Anthropology is the study of cultural differences and similarities in a globalised world. As a field of study anthropology is uniquely placed to interpret the widest range of contemporary social phenomena - from migration to religious fundamentalism, online communities and new social movements, contemporary indigenous cultural expression and identity politics, consumption and commodification, and many changing forms of social relationships. The School of Archaeology and Anthropology offers a diverse range of undergraduate courses which cover these themes and more.
The discipline's distinctive methodology—long-term ethnographic fieldwork—provides anthropologists with finely grained and in-depth understandings of complex social phenomena. With a commitment to a comparative and holistic framework, anthropologists' treatment of cultural diversity provides insights into the different ways people comprehend their place in the world and relationships to each other, as well as new ways for us to think about our own relationships and society. It is an ideal foundation for a contemporary liberal-arts degree. Students of non-English languages can find anthropology especially useful.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:- demonstrate understanding of the major dimensions of analysis of societies and cultures (e.g., gender, religion, personhood, identity, violence, emotion, state, nation, globalisation);
- demonstrate understanding of both directed and unintended processes of change (e.g., culture and development, applied anthropology);
- demonstrate understanding of the interrelation of technique and theory in the recording and describing of cultures (e.g., film); and
- demonstrate understanding of the intersection of bio-social and material dimensions of social life.
Relevant Degrees
Requirements
This major requires the completion of 48 units, of which:
A maximum of 12 units may come from completion of 1000-level courses
A minimum of 6 units must come from completion of 3000-level courses
The 48 units must consist of:
12 units from completion of the following course(s):
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| ANTH1002 | Culture and Human Diversity: Introducing Anthropology | 6 |
| ANTH1003 | Global Citizen: Culture, Development and Inequality | 6 |
24 units from completion of the following course(s):
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| ANTH2004 | Spirit Rising: Religious Resurgence in its Local Context | 6 |
| ANTH2005 | Traditional Australian Indigenous Cultures, Societies and Environment | 6 |
| ANTH2009 | Culture and Development | 6 |
| ANTH2017 | Culture, Social Justice and Aboriginal Society Today | 6 |
| ANTH2025 | Gender in Cross-Cultural Perspective | 6 |
| ANTH2026 | Medicine, Healing and the Body | 6 |
| ANTH2050 | Themes in Anthropology | 6 |
| ANTH2057 | Culture and Person | 6 |
| ANTH2067 | Doing Ethnography: Practicum on Applied Anthropology | 6 |
| ANTH2129 | Crossing Borders: Migration, Identity and Livelihood | 6 |
| ANTH2130 | Violence and Terror | 6 |
| ANTH2132 | Food for Thought: Anthropological theories of food and eating | 6 |
| ANTH2133 | Social Animals: anthropological perspectives on animal-human relationships | 6 |
| ANTH2134 | States and Citizens: Anthropological Perspectives | 6 |
| ANTH2135 | Vietnam Field School | 6-12 |
| ANTH2136 | Piracy: Property Wars from the High Seas to Anonymous | 6 |
| ANTH2138 | Doing Medical Anthropology | 6 |
| ANTH3010 | Supervised Research in Anthropology | 6 |
| ANTH3014 | Indonesia Field School: Contemporary Change in Indonesia | 6 |
| ANTH3016 | Indonesia Field School Extension | 6 |
| ANTH3017 | Indigenous Worlds: Challenges of Emergence, Recognition, and Change | 6 |
12 units from completion of the following course(s):
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| ARCH3108 | Animals, Plants and People | 6 |
| ASIA2516 | Indonesia: Politics, Society and Development | 6 |
| BIAN2015 | Human Skeletal Analysis | 6 |
| BIAN2064 | Anthropology of Environmental Disasters | 6 |
| BIAN2119 | Nutrition, Disease and the Environment | 6 |
| BIAN2120 | Culture, Biology and Population Dynamics | 6 |
| BIAN2126 | Primate Evolutionary Biology | 6 |
| BIAN2133 | Mating and Parenting: Evolutionary Ecology of Human Reproductive Strategies | 6 |
| BIAN3113 | Human Evolution | 6 |
| BIAN3124 | Evolution and Human Behaviour | 6 |
| BIAN3127 | Primate Ecology and Behaviour | 6 |
| ENVS2017 | Vietnam Field School | 6-12 |
| LING2015 | Language, Culture, Translation | 6 |
| PASI2001 | Pacific Studies in a Globalizing World | 6 |
| PASI2002 | Australia in Oceania in the 19th and 20th centuries | 6 |
| PASI3013 | Environment and Development in the Pacific | 6 |
| PASI3001 | Politics and Development in the Contemporary Pacific | 6 |
