This module is not currently running in 2022 to 2023.
The aim of this module is to introduce students to anthropological thinking on a major field of enquiry that is widely considered to constitute a mainstay core of contemporary social anthropology: systems of relatedness, formally referred to as kinship studies. Here we examine relatedness - family, friendship, community and care – as fundamental yet changing aspects of society and social organization. These topics will be dealt with from historical but mostly contemporary perspectives, providing accounts of the development of social anthropology, and demonstrating the foundational and transformational positions that relatedness continues to hold in the definition of the discipline.
Total contact hours: 24
Private study hours: 126
Total study hours: 150
BA Social Anthropology, BA in Social Anthropology with a Year Abroad programs including all BA in Social Anthropology joint and subsidiary programs; this module is also suitable as an optional module for students of the following degree programmes: BSc Anthropology; BSc Anthropology with a Year Abroad
Essay (1500-2000 words) (40%)
Class Test (30%)
Class Briefing (15%)
Seminar Participation (15%).
Reassessment instrument: 100% coursework
Carsten, Janet. 2000. Cultures of relatedness: new approaches to the study of kinship. Cambridge [England]: Cambridge University Press.
Erdmute Alber, Cati Coe, and Tatjana Thelen. 2013. The Anthropology of Sibling Relations: Shared Parentage, Experience, and Exchange. Palgrave Macmillan, New York, US.
Leinaweaver, Jessaca B. 2013. Adoptive migration: raising Latinos in Spain. Durham: Duke University Press
Martin Matthews, Anne, and Judith Phillips. 2008. Aging and caring at the intersection of work and home life: blurring the boundaries. New York: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Sahlins, Marshall. 2013. What kinship is - and is not. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Savage, Dan. 2005. The commitment: love, sex, marriage, and my family. New York: Dutton.
See the library reading list for this module (Canterbury)
On successfully completing the module students will be able to:
8.1 be conversant with the major theoretical positions taken in contemporary Social Anthropology.
8.2 discuss critically the evidence supporting competing anthropological theories.
8.3 connect the way anthropological debates relate to current affairs and conditions, including political, social and economic developments and historical events.
8.4 describe some of the historical development of anthropological ideas and perspectives in the 21st century
8.5 demonstrate an in-depth understanding of the recognised topic of classic and contemporary relatedness, a subject formerly referred to as kinship studies, and to link this to various cultural contexts and vernaculars and also to other core areas within anthropology such as economics, politics and religion.
8.6 construct coherent and logical arguments, particularly in written form, which combine general theoretical writings with discussion of ethnographic data.
8.7 comprehend and develop ideas that are culturally sensitive and not ethnocentric.
8.8 present their findings orally in order to develop their ideas in forms that are non-ethnocentric, make sense of cultural and social phenomena and linked to broader issues.
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