Current Anthropological Research: Anthropology of Displacement

Masteremne

Emnebeskrivelse

Mål og innhald

This course gives a comprehensive introduction to a specific area of contemporary anthropological investigation. Current research trends and recent theoretical developments are explored through critical discussions with emphasis on anthropology's evolving engagement with the selected field. The course offers a unique opportunity to be acquainted with diverse aspects - methodological, epistemological and theoretical - of the research process, aspects that lie at the very basis of anthropological analysis and practice, and of ethnographic production.

Theme Autumn 2023

"Displacement," in popular and academic accounts alike, is widely associated with refugees and the act of fleeing one's home owing to violence. This course, however, suggests that dis-place-ment conveys much more widely human experiences. These include the meaning of place; home, safety, and belonging; the search for roots and origins; and how experiences of rupture impact people's capacities to thrive.

Anthropological work, with its focus on lived experience, provides a particularly powerful entry point from which to explore nuances of how people do (and do not) belong. The course will introduce students to key theoretical and ethnographic approaches to the study of place and what it means to be dis-placed. Topics explored will include, among others: nations and nationhood; borders governance and border crossing; law and illegality; place and place-making; displacement in place; and what it means to build flourish lives and communities in times of social and economic crisis.  

Læringsutbyte

A student who has completed the course should have the following learning outcomes defined in terms of knowledge, skills and general competence.

The student will be able to:

Knowledge

  • provide in-depth knowledge of the topic addressed in the course, with particular reference to its history and associated theoretical and methodological debates in social anthropology

Skills

  • explain the current state-of-art of research in the field of study addressed in the course
  • assess critically the various methodological and theoretical considerations that must be taken in order to further develop the field of study

General competence

  • apply key concepts and perspectives from the course and its field of study independently, in the understanding and analysis of local and global processes
  • apply an understanding of and critically analyze the correlation and difference between observation, empirical data, interpretation, theory and analysis in text production
  • discuss the potential for applying perspectives from the course in their own research project 

Studiepoeng, omfang

10 ECTS

Studienivå (studiesyklus)

Master

Undervisningssemester

Autumn
Krav til forkunnskapar
Bachelor's degree or equivalent in Social Anthropology  
Studiepoengsreduksjon
SANT285-8
Krav til studierett
Open to students at the Master's programme of Social Anthropology
Arbeids- og undervisningsformer

Lectures/seminars. May also include field trip and/or presentations

2-4 hours per week 5-10 weeks, 12-16 hours in total

Obligatorisk undervisningsaktivitet

Compulsory attendance on 80% of the lectures.

The compulsory activities must be approved in order to take the exam. Approved compulsory activities are valid in the current and following two semesters.

Vurderingsformer

The assessments consist of two parts:

  • 5 days take home exam (60 %)
  • Oral examination (40 %)

All parts of the assessment must be passed to get a grade in the course.

The exam will be given in the language in which the course is taught.
The exam can be submitted in English, Norwegian, Swedish or Danish.

Karakterskala
Grading A-F
Vurderingssemester
Assessment in teaching semester. Only students who have a valid document of absence or fails the exam will be entitled to take a new exam the following semester.
Litteraturliste
The reading list will be ready before 1 July for the autumn semester and 1 December for the spring semester.
Emneevaluering
All courses are evaluated according to UiB's system for quality assurance of education
Programansvarleg
The Programme Committee is responsible for the content, structure and quality of the study programme and courses
Administrativt ansvarleg
Department of Social Anthropology at the Faculty of Social Sciences has the administrative responsibility for the course and the study programme.