ANTH49615: Advanced Studies in Violence and Memory

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• To introduce a range of socio-cultural anthropological perspectives on violence and memory.
• To explore theoretical concepts in depth through the analysis of state violence and memory, methodological and ethical issues relating to the study of violence and its processes of memorialisation; the role of collective memory history and identity; human rights, testimony and memory, gendered violence, embodied violence; monuments, museums, heritage and dark tourism; apology and reconciliation.
• To provide students with a set of critical tools to explore the methodological and ethical issues through which violence and memory can be studied.
• The module will examine current anthropological, sociological, feminist, political, historical, cultural and discursive interdisciplinary debates regarding violence and memory.
• Topics that may be covered include: critical examination of violence inflicted by the state and the processes, through which it is remembered, forgotten; the transnational interlinkages that exist between the binaries of collective, personal, private and public memories; how violence and memory is gendered, classed, embodied, performed; testimonies and human rights; the technologies of memory namely history, monuments, landscape, museums and the materiality of such memorialisation

• Topics that may be covered include: critical examination of violence inflicted by the state and the processes, through which it is remembered, forgotten; the transnational interlinkages that exist between the binaries of collective, personal, private and public memories; how violence and memory is gendered, classed, embodied, performed; testimonies and human rights; the technologies of memory namely history, monuments, landscape, museums and the materiality of such memorialisation.

Subject-specific Knowledge:

• Demonstrate advanced levels of current knowledge and intensive understanding in social anthropological theories of violence and memory.
• In depth knowledge of a particular area of social anthropology, with emphasis on interpretation and comprehensive understanding of primary data.
• In depth knowledge of the social anthropology of violence and memory, with emphasis on interpretation and comprehensive understanding of ethnographies.

Subject-specific Skills:

• Deploy analytical skills specific to social anthropological studies of violence, memorialisation, apology and reconciliation.
• Be competent in accessing and assimilating specialised research literature of an advanced nature.

Key Skills:

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

• Classes will integrate lecture, tutorial and practical components, with the balance dictated by appropriateness to the research topic in question.
• Lecture elements 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.
• Lectures may include pre-recorded videos, live presentations, and/or interactive activities as appropriate for the material being taught from week to week.
• Tutorial elements 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.
• 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 consist of a 3,500 word assignment in which students will apply advanced concepts and perspectives covered in the course to address various questions linked to violence and memory, analysing them through social anthropological lens. The analysis should show evidence of a higher level of engagement expected at postgraduate level.

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