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| ANTH0001-1 | Social and cultural antropology 1
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| Duration : | 30h Th |
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| Credits/ECTS : |
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| Holder(s) : | Benjamin Rubbers |
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| Language : | French language |
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| Course contents : | This introduction to anthropology will cover the discipline's formative years. After having discussed what distinguishes anthropology from other social sciences, we will study social evolutionists' work, who introduced anthropology into the academy at the end of the 19th century. Against this approach new anthropological theories developed between 1910 and 1950. During the course, we will discuss each of these theories, by travelling between the United Kingdom, United States, and France. This journey in early anthropological thought will give us the opportunity to address fundamental questions: 'is human history following any direction?'; 'what allows human beings to live together?'; 'to what extent is personality influenced by culture?'; or 'what are the consequences of contact between different societies?'. We will present ethnographic studies that these schools have produced in answer, and show how far they can still be considered as topical today. In the last session, we will briefly speak of the rupture caused by anthropological theories in the second half of the 20th century. These theories will be covered in the course Social and Cultural Anthropology II. |
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| Course objective : | By introducing students to the fundamentals of the discipline, this course aims at showing the relevance of the anthropological detour to question the 'natural' character of our practices and representations, and accordingly, to think about the way human beings make history. |
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| Prerequisites : | Minimal knowledge of French, a taste for reading, and above all curiosity about the world around us. |
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| Workshops : | Practice sessions will be organized during the term. |
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| Organization : | The course will meet during the second term. Here is a provisional sketch of class meetings and their topics: 1. What is anthropology? 2. Evolutionism in anthropology 3. B. Malinowski 1 4. B. Malinowski 2 5. A-R. Radcliffe-Brown and E. Evans-Pritchard 6. The Rhodes Livingstone Institute 7. F. Boas 8. Cultural diffusionism 9. Culture and personality 10. E. Durkheim, M. Mauss, R. Hertz 11. M. Griaule 12. The 'classical' period in anthropology |
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| Written notes : | A copy of PowerPoint presentations used in class will be posted on MyULg. Students will also receive a file of readings. |
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| Assessment : | The examination will consist of a series of multiple-choice questions (including degrees of certainty) during the first session. The arrangements for the 2nd session will depend on the number of students. Grading will depend on the course, the readings, and on the practice sessions. |
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| Contacts : | Office hours by appointment (brubbers@ulg.ac.be). My office is located : R.94, niveau 0, bâtiment B.31 in Sart-Tilman. |
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