ANTH49515: Advanced Studies in the Social Anthropology of Hormones

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• To introduce a range of social anthropological perspectives on pharmaceuticals, bodily substances, and the entanglements of nature and culture (biology and the social) in the context of hormones.
• To explore the contemporary phenomena of hormone thinking and hormone living.
• To provide students with a set of critical tools to understand the effects of hormone knowledges on our understandings of nature and culture including the body /mind, sex/gender, normal/pathological, inside/outside and self/other.

• The module will examine hormonal flows from a range of theoretical perspectives including feminist technoscience, material-semiotics, gender studies, critical disability studies, anthropology of reproduction, and anthropology of pharmaceuticals.
• Topics that may be covered include: pharmaceutical flows, fertility/infertility, infant-parent bonding, environmental toxicity, the politics of intersex, and hormonal models of the normal and the pathological.

Subject-specific Knowledge:

• At the end of the module, students will be able to:
• Demonstrate advanced levels of current knowledge and intensive understanding of approaches in medical anthropology including biosociality, material-semiotics and the molecularization of life.
• Deploy analytical skills specific to the social anthropology of hormones including those required to explore hormone thinking and hormone living.
• Be competent in accessing and assimilating specialised research literature of an advanced nature.

Subject-specific Skills:

• Experience and understanding of methods, data and conceptual frameworks used in the study of hormones and social and medical anthropology and science and technology studies more broadly. Ability to communicate these verbally and in written form.

Key Skills:

• Critical analysis of literature and data;
• Self-reflection on knowledge and skills acquired and developed;
• Accessing library resources
• Undertaking independent study and research;
• Preparation and effective communication of interpretations and arguments in written form

• Activities may consist of pre-recorded videos, live presentations, break-out discussions or other activities as appropriate to the material covered from week to week
• 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.
• Tutorial elements will prepare students for their summative assignment. They will combine discussions about practical components and discussions about the topics introduced in lectures and required reading. Practical components will provide students with hands-on experience of the research.
• Student preparation and reading time will allow engagement with specific references in advance of tutorials and general and particular reading related to the assessment.
• Summative assessment will consist of a 3,500-word written assignment (essay or research report) in which students will explore advanced concepts and perspectives covered in the course with the option of including data gathered during practical assignments. Students will use critical reading skills and advanced writing skills to produce their submission. They will have the option to develop an answer to a set essay question, their own essay question, or to reflect on data collected using a range of anthropological research methods.
• 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.

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