AN200GC Half Unit
The Anthropology of Kinship, Sex and Gender (Spring Semester)
This information is for the 2020/21 session.
Teacher responsible
Dr Catherine Allerton
Availability
This course is available on the Exchange Programme for Students in Anthropology (Cape Town), Exchange Programme for Students in Anthropology (Fudan), Exchange Programme for Students in Anthropology (Melbourne) and Exchange Programme for Students in Anthropology (Tokyo). This course is not available as an outside option. This course is available to General Course students.
This course is available to General Course ‘Spring Semester’ students.
Course content
This course provides an examination of the cultural frameworks and social aspects of kinship systems and gender roles, analysed through ethnographic examples from a diverse range of settings. It aims to equip students with the analytical tools to engage in theoretical debates concerning core concepts such as 'kinship', 'care’, 'gender', 'the body', and the relationship between 'nature' and 'culture', as well as exploring how the experiences of kinship, sex and gender vary according to the regimes of politics, law and materiality in which they are embedded. The course considers how the practices and meanings of kinship, sex and gender are entangled with culturally and historically specific ideas of bodily control, pollution, beauty, race, nationalism, modernity, and care. In the first half of the term, we consider Bodies and Reproduction; in the second half, we focus on Materialities, Movements and Care.
Teaching
10 hours of lectures and 10 hours of classes in the LT.
This year, some or all of this teaching will be delivered through a combination of virtual lectures, classes and online interactive activities. The contact hours listed above are the minimum expected. This course has a reading week in Week 6 of LT.
Formative coursework
Students will be expected to produce 1 essay in the LT.
Indicative reading
Carsten, J. After Kinship (2003);
Donnan, H. and Magowan, F. The Anthropology of Sex (2010);
Moore, H. L. A Passion for Difference: Essays in Anthropology and Gender (1994);
Stone, L. Kinship and Gender: An Introduction (2006);
S. Franklin and S. McKinnon, Relative Values: Reconfiguring Kinship Studies (2001);
G.R. Bentley and R. Mace, Substitute Parents: Biological and Social Perspectives on Alloparenting Across Human Societies (2009).
Assessment
Essay (100%, 3000 words) in the ST.
Important information in response to COVID-19
Please note that during 2020/21 academic year some variation to teaching and learning activities may be required to respond to changes in public health advice and/or to account for the situation of students in attendance on campus and those studying online during the early part of the academic year. For assessment, this may involve changes to mode of delivery and/or the format or weighting of assessments. Changes will only be made if required and students will be notified about any changes to teaching or assessment plans at the earliest opportunity.
Key facts
Department: Anthropology
Total students 2019/20: Unavailable
Average class size 2019/20: Unavailable
Capped 2019/20: No
Value: Half Unit
