SAN107 Material Culture

Faculty of Social Studies
Autumn 2014
Extent and Intensity
1/1. 6 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Zuzana Sekeráková Búriková, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. Lucie Drdová (assistant)
Guaranteed by
doc. PhDr. Csaba Szaló, Ph.D.
Department of Sociology – Faculty of Social Studies
Contact Person: doc. Mgr. et Mgr. Adéla Souralová, Ph.D.
Supplier department: Department of Sociology – Faculty of Social Studies
Timetable
Tue 11:30–13:00 P22
Prerequisites
SAN103 Currant social/cultural theory && SAN105 Ethnography and Fieldwork
SAN103 and SAN105 ability to read anthropological literature in English - completion of the course requires reading about 25pages (one study or a monograph chapter a week)
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 40 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/40, only registered: 0/40, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/40
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 14 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
At the end fo the course student should be able to: understand main themes and approaches in the study of material culture in sucial anthropology ;
will be introduced to various genres of material culture and various forms of relationships people create to them in specific social and cultural environments. ;
to relate study of material culture to other areas of social anthropology ;
Syllabus
  • Introduction (material culture, things, materiality, theoretical approaches)
  • Commodities and gifts
  • Material culture and social differenciation (things as status symbol, things as constituting class)
  • Art and its social agency (Agency – ability to act)
  • Architecture, house and household
  • Power, state, politics and materiality of everyday
  • Mobility and material culture - case study - au pair and materiality of home
  • Memory, remembering and forgetting
  • Methods: How to use material objects in field research
  • Conclusion, Evaluation of course, Quiz
  • Final version of Syllabus will be available aafter the beginning of term in IS
Literature
    required literature
  • The material culture reader. Edited by Victor Buchli. New York: Berg, 2002, xi, 274. ISBN 1859735592. URL info
    recommended literature
  • GELL, Alfred. Art and agency : an anthropological theory. 1st pub. Oxford: Clarendon, 1998, xxiii, 271. ISBN 0198280149. info
  • Home possessions :material culture behind closed doors. Edited by Daniel Miller. 1st pub. Oxford: Berg, 2001, xi, 234 s. ISBN 1-85973-580-0. info
    not specified
  • The social life of things :commodities in cultural perspective. Edited by Arjun Appadurai. 1st ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986, xiv, 329 s. ISBN 0-521-35726-8. info
Teaching methods
lectures, class discussions, seminars, workshops, reading, text analyses
Assessment methods
Active participation at lectures and seminars - 15 points
Three written assignements (3x1000 words) based on compusory reading – 45 points(3x15 points)
Students are supposed to achieve 60% (36points) from activies and written assignements.
Final examination: research project (2000 words)- 40 points, students have to achieve at least 60% (24points) in order to pass examination 2000 slov.
Grades:
93-100: A
85-92: B
77-84: C
69-76: D
60-68: E
59- a menej: F
Language of instruction
Czech
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2010, Spring 2011, Spring 2012, Autumn 2012, Autumn 2013, Spring 2016, Spring 2017, Spring 2019.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2014, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/fss/autumn2014/SAN107