Re-thinking human studies: after postmodernity
J Finkelstein
12 points * 2 hours per week * First semester * Clayton
Undertaking study of human societies always involves difficulties; the recent debates around modernity and postmodernity have intensified these. We are now confronting the questions, can the disciplines in human studies say anything significant? Has the postmodernist's influence on defining what is knowledge and what is data influenced empirical studies? Have mass media communications changed the social field and destroyed the focus of disciplines concerned with human culture? Has feminism forced a re-conceptualisation of human studies? What new ethical issues have emerged in the investigation of human culture, and how do these affect the role of the researcher?
Assessment
Written (6000 words): 60% * Written (2 x 1500 words): 20% each
Recommended texts
Foster H (ed.) Postmodern culture Pluto, 1985
Harvey D The condition of postmodernity Blackwell, 1989
Turner B (ed.) Theories of modernity and postmodernity Sage, 1990