AN200
The Anthropology of Kinship, Sex and Gender
This information is for the 2012/13 session.
Teachers responsible
Dr Tom Boylston, room TBC, Dr Charlotte Bruckermann, room TBC and Professor Rita Astuti, OLD 6.11
Availability
This course is compulsory for BA/BSc Social Anthropology. It is optional for BA Anthropology and Law students. Also available to General Course students and as an outside option. Pre-requisites
Undergraduates should have completed an introductory course in Social Anthropology unless granted exemption by the course teacher. Course content
An examination of the cultural frameworks and social aspects of kinship systems, gender roles, personhood and human sexuality, analysed through ethnographic examples from diverse cultures; an analysis of theoretical debates concerning core concepts such as 'kinship', 'marriage', 'gender', 'sex', and 'the person' and a critical discussion of 'nature' and 'culture'.
The course charts the history of anthropological debates on kinship and gender, and the critique of the notion of 'kinship' in the light of symbolic approaches, gender theory and culturally variant theories of sexuality and procreation.
Teaching
Lectures AN200 weekly MT, LT, Classes AN200.A weekly MT, LT. Formative coursework
Students are expected to prepare discussion material for presentation in the classes and are required to write assessment essays.
Anthropology students taking this course will have an opportunity to submit a tutorial essay for this course to their personal tutors. For non-Anthropology students taking this course, a formative essay may be submitted to the course teacher.
Indicative reading
Introductory readings are: M Fortes & E Evans-Pritchard African Political Systems (1940) GN490 F73; C Lévi-Strauss The Elementary Structures of Kinship (1969) GN487 L66; D Schneider A Critique of the Study of Kinship (1984) GN487 S35; C MacCormack & M Strathern Nature, Culture and Gender (1980) GN479.65 N28; J. Goody (ed) The Character of Kinship (1973) GN487 G65; R. Fox Kinship and Marriage (1967) GN480 F79; J. Carsten (ed) Cultures of Relatedness (2000) GN487 C96; J. Carsten After Kinship (2003) GN487 C32; M. G. Peletz 1995 Kinship Studies in Late Twentieth Century Anthropology. Review of Anthropology, 24, pp 343-372. (available through JSTOR); S. Ortner. (1996) Making Gender: The Politics and Erotics of Culture; H. L. Moore. (1988) Feminism and Anthropology.
Assessment
A three-hour examination in the ST worth 70%. Two assessed essays (2,000-2,500 words each) one per term (30%). ^
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