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| Semester | fall semester 2016 |
| Course frequency | Once only |
| Lecturers | Brigit Obrist van Eeuwijk (brigit.obrist@unibas.ch, Assessor) |
| Content | Ethnography is never mere description, rather it is a theory of describing that has always been controversial as to the what and how. Doing ethnography resonates with changing worlds in and out of academia, thus inspiring a dynamic intellectual process. In this course we take recent anthroplogical debates as a point of departure to reflect on the significance of ethnography for contemporary societies, contemplating in particular the question of its relation to its publics. Analyzing the public dimension of the social sciences is certainly not new. But rather than entering the dispute over the definition and legitimacy of a "public anthropology", we will explore some of the problems that emerge from the encounter between ethnography and its public on diverse topics, ranging from the environment to health, migration and technology. |
| Learning objectives | The students gain a better understanding of what it means to do critically engaged ethnography and ethnography as critique of contemporary society. |
| Bibliography | Fassin Didier (2013) Why ethnography matters: On anthropology and its publics. Cultural Anthropology 28(4):621–646. |
| Weblink | https://ethnologie.unibas.ch/studies/cou |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | No specific media used |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
|---|
No dates available. Please contact the lecturer.
| Modules |
African Studies: Recommendations (PhD subject: African Studies) Anthropology: Recommendations (PhD subject: Anthropology) |
| Assessment format | continuous assessment |
| Assessment details | Diverse forms of active participation (group discussions, oral presentaitons, reading response papers, etc.) |
| Assessment registration/deregistration | Reg.: course registration; dereg.: not required |
| Repeat examination | no repeat examination |
| Scale | Pass / Fail |
| Repeated registration | no repetition |
| Responsible faculty | Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, studadmin-philhist@unibas.ch |
| Offered by | Fachbereich Ethnologie |