Undergraduate - Area of study Anthropology

Students who commenced study in 2014 should refer to this area of study entry for direction on the requirments; to check which units are currently available for enrolment, refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your area of study.

print version

This area of study entry applies to students commencing this course in 2014 and should be read in conjunction with the relevant course entry in the Handbook. Any units listed for this area of study relate only to the 'Requirements' outlined in the Faculty of Arts component of any bachelors double degrees.

Managing faculty	Faculty of Arts
Offered by	School of Political and Social Inquiry
Campus(es)	Clayton

Notes

Unit codes that are not linked to their entry in the Handbook are not available for study in the current year.

Description

Anthropology is the comparative study of different ways of life - it seeks an 'insider' perspective on alternative ways of being in the world. To interpret human behaviour, anthropologists ask questions not just about what people do, but about why they do it, what they mean by it, what motivates them to do it and what people value in diverse societies and cultures. Anthropologists are playing an increasingly important role in the modern world: wherever human diversity is an issue, anthropologists are called upon to provide their expertise. In fields as diverse as journalism, climate change, mining, dispute-resolution and peace-building, social policy, indigenous issues and development aid, anthropologists are called upon to contribute their specialised knowledge and understanding.

Anthropologists generally gain this knowledge and understanding experientially, by immersing themselves in the lives of others. They usually select and approach a group of people following a distinct way of life with a collective identity of some kind, often based on religious, political, social or economic factors. Using a method known as fieldwork, anthropologists observe the lives of others by living with them, sharing in their experiences, and discussing their perspectives to gain a detailed understanding of their cultural world. The social contexts in which anthropologists conduct fieldwork are extremely varied, but what anthropologists share is a commitment to exploring and understanding different ways of life and diverse cultural perspectives, so as to illuminate these for others. Anthropology thus enables us to develop an understanding of cultural difference, but it also helps us reflect on our own cultural world from an altered perspective.

Outcomes

Upon successful completion of the major, students will be able to:

critically analyse, apply and communicate an advanced level of understanding of the content, methods of investigation and theoretical frameworks of anthropology, and utilise the research skills gained from exposure to this and other disciplines
advocate for the need to appreciate difference in problem-solving at all levels of social organisation
demonstrate the critical ability to analyse truth claims and evidence, and utilise training and judgement to adapt skills and knowledge in different contexts
engage responsibly in scholarhip or professional practice cooperatively with others, demonstrating a capacity to accommodate the world view of others and achieve agreed outcomes through the use of highly developed oral and written communication skills
devise time management practices to manage competing demands, engage in professional development and demonstrate a commitment to life-long learning.

Units

Minor in anthropology

Students completing a minorminor (http://www.monash.edu.au/pubs/2014handbooks/undergrad/arts-07.html) in anthropology must complete four units (24 points), including:

(a.) two first-year gateway unitsgateway units (http://www.monash.edu.au/pubs/2014handbooks/undergrad/arts-08.html) (12 points):

ATS1254 Culture, power and difference: Indigeneity and Australian identity
ATS1255 Culture, power and globalisation

(b.) additional elective units from List A only (12 points)

Note: Students can take the second-year cornerstone units from the major as electives.

Major in anthropology

Students completing a majormajor (http://www.monash.edu.au/pubs/2014handbooks/undergrad/arts-07.html) in anthropology must complete eight units (48 points), including:

(a.) two first-year gateway unitsgateway units (http://www.monash.edu.au/pubs/2014handbooks/undergrad/arts-08.html) (12 points):

ATS1254 Culture, power and difference: Indigeneity and Australian identity
ATS1255 Culture, power and globalisation

(b.) at least two second-year cornerstone unitscornerstone units (http://www.monash.edu.au/pubs/2014handbooks/undergrad/arts-08.html) (12 points):

(i.) students must complete:

ATS2371 Magic, science and religion

(ii.) plus one of:

ATS2376 Political anthropology: Ethnic and national identities in the modern world
ATS2629 Faith in the future: Religion and spirituality in a globalising world

(c.) at least one third-year capstone unitcapstone unit (http://www.monash.edu.au/pubs/2014handbooks/undergrad/arts-08.html) (6 points), chosen from:

ATS3372 Great debates in anthropology
ATS3852 Contemporary issues in social science research*

(d.) additional elective units from List A and List B (24 points). No more than two units (12 points) can be completed from List B.

A minimum of three units (18 points) must be completed at third-year level.

Note: Students can take the remaining cornerstone and capstone units as electives. Students intending to progress to honours are encouraged to complete both of the third-year capstone units.

* This unit is also a capstone unit for behavioural studiesbehavioural studies (http://www.monash.edu.au/pubs/2014handbooks/aos/behavioural-studies/ug-arts-behavioural-studies.html), criminologycriminology (http://www.monash.edu.au/pubs/2014handbooks/aos/criminology/ug-arts-criminology.html) and sociologysociology (http://www.monash.edu.au/pubs/2014handbooks/aos/sociology/ug-arts-sociology.html). Students doing a major in anthropology along with a major in one of these areas need to choose a different capstone unit for each major. A unit cannot be counted twice towards different majors.

Extended major in anthropology

Students completing an extended major in anthropology (60 points), must complete an additional 12-point unit chosen from the following:

ATS3129 Arts internship
ATS3130 Arts international internship

Elective units

List A

ATS2359/ATS3359 Hearing the country: Studies in Indigenous Australian ethnoecology
ATS2374 Witchcraft in the modern world
ATS2378 Development and the third world
ATS2621 Religion as culture in the Malay world
ATS2625 Mobile worlds: Migrants, refugees and the politics of belonging
ATS3627 Global cultures, local traditions: Creating and consuming (popular) culture
ATS3634 Global indigeneity

List B

ATS2354/ATS3354 Interrogating racism: Indigenous Australians and the state
ATS2358 Contesting laws: Heritage, culture and land
ATS2357/ATS3357 Australian Aboriginal women
ATS2560 Theorising sexed bodies: Contemporary feminist theory
ATS2606/ATS3606 The Island world of South-East Asia
ATS2624 Global governance
ATS2671/ATS3671 Managing intercultural communication
ATS2676 Sociolinguistics
ATS2678/ATS3678 Language and identity
ATS2716 Cultural diversity, citizenship and identity
ATS2724 Spiritualities, faiths and religions: Society and the transcendent
ATS2727 Men, masculinity and society
ATS2912 Performance studies I - concepts
ATS3361 Museums and galleries: Popular expressions of indigenous cultures
ATS3544 Archaeology field and laboratory methods
ATS3666 Eastern Austronesian languages of Indonesia, East Timor and Oceania
ATS3912 Performance studies II - cultures

Relevant courses

Diplomas

2327 Diploma in Liberal Arts

Bachelors

Single degrees

0002 Bachelor of Arts
3907 Bachelor of Arts (English Language)
3910 Bachelor of Arts (Global)
4077 Bachelor of Arts (International)
1366 Bachelor of Arts (Languages)
1638 Bachelor of Arts Scholars Program
4042 Bachelor of Journalism
0202 Bachelor of Letters
1275 Bachelor of Professional Communication

Double degrees

4640 Bachelor of Aerospace Engineering (Honours) and Bachelor of Arts
4098 Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Business
0550 Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Business (Accounting)
0553 Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Business (Banking and Finance)
0555 Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Business (Management)
0556 Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Business (Marketing)
0542 Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Commerce
0170 Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Economics
1541 Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Education (Primary)
1641 Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Education (Secondary)
0080 Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws
3054 Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Music
0530 Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science
3426 Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Social Work
0002 Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Theology
3779 Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Visual Arts
4097 Bachelor of Arts Scholars Program and Bachelor of Commerce Scholars Program
4403 Bachelor of Arts (Global) and Bachelor of Commerce
3537 Bachelor of Arts (Global) and Bachelor of Science
4634 Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) and Bachelor of Arts
4644 Bachelor of Environmental Engineering (Honours) and Bachelor of Arts
4426 Bachelor of Journalism and Bachelor of Business
4425 Bachelor of Journalism and Bachelor of Commerce
4069 Bachelor of Journalism and Bachelor of Science
4648 Bachelor of Mechatronics Engineering (Honours) and Bachelor of Arts