The course surveys the variety of approaches to the description and analysis of human social life in social/cultural anthropology through lectures and the close examination of selected texts. It does so by tracing the development of anthropological theory through the twentieth century, and with reference to its intellectual origins. The course begins by locating anthropology in its contemporary post-colonial context with an examination of critical perspectives on the history of the discipline, and explores the challenge of reading the past from the perspective of the present. It then moves from a consideration of the emergence of society as an object of study, outlines and assesses key aspects of functionalist, structural-functionalist, and structuralist approaches, explores the influence of marxism and practice theory, examines key aspects of interpretive and symbolic anthropology, and ends with an examination of the implications of post-modernity and globalisation for the doing and writing of ethnography.
Other Information
Incompatibility
ANTH8017 History of Anthropological Theory
Indicative Assessment
In-class presentation (10%), seminar attendance and participation (10%), 1500-2000 word essay (30%) and 7000-8000 word essay (50%).
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Workload
One 2-hours seminar per week
Requisite and Incompatibility
Preliminary Reading
*Kuper, A. Anthropologists and Anthropology: The British School 1922-72, Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1973
*Erickson, P. and Murphy, L. A History of Anthropological Theory, Ontario: Broadview Press, 2003
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:
- 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 |
|---|---|
| 12.00 | 0.25000 |
Course fees
- Domestic fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2016 | $6108 |
- International fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2016 | $8736 |
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.
First Semester
| Class number | Class start date | Last day to enrol | Census date | Class end date | Mode Of Delivery | Class Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 15 Feb 2016 | 26 Feb 2016 | 31 Mar 2016 | 27 May 2016 | In Person | N/A |
