| Unit name | The Anthropology of Gender and Childhood |
|---|---|
| Unit code | ARCH20070 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | I/5 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
| Unit director | Dr. Morelli |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
None |
| Co-requisites |
None |
| School/department | Department of Anthropology and Archaeology |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
This unit introduces anthropological research on gender and childhood, focusing on the radically diverse ways they are understood and experienced in different social and economic settings. We will examine a range of seminal theories and anthropological debates on feminism, masculinity, childhood & youth, learning, personhood and becoming, and through the analysis of ethnographic case-studies from various parts of the world, we will consider how these crucial aspects of human life vary widely cross-culturally. Drawing on a variety of ethnographic case studies form across the world, students will consider the following questions, amongst others: is there anything natural about sex and gender? Are women the second sex? Is childhood a natural phase of existence or a social phenomenon? Does school promote equality or perpetuate class difference?
On successful completion of this unit, students will be able to:
1) Explain and critically address key anthropological theories on sex, gender, childhood & youth, learning and education;
2) Contextualise the experiences and understandings of sex, gender and childhood & youth in specific ethnographic settings;
3) Apply anthropological understandings to aspects that concern their own lives and society;
4) Evaluate specific methods and practice-based techniques through which anthropologists conduct gender-based and child-focussed research.
Weekly lectures, seminars and student presentation sessions, guided by self-directed activities
1) One 2000-word essay (50% - ILOs 1, 2).
2) One 2000-word portfolio of three working papers (50% - ILOs 1-4).
Moore, H. L. (1994). A Passion for Difference: Essays in Anthropology and Gender. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Lewin, E. (Ed.). (2009). Feminist anthropology: a reader. John Wiley & Sons.
Cornwall, A and Lindisfarne, N. (1994). Dislocating Masculinity: Comparative Ethnographies.
Lancy, D. F. (2008). The Anthropology of Childhood: Cherubs, Chattel, Changelings. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Montgomery, H. 2009. An Introduction to Childhood: Anthropological Perspectives on Children's Lives. Malden: Wiley-Blackwell.
Zelizer, V. 1981. Pricing the Priceless Child. New York: Basic Books.
