Students
ANTH1050 – Identity and Difference: Introduction to Anthropology
2020 – Session 2, Special circumstance
Notice
As part of Phase 3 of our return to campus plan, most units will now run tutorials, seminars and other small group learning activities on campus for the second half-year, while keeping an online version available for those students unable to return or those who choose to continue their studies online.
To check the availability of face to face activities for your unit, please go to timetable viewer. To check detailed information on unit assessments visit your unit's iLearn space or consult your unit convenor.
General Information
Download as PDF
| Unit convenor and teaching staff |
Unit convenor and teaching staff
Chris Vasantkumar
Payel Ray
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|---|---|
| Credit points |
Credit points
10
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| Prerequisites |
Prerequisites
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| Corequisites |
Corequisites
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| Co-badged status |
Co-badged status
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| Unit description |
Unit description
This unit introduces students to the field of sociocultural anthropology, which seeks to explore and understand human diversity from a holistic and relativistic perspective. Highlighting important contributions anthropologists past and present have made to the understanding of human cultures and societies, emphasis will be placed on how to study and represent cultural diversity in the contemporary world. Topics to be examined include: the history and development of the culture concept; race and ethnicity; sexuality and gender; magic, religion and secularism; kinship and the family; economic systems; key controversies in the field; and tourism, mobility and globalization. We will also pay special attention to anthropological fieldwork methods and ethics, closely examining how anthropologists both conduct long term field research and write about their findings in anthropology's characteristic written output, the ethnography. The unit will demonstrate the relevance of applying anthropological thinking to your career and personal lives.
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Important Academic Dates
Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- ULO1: Describe the central concepts and themes in cultural anthropology, particularly, the characteristics of culture, the techniques involved in ethnographic research, the processes and consequences of globalisation, and the importance of culturally relativistic thinking.
- ULO2: Establish a framework for describing and understanding the complexities of the world through the concepts of culture, power, and identity and their various manifestations.
- ULO3: Develop the ability to provide a holistic and relativistic description of ‘familiar’ and ‘distant’ cultural practices.
- ULO4: Evaluate assumptions (whether personal or from the media) about other cultures and cultural differences.
- ULO5: Apply ethnographic and anthropological perspectives and knowledge to issues in your own academic, professional, and personal lives.
- ULO6: Question commonly held and taken for granted assumptions about what is ‘natural’ or ‘normal’ human experience.
Assessment Tasks
| Name | Weighting | Hurdle | Due |
|---|---|---|---|
| First Mini Essay | 10% | No | Week 4 |
| Participation in Online Forum | 15% | No | Weekly, starting Week 2 |
| 'Take-Home Examination' -- Midterm | 20% | No | Week 7 |
| Second Mini Essay | 10% | No | Week 9 |
| 'Take-Home Examination' -- Final | 20% | No | Exam Period |
| Third Mini Essay | 10% | No | Week 12 |
| Weekly Reading Quizzes | 15% | No | Weekly, starting Week 2 |
First Mini Essay
Assessment Type 1: Essay
Indicative Time on Task 2: 15 hours
Due: Week 4
Weighting: 10%
Short Essay on Anthropology-related topic
On successful completion you will be able to:
- Establish a framework for describing and understanding the complexities of the world through the concepts of culture, power, and identity and their various manifestations.
- Develop the ability to provide a holistic and relativistic description of ‘familiar’ and ‘distant’ cultural practices.
- Evaluate assumptions (whether personal or from the media) about other cultures and cultural differences.
- Question commonly held and taken for granted assumptions about what is ‘natural’ or ‘normal’ human experience.
Participation in Online Forum
Assessment Type 1: Participatory task
Indicative Time on Task 2: 13 hours
Due: Weekly, starting Week 2
Weighting: 15%
Each student will be responsible for answering one to two weekly discussion questions (1-2 paragraphs) and commenting on at least one other student contribution. (This required task subsitutes for face-to-face tutorial participation and will be supplemented by recommended live weekly drop in zoom sessions with tutor).
On successful completion you will be able to:
- Develop the ability to provide a holistic and relativistic description of ‘familiar’ and ‘distant’ cultural practices.
- Evaluate assumptions (whether personal or from the media) about other cultures and cultural differences.
- Apply ethnographic and anthropological perspectives and knowledge to issues in your own academic, professional, and personal lives.
- Question commonly held and taken for granted assumptions about what is ‘natural’ or ‘normal’ human experience.
'Take-Home Examination' -- Midterm
Assessment Type 1: Quiz/Test
Indicative Time on Task 2: 20 hours
Due: Week 7
Weighting: 20%
Online Midterm
On successful completion you will be able to:
- Describe the central concepts and themes in cultural anthropology, particularly, the characteristics of culture, the techniques involved in ethnographic research, the processes and consequences of globalisation, and the importance of culturally relativistic thinking.
- Evaluate assumptions (whether personal or from the media) about other cultures and cultural differences.
- Question commonly held and taken for granted assumptions about what is ‘natural’ or ‘normal’ human experience.
Second Mini Essay
Assessment Type 1: Essay
Indicative Time on Task 2: 15 hours
Due: Week 9
Weighting: 10%
Short Essay on Anthropology-related topic
On successful completion you will be able to:
- Establish a framework for describing and understanding the complexities of the world through the concepts of culture, power, and identity and their various manifestations.
- Develop the ability to provide a holistic and relativistic description of ‘familiar’ and ‘distant’ cultural practices.
- Evaluate assumptions (whether personal or from the media) about other cultures and cultural differences.
- Apply ethnographic and anthropological perspectives and knowledge to issues in your own academic, professional, and personal lives.
- Question commonly held and taken for granted assumptions about what is ‘natural’ or ‘normal’ human experience.
'Take-Home Examination' -- Final
Assessment Type 1: Quiz/Test
Indicative Time on Task 2: 20 hours
Due: Exam Period
Weighting: 20%
Online Final
On successful completion you will be able to:
- Describe the central concepts and themes in cultural anthropology, particularly, the characteristics of culture, the techniques involved in ethnographic research, the processes and consequences of globalisation, and the importance of culturally relativistic thinking.
- Establish a framework for describing and understanding the complexities of the world through the concepts of culture, power, and identity and their various manifestations.
- Develop the ability to provide a holistic and relativistic description of ‘familiar’ and ‘distant’ cultural practices.
- Evaluate assumptions (whether personal or from the media) about other cultures and cultural differences.
- Apply ethnographic and anthropological perspectives and knowledge to issues in your own academic, professional, and personal lives.
- Question commonly held and taken for granted assumptions about what is ‘natural’ or ‘normal’ human experience.
Third Mini Essay
Assessment Type 1: Essay
Indicative Time on Task 2: 15 hours
Due: Week 12
Weighting: 10%
Short Essay on Anthropology-related topic
On successful completion you will be able to:
- Establish a framework for describing and understanding the complexities of the world through the concepts of culture, power, and identity and their various manifestations.
- Develop the ability to provide a holistic and relativistic description of ‘familiar’ and ‘distant’ cultural practices.
- Evaluate assumptions (whether personal or from the media) about other cultures and cultural differences.
- Apply ethnographic and anthropological perspectives and knowledge to issues in your own academic, professional, and personal lives.
- Question commonly held and taken for granted assumptions about what is ‘natural’ or ‘normal’ human experience.
Weekly Reading Quizzes
Assessment Type 1: Quiz/Test
Indicative Time on Task 2: 6 hours
Due: Weekly, starting Week 2
Weighting: 15%
Online Weekly Reading Quizzes
On successful completion you will be able to:
- Describe the central concepts and themes in cultural anthropology, particularly, the characteristics of culture, the techniques involved in ethnographic research, the processes and consequences of globalisation, and the importance of culturally relativistic thinking.
- Establish a framework for describing and understanding the complexities of the world through the concepts of culture, power, and identity and their various manifestations.
- Apply ethnographic and anthropological perspectives and knowledge to issues in your own academic, professional, and personal lives.
1 If you need help with your assignment, please contact:
- the academic teaching staff in your unit for guidance in understanding or completing this type of assessment
- the Writing Centre for academic skills support.
2 Indicative time-on-task is an estimate of the time required for completion of the assessment task and is subject to individual variation
Delivery and Resources
All required readings will be available electronically on iLearn or via other online sources. For some weeks we will be using open access readings available at https://anth101.com/book/. See unit iLearn page for further details.
For lecture and tutorial times and classrooms please consult the MQ Timetable website: http://www.timetables.mq.edu.au. This website will display up-to-date information on your classes and classroom locations. Tutorial locations sometimes change in the days before class. Be sure to check. This session we have a mix of face-to-face and zoom tutes; make sure you sign up for the right kind of tute. Tutorials start the first week of class.
The lectures will be one of your primary sources of material for this unit. I bring together a range of concepts from a variety of sources, present the central theories and ideas, model anthropological thinking, adapt the material to your background, integrate contemporary events, and provide a framework to help make sense of the readings. It is unlikely that you will pass this class if you focus on the readings and tutorials alone.
Physical attendance is not required in lecture (and indeed will not be possible this session). However, the lectures cover essential unit material and are funny and (at least intermittently) interesting and you really should listen to them to get the most out of the unit. They will be uploaded to the unit iLearn page each week by the conclusion of the scheduled lecture time via zoom, echo360 or other similar program. You must listen to each week's lecture (and complete any required reading) prior to attending your tutorial.
Unit Schedule
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Week |
Date |
Lecture |
Assessment |
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1 |
27 Jul |
What is Anthropology, Anyway? |
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2 |
3 Aug |
The Concept of Culture |
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3 |
10 Aug |
Fieldwork I — Off the Verandah |
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4 |
17 Aug |
Fieldwork II — Finding One’s Feet |
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21 Aug |
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Short Essay #1 Due 11:59PM via turnitin |
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5 |
24 Aug |
Kinship, Family and Relatedness |
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6 |
31 Aug |
Sex and Gender |
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7 |
7 Sep |
Race, Belonging, and Exclusion |
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9-11 Sep |
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Online Midterm Open |
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Mid-semester Recess: Sep 14-27 |
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8 |
28 Sep |
Turbulent Times: Anthropology in the Contemporary World |
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9 |
5 Oct |
Anthropology Department Research Week |
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9 Oct |
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Short Essay #2 Due 11:59PM via turnitin |
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10 |
12 Oct |
Globalization I: Cultural Authenticity and Appropriation |
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11 |
19 Oct |
Globalization II: How Stuff Gets Made in the Global Economy |
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12 |
26 Oct |
Halloween Anyone? Magic, Science, and Religion |
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30 Oct |
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Short Essay #3 Due 11:59PM via turnitin |
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13 |
2 Nov |
The Case for Anthropology |
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16-18 Nov |
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Online Final Exam Open |
Policies and Procedures
Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central (https://staff.mq.edu.au/work/strategy-planning-and-governance/university-policies-and-procedures/policy-central). Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:
- Academic Appeals Policy
- Academic Integrity Policy
- Academic Progression Policy
- Assessment Policy
- Fitness to Practice Procedure
- Grade Appeal Policy
- Complaint Management Procedure for Students and Members of the Public
- Special Consideration Policy (Note: The Special Consideration Policy is effective from 4 December 2017 and replaces the Disruption to Studies Policy.)
Students seeking more policy resources can visit the Student Policy Gateway (https://students.mq.edu.au/support/study/student-policy-gateway). It is your one-stop-shop for the key policies you need to know about throughout your undergraduate student journey.
If you would like to see all the policies relevant to Learning and Teaching visit Policy Central (https://staff.mq.edu.au/work/strategy-planning-and-governance/university-policies-and-procedures/policy-central).
Student Code of Conduct
Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/study/getting-started/student-conduct
Results
Results published on platform other than eStudent, (eg. iLearn, Coursera etc.) or released directly by your Unit Convenor, are not confirmed as they are subject to final approval by the University. Once approved, final results will be sent to your student email address and will be made available in eStudent. For more information visit ask.mq.edu.au or if you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au
Student Support
Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/
Learning Skills
Learning Skills (mq.edu.au/learningskills) provides academic writing resources and study strategies to help you improve your marks and take control of your study.
The Library provides online and face to face support to help you find and use relevant information resources.
Student Services and Support
Students with a disability are encouraged to contact the Disability Service who can provide appropriate help with any issues that arise during their studies.
Student Enquiries
For all student enquiries, visit Student Connect at ask.mq.edu.au
If you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au
IT Help
For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/offices_and_units/information_technology/help/.
When using the University's IT, you must adhere to the Acceptable Use of IT Resources Policy. The policy applies to all who connect to the MQ network including students.