ANY1020

Anthropology of social change

6 points
* 3 hours per week
* Second semester
* Clayton
* Prerequisites: None. Can be combined with ANY1010 or SCY1010 to form sequence

Objectives This subject aims to give students a basic grounding in an understanding of the different ways that anthropologists have sought to analyse and define social change, both theoretically and empirically; knowledge about the processes involved in changes to people's social identities, cultural practices, and sources of livelihood in ethnographic case studies (with a particular focus on the Asia-Pacific region); the critical and expressive skills required to write lucid, well-organised and independent responses to the topics chosen for assessment; a confidence in the oral and written use of the conceptual language of the discipline to which they are introduced.

Synopsis Anthropologists working among diverse communities have had to take into account the different ways in which peoples' identities, cultural practices, and sources of livelihoods have been increasingly shaped by global changes and inter-ethnic conflicts. This subject examines the impact of cultures upon each other with a particular focus on the Asia-Pacific region. It considers the cultural, economic and political changes in people's lives as well as some of the debates generated in anthropology concerning writing about cultures.

Assessment Written (2500 words): 55%
* Examination (2 hours): 45%

Recommended texts

Evans G (ed.) Asia's cultural mosaic: An anthropological introduction Prentice-Hall, 1993