This is a shell course complementing the suite of flexible single issue elective courses grouped around the compulsory core coursework. The concept is to be able to respond to current issues that emerge as a result of regional dynamics. The course would normally be offered on campus but may be wholly or partly delivered in-country depending on the nature of the topic.
The topics will vary for year to year and will generally be announced in the October before teaching begins.
Topic
The Trobriand Islands Revisited
The Trobriand Islanders of Papua New Guinea are among the most ethnographically well-studied peoples of the world, thanks to the pioneering fieldwork of Bronislaw Malinowski and subsequent investigators. Despite how much is known about the Trobriands, the culture has presented anthropologists with numerous outstanding ethnographic puzzles which have generated some of anthropology’s most colorful debates concerning procreation beliefs (‘virgin birth’), ‘mother right’ versus ‘father love’, the cross-cultural ‘Oedipal-Electra complex’, spirit reincarnation, gender hierarchy, the logic of mortuary ritual, Pacific chieftainship, political/cosmological power, the nature of magic, ‘primitive sexuality’ and ‘free love’, systems of gift exchange, the meaning of ‘primitive art’, etc. This seminar course will take a fresh in-depth look at Trobriand culture and social organization, focusing on several of the main points of controversy in the extant ethnography guided by new field and archival research conducted over the past eight years by the Instructor.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:
Generic
Due to the individual nature of this course it is not possible to provide an exclusive list of learning outcomes. However, the following is an indicative list of possible outcomes. it is expected that on successful completion of this course students should be able to:
1. identify issues of interest in the field under consideration;
2. discuss these issues coherently and persuasively;
3. assess arguments made in the field;
4. explain the complex attitudes people have to these issues;
5. analyse and compare relevant data;
6. collaborate with other students and staff to select and combine materials for a case study;
7. research, present and justify the results of your collaboration with other students and staff with respect to the case studies;
8. reflect on and articulate how your own views on the field have developed over the course of the semester
Introductory Tibetan
By the end of this course, students will be able to read and write Tibetan in the dBu chen script. They will also be able to conduct basic conversations in Tibetan, pronounced in modern, standard form. As this course will focus on the particles that play a predominant role in both contemporary and classical Tibetan composition, they will also be able to read elementary Tibetan texts with the aid of an instructor.
Indicative Assessment
Introductory Tibetan
-Nightly Homework 35%
-Pronunciation Check-up [Friday, Week One] 10%
-Midway exam (includes oral interview) [Monday, Week Three] 15%
-Final exam (including basic translation) [Friday, Weed Three] 20%
-Participation and Attendance 20%
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Workload
Varies depending on topic and whether offered as an intensive or semester-length course.
Refer to the course content and structure of each topic.
Requisite and Incompatibility
You will need to contact the School of Culture History and Language to request a permission code to enrol in this course.
Prescribed Texts
Introductory Tibetan:
Tournadre Nicolas and Sangda Dorje. 2003. Manual of Standard Tibetan. Ithaca: Snow Lion.
[With supplementary materials supplied in class and via Wattle.]
Fees
Tuition fees are for the academic year indicated at the top of the page.
If you are a domestic graduate coursework or international student you will be required to pay tuition fees. Tuition fees are indexed annually. Further information for domestic and international students about tuition and other fees can be found at Fees.
- Student Contribution Band:
- 1
- Unit value:
- 6 to 12 units
If you are an undergraduate student and have been offered a Commonwealth supported place, your fees are set by the Australian Government for each course. At ANU 1 EFTSL is 48 units (normally 8 x 6-unit courses). You can find your student contribution amount for each course at Fees. Where there is a unit range displayed for this course, not all unit options below may be available.
| Units | EFTSL |
|---|---|
| 6.00 | 0.12500 |
| 7.00 | 0.14583 |
| 8.00 | 0.16667 |
| 9.00 | 0.18750 |
| 10.00 | 0.20833 |
| 11.00 | 0.22917 |
| 12.00 | 0.25000 |
Course fees
- Domestic fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2015 | $493 per unit |
- International fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2015 | $725 per unit |
Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links
ANU utilises MyTimetable to enable students to view the timetable for their enrolled courses, browse, then self-allocate to small teaching activities / tutorials so they can better plan their time. Find out more on the Timetable webpage.
Class summaries, if available, can be accessed by clicking on the View link for the relevant class number.
Summer Session
| Class number | Class start date | Last day to enrol | Census date | Class end date | Mode Of Delivery | Class Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1550 | 01 Jan 2015 | 23 Jan 2015 | 23 Jan 2015 | 31 Mar 2015 | In Person | N/A |
First Semester
| Class number | Class start date | Last day to enrol | Census date | Class end date | Mode Of Delivery | Class Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1388 | 16 Feb 2015 | 06 Mar 2015 | 31 Mar 2015 | 29 May 2015 | In Person | N/A |
Autumn Session
| Class number | Class start date | Last day to enrol | Census date | Class end date | Mode Of Delivery | Class Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1591 | 01 Apr 2015 | 24 Apr 2015 | 24 Apr 2015 | 30 Jun 2015 | In Person | N/A |
Winter Session
| Class number | Class start date | Last day to enrol | Census date | Class end date | Mode Of Delivery | Class Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pols, IR & Pol Econ of Contemp China | ||||||
| 1500 | 01 Jul 2015 | 24 Jul 2015 | 24 Jul 2015 | 30 Sep 2015 | In Person | N/A |
| 1589 | 01 Jul 2015 | 24 Jul 2015 | 24 Jul 2015 | 30 Sep 2015 | In Person | N/A |
Second Semester
| Class number | Class start date | Last day to enrol | Census date | Class end date | Mode Of Delivery | Class Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Advanced Forensic Linguistics | ||||||
| 1638 | 20 Jul 2015 | 07 Aug 2015 | 31 Aug 2015 | 30 Oct 2015 | In Person | N/A |
Spring Session
| Class number | Class start date | Last day to enrol | Census date | Class end date | Mode Of Delivery | Class Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1503 | 01 Oct 2015 | 23 Oct 2015 | 23 Oct 2015 | 31 Dec 2015 | In Person | N/A |
