This module is not currently running in 2022 to 2023.
Visual anthropology is a subfield of social anthropology focussed on the production, dissemination and analysis of film, video, photography and computer-based multimedia. It is at the heart of contemporary anthropological experiments in sensory ethnography, collaborative and publicly accessible research, and analysis of the encounter between media makers and the subjects of their productions. Central concerns of the module are the cross-cultural reception of media, the use of video and photography as and for research, the social history of film and photography relating to ethnographic subjects, the study of national and regional cinematic traditions (outside Europe and America) and the comparative ethnography of television and broader consideration of issues of social representation and political ideology in visual imagery. Some of the main areas covered in the module include 1) Reflexivity and Intersubjectivity, 2) Soundscapes, Dance and the Senses, 3) Photography and Sociality, 4) Observational and Participatory Cinema, 5) Ethno-fiction and Indigenous Media 6) Intersections of Medical and Visual anthropology and 7) New Media and Activism.
Contact hours: 28
Private study hours: 122
Total hours: 150
MA Social Anthropology, and Visual Ethnography pathway
Analytic note, 1,200 words (35%)
Essay, 2,000 words (65%)
Re-assessment methods: 100% Coursework
Reading list (Indicative list, current at time of publication. Reading lists will be published annually)
Askew, K. and R. Wilk 2002. The Anthropology of Media: a reader. Blackwell.
Banks, M & Ruby, J (eds). 2011. Made to be Seen: Perspectives on the History of Visual Anthropology. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Edwards, Elizabeth (ed.) 1992. Anthropology and Photography, 1860-1920.
Ginsburg, F, L. Abu-Lughod and B. Larkin (eds).. 2002. Media Worlds: anthropology on new terrain.
MacDougall, D 1998. Transcultural Cinema. Princeton University Press
See the library reading list for this module (Canterbury)
The intended subject specific learning outcomes. On successfully completing the module students will be able to:
8.1 demonstrate an advanced understanding of the main themes and trends in Visual Anthropology
8.2 have cultivated an informed and advanced understanding of the production and analysis of visual media
8.3 analyse and communicate their comprehension of photography or ethnographic documentaries.
8.4 critically evaluate and construct coherent and logical arguments referencing visual and textual discourses, that combine an advanced conceptual understanding with substantiated ethnographic examples.
8.5 analyse their reception of media in relation to their and others' past experience and use of film, video and photography.
8.6 to critically engage with some of the assumptions present by demonstrating an advanced understanding of the value of ethnographic and documentary media .
The intended generic learning outcomes. On successfully completing the module students will be able to:
9.1 demonstrate decision-making in complex contexts by integrating reference to visual media and theory into their written analysis
9.2 be personally and disciplinarily reflexive in analysis and discussion
9.3 communicate more effectively through critically referencing personal experience in relation to literature
9.4 to synthesise the research of others and form a reflexive and coherent argument with it
9.5 identify and locate extensive and ethnographic sources of information related to media
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