Unit name | Material Culture (H) |
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Unit code | ARCH30042 |
Credit points | 20 |
Level of study | H/6 |
Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
Unit director | Professor. Saunders |
Open unit status | Not open |
Pre-requisites |
None |
Co-requisites |
None |
School/department | Department of Anthropology and Archaeology |
Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
This course aims to give students a broad understanding of many of the ways in which objects function in human societies, in the recent as well as more distant past. The unit will provide a comprehensive introduction to the interdisciplinary study of 'objects in cultures'; it will demonstrate how societies create objects which in turn create individual identities, and reify cultural traits. Students will learn how material culture can be analysed by assessing its 'social life', and the nature of its interactions with those who make it, and those who subsequently come into contact with it. Objects may be large (a landscape), or small (a hand-axe or mobile phone), artistic, sophisticated, or regarded as waste and debris - all are material culture and can reveal relationships between humans and the artefacts they make. The theories and case studies of material culture anthropology will equip students to examine their own worlds from new perspectives.
The Unit aims to:
The Unit will provide students with the abilities to:
1) demonstrate familiarity with the diverse range of case studies which demonstrate the potential of an interdisciplinary approach to material culture
2) demonstrate an appreciation of the complexities of recognising the relationship between theoretical approaches to material culture and the kinds of information which can be gained
3) demonstrate a sound understanding of the 'social lives' and 'cultural biographies' of objects, regardless of age, location, or cultural affiliation
4) present sustained and structured argument, in writing and verbally.
Weekly 2-hour lecture/seminar.
Students will research a particular topic or aspect relating to material culture studies.
Students will present a study of a particular topic or aspect relating to material culture studies, but different from the essay.