Students

ANTH3021 – Globalisation, Conflict, and Religion

2023 – Session 1, In person-scheduled-weekday, North Ryde

General Information

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Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit convenor and teaching staff Course Coordinator and Lecturer
Chris Houston
chris.houston@mq.edu.au
Contact via 02 08508471
Arts Precinct B513
Monday Afternoons
Tutor
Roberto Costa
roberto.costa@mq.edu.au
Credit points Credit points
10
Prerequisites Prerequisites
130cp at 1000 level or above
Corequisites Corequisites
Co-badged status Co-badged status
Unit description Unit description

Mass communications, technological advances, and the transnational mobility of individuals are powerful forces for cultural change in the contemporary world. For anthropology, the globalisation thesis raises important questions about culture, religion and about the question of how violence and its control has changed in a global world. How are we to understand cultures, religious movements and ideologies, previously understood as bounded entities? How might we theorise the relationship between local and global events, such as conflicts, terrorism and violence? This course will introduce students to the field of anthropology and its sub-disciplines through the discussion of these questions that anthropologists investigate in contemporary and past societies. Some of the issues explored in this course include; religion and worldview, religion in relation to globalisation, power and inequality, violence and conflict, and the formation of new religious movements. We will look at the 'speeding-up' of the world in terms of our experience of time and space, and we will consider the possibility of alternative or parallel modernities.

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: Critically analyse and debate complex social-political issues.
  • ULO2: Conduct comparative research on the role of social settings and norms in shaping culture and politics in a globalised context.
  • ULO3: Actively reflect on debates about anthropology of religion and globalisation.
  • ULO4: Investigate from an anthropological viewpoint the complex dynamics that affect religious conflicts and violence within global contexts.
  • ULO5: Improve writing and critical reading skills.

General Assessment Information

PARTICIPATION

Weight: 20% 

Due: Weekly

Note: ANTH3021 has both face-to-face tutorials and an external, online only enrolment, in which participation will be graded via iLearn discussion boards only. Please see below for instructions on participation depending on your enrolment. You only need to fulfil the requirements of your enrolment mode - not both. Please click the link above for more information on active participation and our assessment criteria.

1) Face-to-Face Tutorial Participation (On Campus):

You are expected to complete the weekly readings before class and come to class prepared to discuss the material. Class attendance is required. No more than two absences will be accepted. 

Participation is worth 20% of your grade.

Active participation entails contributing thoughtful comments regarding readings, films, and group discussions during each tutorial meeting. Students who regularly make positive contributions to class discussions and display serious engagement with required readings will receive extra credit towards their final grades.

2) External/Online Only Student Participation (iLearn Discussion Board):

Each week, external students will be required to complete two activities on the weekly discussion thread found within the ANTH3021 Tutorial Discussion Forum (above): 

  1. Each student should post one (1) unique question related to the material for the rest of the class to consider. This could be tangentially related, or inspired by the reading/lecture directly. It doesn’t have to be a spectacular insight by any means. In short, bring something intellectually stimulating to the table that came to your mind during the week as a result of the material covered. Feel free to share external links, readings, audio/visual material - whatever you like, as long as it is related to the week in question. 
  2. Each student should then answer another (1) student’s posted question, or, one of the questions posted by Chris and myself. Each student’s response should be around 250 words. This is obviously not going to be rigidly enforced, but we all know what 250 words looks like, as opposed to a few lines of text. 

 

ESSAY PLAN: Weight: 10%

Due: April 6th (by 23:59pm)

Brief Description: This is a two-page plan in which you sketch out the research essay that you will be submitting in Week 10. For the research essay, you must select a case study of your own choice.

 

RESEARCH ESSAY: Weight: 40%

Due: May 8th (by 23:59pm)

Brief Description: You will write a research paper of 2000 words (+/- 10%) on a self-selected topic.

 

TAKE HOME FINAL EXAM: Weight: 30%

Exam Opens: 26th May (Friday), 5:00pm

Exam Closes: 2nd June, (Friday), 11:59pm 

Brief Description: The take-home exam will consist of a combination of short answers to questions that link together topics covered in the unit material so far. The questions will be made available under the 'Take-Home Exam' section on iLearn on the 26th May after 5 pm. You must submit your responses through the Turnitin by 11: 59 pm on June 2nd (7 days total).

Assessment Tasks

Name Weighting Hurdle Due
Participation 20% No Continuous
Essay Plan 10% No Week 7, April 6th
Final Essay 40% No Week 10, 8th May
Take-home exam 30% No Week 13, 2nd June

Participation

Assessment Type 1: Participatory task
Indicative Time on Task 2: 10 hours
Due: Continuous
Weighting: 20%

Student’s participation in the tutorial discussions
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Critically analyse and debate complex social-political issues.
  • Actively reflect on debates about anthropology of religion and globalisation.
  • Improve writing and critical reading skills.

Essay Plan

Assessment Type 1: Plan
Indicative Time on Task 2: 15 hours
Due: Week 7, April 6th
Weighting: 10%

Essay plan sketching out the themes of the Final essay
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Investigate from an anthropological viewpoint the complex dynamics that affect religious conflicts and violence within global contexts.
  • Improve writing and critical reading skills.

Final Essay

Assessment Type 1: Essay
Indicative Time on Task 2: 25 hours
Due: Week 10, 8th May
Weighting: 40%

Students will write an essay of approximately 2000 words on a self-select topic.
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Critically analyse and debate complex social-political issues.
  • Conduct comparative research on the role of social settings and norms in shaping culture and politics in a globalised context.
  • Actively reflect on debates about anthropology of religion and globalisation.
  • Investigate from an anthropological viewpoint the complex dynamics that affect religious conflicts and violence within global contexts.
  • Improve writing and critical reading skills.

Take-home exam

Assessment Type 1: Quiz/Test
Indicative Time on Task 2: 20 hours
Due: Week 13, 2nd June
Weighting: 30%

Take-home exam testing understanding of the unit material. Students will be given 4-6 questions and asked to provide 200-250 word responses to each question.
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Conduct comparative research on the role of social settings and norms in shaping culture and politics in a globalised context.
  • Investigate from an anthropological viewpoint the complex dynamics that affect religious conflicts and violence within global contexts.

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

Penalties, Late Submissions, Word Limit, etc.

Late submission Penalty

  • Unless a Special Consideration request has been submitted and approved, a 5% penalty (of the total possible mark) will be applied each day a written assessment is not submitted, up until the 7th day (including weekends). After the 7th day, a mark of ‘0’ (zero) will be awarded even if the assessment is submitted. Submission time for all written assessments is set at 11.55pm. A 1-hour grace period is provided to students who experience a technical issue. This late penalty will apply to non-timed sensitive assessment (incl essays, reports, posters, portfolios, journals, recordings etc). Late submission of time sensitive tasks (such as tests/exams, performance assessments/presentations, scheduled practical assessments/labs etc) will only be addressed by the unit convenor in a Special consideration application. Special Consideration outcome may result in a new question or topic.  

Exceeding the word limit

You will receive a penalty for exceeding the word limit for the research essay. You will be deducted 1 percentage point for each 100 words you exceed the word limit. Please take the word limit very seriously and try to make your argument concisely and clearly. It is unfair to fellow students if one person has much more space to argue their case while another student sticks firmly to the length guidelines. The word limit is designed to level the essay-writing field, so to speak. You should provide a word count on the cover page when you submit your work.

Written submissions

Students are required to keep copies of all the written work that they submit.  If there is no record of your work being submitted and you cannot produce a second copy, it will be impossible for the convenor to give you credit for the assignment.  

Policies and Procedures

Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au). Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:

Students seeking more policy resources can visit Student Policies (https://students.mq.edu.au/support/study/policies). It is your one-stop-shop for the key policies you need to know about throughout your undergraduate student journey.

To find other policies relating to Teaching and Learning, visit Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au) and use the search tool.

Student Code of Conduct

Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/admin/other-resources/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

Academic Integrity

At Macquarie, we believe academic integrity – honesty, respect, trust, responsibility, fairness and courage – is at the core of learning, teaching and research. We recognise that meeting the expectations required to complete your assessments can be challenging. So, we offer you a range of resources and services to help you reach your potential, including free online writing and maths support, academic skills development and wellbeing consultations.

Student Support

Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/

The Writing Centre

The Writing Centre provides resources to develop your English language proficiency, academic writing, and communication skills.

The Library provides online and face to face support to help you find and use relevant information resources. 

Student Services and Support

Macquarie University offers a range of Student Support Services including:

Student Enquiries

Got a question? Ask us via AskMQ, or contact Service Connect.

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.

Changes since First Published

Date Description
13/02/2023 Tutor's name added

Unit information based on version 2023.01R of the Handbook