ANTH47415: Advanced Studies in Anthropology, Art and Experience

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• To introduce students to classic and contemporary anthropological debates around art and material culture
• To develop an understanding of concepts such as aesthetics, agency and style from the perspective of social anthropology.
• To understand how anthropological approaches to art and material culture can further our understanding of social processes, notions of the person and of time.
• To provide students with analytical tools to study anthropologically material and visual cultures.

• The module deals with the social anthropology of art and material culture with a particular attention to ethnographic approaches that foreground how everyday social interactions are mediated, produced and transformed by systems of objects and images.
• The module will cover a range of subjects such as: primitivism and modernism, art as a category for experience, the agency of art objects, anthropological approaches to aesthetics and style, art and notions of time.

Subject-specific Knowledge:

• At the end of the module, students will be able to:
• Demonstrate advanced levels of current knowledge and intensive understanding in social anthropology research.
• Deploy analytical skills specific to social anthropological understandings of art and material culture.
• Be competent in accessing and assimilating specialised research literature of an advanced nature.

Subject-specific Skills:

• In depth knowledge of the social anthropology of art and material culture, with emphasis on interpretation and comprehensive understanding of primary or secondary data.

Key Skills:

• Preparation and effective communication of research methods, data, interpretation and arguments in written form.

• Lectures will provide students with an outline of key knowledge and debates in the topic area, discuss the literature that students should explore, and provide relevant examples and cases studies.
• Tutorials will develop topics introduced in lectures and required reading to analyse aspects or case studies in greater depth and to prepare students for their summative assignment. Practical components will provide students with hands-on experience of the research.
• Advanced discussion classes will allow students to develop their skills of critical thinking and evaluation, as well as how to synthesise and interrogate material at a level commensurate with postgraduate attainment.
• Student preparation and reading time will allow engagement with specific references in advance of tutorials and general and particular reading related to the assessment, which will be a written assignment (such as an essay or report).
• Summative assessment will be a 2500-word written piece where students will apply concepts and perspectives in social anthropology to relevant ethnographic and/or media materials related to art and material culture societies, and a critical reading log. The critical reading log is an annotated bibliography in which the evidence and arguments presented in readings selected by the student and relevant to the development of their summative assessment are evaluated and critiqued. This along with the other summative component should show evidence of a higher level of engagement expected at postgraduate level

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