ANY3490

Locating Timor Loro Sae: East Timor in Cultural Context ( 6 points, SCA Band 1, 0.125 EFTSL)

Leader: Penelope Graham

Offered:
Not offered in 2006.

Synopsis: This unit locates the emerging independent state of East Timor in its cultural context through a comparative ethnographic study of Timorese and neighbouring societies. It explores cultural practice in the region comparatively through a consideration of ecology and economic life; cosmology, ritual and religion; indigenous social organization; and issues of power, status, gender and other pressures involved in nation-building.

Objectives: On completion of this subject, students should be able to: 1. Discuss the historical and comparative anthropology of the East Timor region. 2. Analyse the contribution of selected ethnographies to our understanding of the historical and sociological complexity of the region. 3. Evaluate the relevance of the comparative method to developing an anthropological understanding of the issues facing the new nation.

Assessment: Seminar participation: 20% + Oral presentation (equivalent to 1000 words): 20% + Book review exercise (1000 words): 20% + Essay (2000 words): 40% + Third-year students are required to extend their analyses beyond the regional materials as such to consider broader issues raised by the comparative method in delineating "regions" in the scholarly and popular imagination.

Contact Hours: 2 hours (1 x 1 hour lecture and 1 x 1 hour tutorial) per week

Prerequisites: A first-year sequence in Anthropology or History or Politics or Sociology or a cognate discipline or by permission

Prohibitions: ANY2490/COS2490/COS3490