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| Semester | fall semester 2019 |
| Course frequency | Once only |
| Lecturers | Brigit Obrist van Eeuwijk (brigit.obrist@unibas.ch, Assessor) |
| Content | A growing number of scholars around the globe call for a decentering of anthropology. They question the hegemonic Eurocentric paradigms that continue to shape knowledge production in interlocking hierarchies of power and inequality, resulting in domestic and international divisions of intellectual labor, with scholars following academic conceptualizations from the “North” while conducting ethnography in and on the “South”. In the seminar, we first trace intellectual movements that prepared the ground for these debates, zooming in on the post-colonial critique that gained prominence in the humanities and the social sciences since the 1970s. In a literal sense, the term “postcolonial” refers to the study of the interactions between imperial powers and the societies they colonized after the establishment of independent nations, but in practice, the term has been used much more loosely, examining colonial encounters as well as more recent developmentalist discourses. Anthropology was in the midst of these debates, criticized as a product of colonialism and modernity and, in the mid- and late 1980s, acting as a main driver of the post-modern critique. And where are we now? What does it mean to rethink anthropology not just as a colonial, post-colonial or post-modern western study of the rest of the world, but as a part of a broader, transnational movement that aims at decentering and decolonizing our minds, spaces and institutions? Who are the thinkers that open up new spaces for knowledge production in diverse sites across the world? |
| Learning objectives | Students are able to examine postcolonial, postmodern and decolonial thinking and discuss their potential in unsettling mainstream understandings of academic knowledge production. |
| Bibliography | Harrison, F. Y. [1997] 2011. Decolonizing Anthropology: Moving further Toward an Anthropology for Liberation. 3rd ed. Arlington, Va.: Association of Black Anthropologists, American Anthropological Association. Harrison, F. V. 2009. Outsider Within: Reworking Anthropology in the Global Age. Urbana and Chicago: Univ. of Illinois Press |
| Admission requirements | The number of participants is limited to 30 people. The places are assigned according to date of enrollment and subject of study. Priority will be given to the subjects listed under "modules". |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | No specific media used |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
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No dates available. Please contact the lecturer.
| Modules |
Modul: Erweiterung Methodenkenntnisse BA (Bachelor's degree subject: Study of Religion) Modul: Europäisierung und Globalisierung (Master's Studies: European Global Studies) Modul: Fields: Knowledge Production and Transfer (Master's degree program: African Studies) Modul: Gesellschaft in Osteuropa (Bachelor's degree program: Eastern European Studies) Modul: Gesellschaft in Osteuropa (Bachelor's degree subject: Eastern European Cultures) Modul: Sachthemen der Ethnologie (Bachelor's degree subject: Anthropology) Modul: Theory and General Anthropology (Master's degree subject: Anthropology) Modul: Wissenschaftliche Vertiefung in der Ethnologie: Sachthemen (Bachelor's degree subject: Anthropology) |
| Assessment format | continuous assessment |
| Assessment details | Grades will be based on active participation in seminar discussions, on an assignment and on comments on seminar paper proposals/presentations (3 CP). You can choose between two assignments: 1. To write a reading response paper (about 450 words) and to present it orally. What are the main arguments of the author(s)? How are they linked with the topic of the session and the overall topic/discussions of the seminar? 2. To write a course diary for at least 7 sessions (about 1500 words). What did you learn in each session? How are the insights related to the topic of the session and the overall topic/discussions of the seminar? Can you see any connections with your own experience or the life worlds of people you know? |
| 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 |