Core Themes in Anthropology

Doel vak

Knowledge and understanding.
The student has acquired knowledge and understanding of:
(1) the core subjects of anthropology;
(2) the basic concepts in anthropology;
(3) the main methodological approaches in anthropology;
(4) the basic theoretical perspectives, through a tour across six
fundamental themes in anthropology.

Application.
The student has acquired the competence to:
(5) observe her or his own life-world from an anthropological
perspective;
(6) realize the contingencies and relativity of one’s own cultural
routines.
(7) take part in anthropological debates.

Inhoud vak

Anthropology is the comparative study of human societies and cultures
all over the world!
The goal of anthropology is to describe, analyse and explain different
cultures, to show how groups have adapted to and modified their
environment, and to understand how people try to make sense of their
world and give meaning to their lives. Core themes in anthropology is an
introduction to the discipline.

The course is built around six central core themes, or recurrent
fundamental questions: 1) questions about the nature of “culture”; 2)
questions about the individual and society; 3) questions about “ties
that bind” or a sense of “belonging”; 4) questions about structure and
agency; 5) questions about the body and materiality; and 6) questions
revolving around language, symbols, convictions and emic/etic
categorizations, including one's own perspective and biases.

Aanvullende informatie onderwijsvormen

Lectures; guest lectures; documentaries.

Toetsvorm

Mid-term and final exam with open questions.

Literatuur

Literature will be announced on CANVAS.

Aanvullende informatie doelgroep

BSc 1 Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology;
Pre-Master students Social and Cultural Anthropology;
BSc 2 Religiewetenschappen (Traject Comparatief);
Minor Anthropology or Minor Religiestudies;
Other (exchange) students are welcome to take this course as an
elective.

Overige informatie

For the first-year bachelor students in Cultural Anthropology and
Development Studies, this course is part of a cluster, called
“Anthropological Base”. The cluster consists of three courses: Core
Themes in Anthropology; History and Theory of Anthropology; and
Challenges of the 21st Century. For BSc1 students of Cultural
Anthropology and Development Sociology, the course will be accompanied
with tutorials, in the “Academic skills lab” (English programme) or
“Bachelorwerkgroep” (Dutch programme).

For other students, please check how this programme fits in your PMC
curriculum, minor programme, or trajectory (Religiewetenschappen).