are taking on contemporary challenges, such decolonisation, climate change, funding crises, etc. Assessment is based on an Artefact Study Portfolio, and an essay in which students reflect upon the themes of the course as a whole.

Course Details

Study Type Undergraduate Level 4
Term First Term Credit Points 30 credits (15 ECTS credits)
Campus Aberdeen Sustained Study No
Co-ordinators
  • Professor Alison Brown

What courses & programmes must have been taken before this course?

What other courses must be taken with this course?

None.

What courses cannot be taken with this course?

Are there a limited number of places available?

No

Course Description

Museum anthropology brings together professional practices of curation with ethnographic and cultural questions, often by drawing on historic collections to consider contemporary challenges. Museum anthropologists view museums as field sites, as contested spaces where relations of power are played out in public-facing galleries and behind the scenes. Students on this course will receive training in the use of material culture for anthropological research and interpretation. They will be encouraged to relate their research with the University’s collections to current issues informing the contemporary practice of museum anthropology. Themes to be covered may include: how artefacts are defined and valued in different contexts; how meaning is negotiated in exhibitions; relationships between museums and Indigenous peoples; digital technologies and 'knowledge repatriation'; traditional care and curation; repatriation and questions of ownership; museums and decolonisation; museums and sustainability.


Contact Teaching Time

Information on contact teaching time is available from the course guide.

Teaching Breakdown

More Information about Week Numbers


Details, including assessments, may be subject to change until 30 August 2024 for 1st term courses and 20 December 2024 for 2nd term courses.

Summative Assessments

Report: Individual

Assessment Type Summative Weighting 15
Assessment Weeks Feedback Weeks

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1000 Words.

Learning Outcomes
Knowledge LevelThinking SkillOutcome
Sorry, we don't have this information available just now. Please check the course guide on MyAberdeen or with the Course Coordinator

Blog Post

Assessment Type Summative Weighting 25
Assessment Weeks Feedback Weeks

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1500 Words. 

Learning Outcomes
Knowledge LevelThinking SkillOutcome
Sorry, we don't have this information available just now. Please check the course guide on MyAberdeen or with the Course Coordinator

Essay

Assessment Type Summative Weighting 40
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2000 words.

Word Count 2000
Learning Outcomes
Knowledge LevelThinking SkillOutcome
Sorry, we don't have this information available just now. Please check the course guide on MyAberdeen or with the Course Coordinator

Reading Critique Participation

Assessment Type Summative Weighting 20
Assessment Weeks Feedback Weeks

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Learning Outcomes
Knowledge LevelThinking SkillOutcome
Sorry, we don't have this information available just now. Please check the course guide on MyAberdeen or with the Course Coordinator

Formative Assessment

There are no assessments for this course.

Course Learning Outcomes

Knowledge LevelThinking SkillOutcome
FactualRememberILO’s for this course are available in the course guide.

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