SANb2042 Urban Anthropology

Faculty of Social Studies
Spring 2025
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
In-person direct teaching
Teacher(s)
Irena Kašparová, M.A., Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
Irena Kašparová, M.A., Ph.D.
Department of Sociology – Faculty of Social Studies
Contact Person: PhDr. Patrick Laviolette, PhD.
Supplier department: Department of Sociology – Faculty of Social Studies
Prerequisites
Enthusiasm for the course, active English
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 25 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/25, only registered: 0/25, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/25
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 13 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
To gain general overview and knowledge about main topis of urban anthropology as a subdiscipline of social anthropology. To be able to link theoretical knowledge to practical observation of the space of the city in which the student lives. To be able to draw possible theoretical academic conclusions from observation and personal experience of urban dwelling.
Learning outcomes
To be able to interpret urban space through anthropological lens; To draft a research proposal linked to urban space; To understand own experience in urban space through academic perspective;
Syllabus
  • This course looks at the expanding academic field of Urban Anthropology. City living is increasingly becoming the norm of human experience. According to UN predictions, three-quarters of the world's population will live in cities by 2050. Built environments are thus crucial to academic study, policy-making and public debate. As a comprehensive sub-field of anthropology, urban ethnography / anthropology is relatively new, having only really established itself in the second half of the twentieth century, with the intention of scrutinising cities as they relate to the sociocultural experiences and practices of urban dwellers in relation to larger contexts of domesticity, the work force, leisure activities and migration. We will examine innovative, comparative and interdisciplinary frameworks for research and analysis which would address the scale and complexity of contemporary global urbanism. The course also explores the ethno-history of urbanism from colonial to contemporary periods. It investigates how complex urban systems respond to the pressures of growth, change and globalisation, with new infrastructures of organisation and civic governance that both complement and threaten social and environmental equity. The aim is to foster a reflexive understanding of the socio-cultural, economic and spatial issues involved in urban growth, decay and regeneration. The particular histories and engagement in wider public debates across Europe and internationally regarding the future design and planning of global cities would mean that this cross-cultural perspective provide a distinctive feature for the course.
Literature
    required literature
  • WHYTE, William Foote. Street corner society : the social structure of an italian slum. 2nd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1955, xx, 364. info
    not specified
  • The cultures of cities. Edited by Sharon Zukin. Cambridge, Mass.: Blackwell, 1995, xiv, 322. ISBN 1557864373. info
Teaching methods
Field trip/excursions, lectures, homework, reading, group presentation, individual writing
Assessment methods
Presentation of own research draft (written and oral) Final exma
Language of instruction
English
Further Comments
The course is taught annually.
The course is taught: every week.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2024.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2025, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/fss/spring2025/SANb2042