BAEcon Development Studies

Who do you think you are? Kinship is at the heart of social life in every society, and kinship has been a central concern of social anthropologists since the beginning of the discipline. Kinship is inextricably bound up with issues of personal identity, concepts of personhood, and the formation of households. In this course we will examine how relatedness, relationships and identities are differently constructed and imagined. Anthropologists’ theoretical interests in kinship lead also to the interrogation of the relationship between sex and gender and open a window on to various understandings of masculinity and femininity - offering important insights into such topics as marriage, parenting, adoption, the family, and the role of the state. Matters of historical interest to social anthropologists will be investigated together with questions of contemporary concern.

In order to take SOAN20802 Anthropology of Kinship, Gender and Sex you must have previously taken and passed EITHER SOAN10312 Cultural Diversity in Global Perspectives OR SOAN10321 Key Ideas in Social Anthropology

• Interrogate the biological bases of kinship, gender, and sex;
• Chart contemporary trends in the anthropology of kinship which have brought issues of sex and gender to the fore;
• Situate the anthropology of kinship, gender, and sex in wider anthropological debates and issues;
• Engage in a careful and critical reading of anthropological texts;
• Productively discuss with classmates the key anthropological theories and debates in the anthropology of kinship, gender, and sex;
• Apply anthropological approaches to kinship, gender, and sex to analyse and/or challenge understandings in the news, popular media, and films;
• Write well-structured, clearly argued, and analytical essays engaging the anthropological literature on kinship, gender, and sex.

Having successfully completed the module, students will be able to:

• Understand key readings and theories
• Evaluate existing scholarship
• Produce critical analyses

Lectures and tutorials

• Small Activities - (25%)
• Final Essay - 3,000 words (75%)

You will receive formative feedback continuously throughout the course through participation in tutorials, as well as written summative feedback on your assignments. Students are also invited to make office hour appointments with their lecturer to receive feedback and discuss their progress.

Carsten, J. (2000) Cultures of Relatedness. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Information
Length of course: 10 weeks