Contemporary Anthropological Theory
-ANTH 300
Course Description
This course will explore contemporary approaches to society and culture in anthropology through an examination of
ethnographic film and writing. We will take critical inspiration from the ‘experimental moment’ in anthropology of the
1970s and 1980s as we explore textual and filmic representations of anthropological subjects. Our course will be more
workshop than lecture hall as we play with the ‘fictions’ of anthropology and develop our own understanding of the
possibilities of developing an ethnographic fidelity to social reality.
Classes held Tuesdays & Thursdays, 8:00 am - 9:20 am. Term 2 (Jan-April, 2011)
Course Outline
Downloadable course outline
Course Blog
Background notes, commentaries, and resources can be found on the course blog:
http://blogs.ubc.ca/anth100
Required Textbooks
A Note on Laptops in Class
Laptops, cell phones, and any other form of electronic recording or communication device will not be permitted in our class for any
purpose without explicit and prior approval from your instructor. There are good reasons for some people with documented learning
profiles to use laptops to take notes rather than using pen and paper. However, for most people the art and craft of writing notes by
hand still remains a critical practice to engage in. As potential and aspiring anthropologists you will find yourself in locations in
which the only way to take notes is by paper and pen. Please consider this to be a practicing ground for those circumstances. There
are no good reasons (under normal circumstances) to use a cell phone in class.
Additional Resources
Anthropology and Society. Podcasts of presentations made by Charles Menzies on a variety of topics.
Some of the items may have relevance for the course. To access a podcast of available presentations copy this URL
http://www.ecoknow.ca/podcast/rss.xml
and paste it into your podcast software application or click here
to select individual talks.
