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Unit of study_

ANTH3632: The Anthropology of the Body

2020 unit information

The body as a site of culture has been of interest to anthropologists from the inception of the discipline. This unit focuses on anthropological approaches to and ethnographic explorations of the body. The key question will be to explore different theories that attempt to explain the relationship between the body and society. We will study important theoretical approaches including Marx, Mauss, Bourdieu and Foucault. Along with each theorists' primary work(s) on the body, we will read associated ethnographic texts, to understand how anthropologist base ethnographies on social theory.

Unit details and rules

Managing faculty or University school:

Arts and Social Sciences

Study level Undergraduate
Academic unit Anthropology
Credit points 6
Prerequisites:
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12 credit points at 2000 level in Anthropology
Corequisites:
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None
Prohibitions:
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ANTH2632
Assumed knowledge:
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None

At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:

  • LO1. demonstrate a sound introductory understanding of some of the primary theorists whose work is influential in anthropology today particularly around questions of the body and embodiment
  • LO2. demonstrate a sound understanding of how anthropologists use different theoretical models and frameworks to write ethnographies
  • LO3. compare the ways that several different theorists in the social sciences have approached the question of the human body
  • LO4. demonstrate an understanding of the ways that the human body is not “natural” and timeless but instead must be understood in specific historic, social and cultural contexts

Unit availability

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There are no availabilities for this year.
Session MoA ?  Location Outline ? 
Semester 2 2020
Normal day Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney

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Modes of attendance (MoA)

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