Ethnobotany - MSc

This module will consist of a series of practical sessions that allow postgraduate students to gain hands on experience in the use and application of data collection techniques and analyses commonly used by social and environmental anthropologists, ethnobiologists and conservation biologists in the emerging interdisciplinary fields of conservation social science and ethnobiology. The module complements the theoretical and issue oriented modules required of postgraduate students. Also, achievement of learning outcomes from this module will feed directly into preparation and implementation of dissertation research projects for all MSc and PhD students.

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This module deals with botanical principles and practical taxonomic skills that every ethnobotanist should be familiar with. It includes an examination of different ways of organising plants, especially standard taxonomy and phylogeny. It also explores the various ways humans have used and valuated botanical resources. Some of the module will be devoted to the presentation by the students of a series of plant profiles that will result in a reference database of important plants that the students can use throughout their careers as ethnobotanists. Students will also receive training in handling botanical materials, producing voucher specimens and learning to use keys and floras to identify plants.

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The module will consist of twelve two hour classes consisting of short introductions to weekly topics by the course convenors followed by practical exercises to allow students to experience and learn by doing several key methods and tools used in anthropological fieldwork. Assignments based on the use of several methods, a research proposal abstract for their future dissertation project, and an essay will be used to assess the student's achievement of learning outcomes. Seminar topics may include: Introduction to research in the natural and social sciences, participant observation, choosing informants, interviewing, processing interview data, analysis and presentation of qualitative data, questionnaire design and analysis, developing an integrated research design, running workshops and focus groups, ethics and consent.

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This module introduces some of the main theoretical approaches and some practical applications of the study of environmental anthropology (in particular, cultural ecology, systems and symbolic ecology, historical and political ecology, and new approaches such as spiritual ecology and multispecies ethnography).

We consider some of the main cultural and social aspects of the human-environment interface, such as

• the relationship between social organisation, culture and ecology

• alternative forms of land use and management

• the impact of processes of globalization on human interactions with the environment in a number of non-western societies

• the cultural dimension of human adaptation to a changing environment.

The middle section of the module looks at five categories of subsistence strategy and the environments they occur in:

• foraging and hunting (in arid, arctic and tropical forest ecosystems)

• fishing (coastal marine environments)

• pastoralism (in grassland and arid ecosystems)

• low intensity and high intensity agriculture (in arid, grassland and tropical environments).

For each of these production systems we will also examine a complementary contemporary issue in conservation and/or development. These issues may involve great debates in theory, problems of methodology or issues in applying research results to solve practical problems.

Throughout the module we address methods and problems of applying research in environmental anthropology to related development, conservation and human rights issues, and in particular we look at adaptation to climate change among Indigenous peoples.

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This module is intended to enable you to discuss critically the relationship between people and other organic species, in terms of the social and knowledge systems of which they are part, using anthropological approaches and data. It deals with the ways in which different societies and cultures have come to perceive, know, use, classify and symbolically represent plants and animals. It also introduces you to the ways anthropologists have approached the study of local systems of classification and knowledge, and people's management and use of plants and animals.

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This module covers selected aspects of botany, plant conservation, ethnobotany and botanic gardens, chosen with reference to their relevance to the Ethnobotany MSc. Students should complete the module with enhanced understanding of plant classification and the botany of selected plant families, plant conservation techniques, the role of botany in carrying out ethnobotany, and the range of work and facilities at a botanical garden.

Indicative topics are:

* Botanical information resources

* Basic taxonomy

* The role of the herbarium

* Plant systematics and family sorts

* Taxonomy of selected families

* Collecting plant specimens under tropical conditions

* Ethnobotanical research at Kew

* Yam ethnobotany

* History of economic botany and the role of the botanic garden

* Chinese herbal medicine

* Plant phytochemistry in relation to ethnobotany

* Applied Ethnobotany

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Protected areas are a mainstay of global conservation policy, with more than 17% of the terrestrial realm and 8% of the marine realm under some type of protection. In this module students will be introduced to the key concepts needed to understand protected area management and policy at the national and international level. The following indicative topics will form the basis of lectures, seminars and field trip around which the module will be taught: the history of protected areas and relevant international policies and commitments; current definitions of protected area based on management categories and governance types; management planning and measuring protected area management effectiveness; economic issues relating to protected areas; designing protected area networks to form representative ecological networks.

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Effective biodiversity conservation relies on a critical understanding of the linkages between the social, economic and ecological systems. In this module you will be introduced to key economic theories and concepts and how they relate to environmental and conservation issues. Using problem-based learning approach, we will explore the economic causes of conservation conflicts and biodiversity loss, and apply a whole systems approach to identify possible solutions. The design of this module along the principles of problem-based active learning means that a high level of student preparation and engagement is expected throughout the course. This module does not require previous training in economics.

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This module provides the opportunity for students to undertake a detailed review of a specific topic of interest that relates directly to their programme of study. The topic will be decided upon after consultation with the supervisor and module convenor. The module will be team-taught and consist of tutorials, as well as independent work. Tutorials will cover representative advanced topics in the relevant programme of study. For the independent work, the topic of interest will be explored using a comprehensive literature review.

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The module addresses the causes, effects, treatments and meanings of health, illness and disease for humans and the ecosystems that they live in. The module content will be structured around five broad themes related to holism, health and healing, drawing on ethnographic examples from around the world. We will begin with a consideration of the evolutionary basis of human medicine and dietary behaviour. Next, we will take a closer look at healing systems, their structure and the various theories of illness and therapeutic techniques that they encompass. This will be followed by a critical examination of the biopolitics of health and healing, including the question of how to define and assess the efficacy of various medical treatments. We will then take a closer look at the spiritual aspects of health and healing before concluding with the final theme of holism, health and healing in the globalized world.

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The module is of relevance for postgraduate students of social anthropology, and related disciplines preoccupied with the role of critical, anthropologically-informed thought in a world in crisis. It addresses a series of themes that explore how anthropologists throughout the history of the discipline have engaged with the pressing political, social and environmental concerns and crises of their day. The module aims to support postgraduate students in making connections between theoretical issues and ethnography, as they recur in the practices and debates of social anthropologists. It also explores the relevance of anthropology for the Contemporary world beyond the university, and educates students in how to adapt anthropological knowledge and skills to analysis of real world issues. A key objective is to support students in developing and consolidating their understanding of contemporary anthropology and their own assessment of the wider utility of the social sciences.

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Ethnicity' and 'nationalism' are matters of contemporary urgency (as we are daily reminded by the media), but while the meanings of these terms are taken for granted, what actually constitutes ethnicity and nationalism, and how they have been historically constituted, is neither clear nor self-evident. This module begins with a consideration of the major theories of nationalism and ethnicity, and then moves on to a series of case studies taken from various societies around the world., and then moves on to examine a number of other important concepts—indigeneity, 'race', hybridity, authenticity, 'invention of tradition', multiculturalism, globalization—that can help us appreciate the complexity and dynamics of ethnic identities. The general aim of the module is to enable and encourage students to think critically beyond established, homogenous and static ethnic categories.

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Throughout the terms preceding the initiation of the dissertation module students will be encouraged by their supervisor and the instructors of other modules they take to develop ideas for their dissertation research project. They will also be taught appropriate research methods. The final double weighted essay of their pre-dissertation will draw together materials they have learned through the preceding terms and will synthesise these with students' research interests in order to set up a prospectus for the thesis proposal itself. Students who are then passed into the dissertation module by the examiners meeting will, on this basis, complete a written plan for their research project with advice from their tutor. This will be assessed by the tutor and by one other member of the post-graduate anthropology teaching staff, and when this is approved the student and his or her tutor will intensively discuss methods of data collection, theoretical models for the analysis of this material, and the use and integration of research methods into both its preparation and its final presentation. The student will then independently work on the thesis over the summer until mid-September when it will be submitted. Throughout this time the student will be able to gain supervision through electronic mail.

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