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Identical coursesAnthropology of Material Culture (B-KUL-S0D50B)
This course is taught this academic year, but not next year.Aims
By the end of the course, students can:
• search and critically read articles and scholarly texts within a larger “material culture” theoretical framework;
• explain the major concepts and theories of material culture studies in anthropology;
• explain the complexity of material culture and know how to approach and analyse it;
• approach and analyse objects and their biographies in their cultural context from an anthropological perspective.
The aims of the course will be explained in detail during the first session.
Previous knowledge
Students have a Bachelor's degree.
At the beginning of this course, they can therefore:
• deal with new concepts and engage with literature in a critical way;
• critically read, process and prepare academic texts;
• read and analyse theoretical texts independently;
• write an academic text.
Is included in these courses of study
- Master in de sociale en culturele antropologie (Leuven) 120 ects.
- Master of Cultural Anthropology and Development Studies (Leuven) 60 ects.
- Master of Social and Cultural Anthropology (Leuven) 120 ects.
- Master of Urbanism, Landscape and Planning (Leuven) 120 ects.
- Master of Human Settlements (Leuven) 60 ects.
Activities
4 ects. Anthropology of Material Culture (B-KUL-S0D50a)
Content
Starting from the material culture turn in anthropology, the course takes off with a critical reflection on materiality, material culture, matter, objects and their biographies; over the course of the weeks the course zooms in on the various strands in the anthropology of material culture, on objects and their agency in relation to the ontological turn in anthropology, on materials and materiality, housing culture, and images and photographs as objects; we understand material culture through the sensuous and aesthetics to end with ethnographic examples of technology, tinkering and repair.
The course engages with various scholarly theories and approaches of material culture and materiality, of objects, materials and technology in anthropology. While some of the reading materials used are theoretical, others include concrete case studies from across the world.
Course material
The course reader (including mandatory and recommended articles, book chapters), syllabus, course information and calendar, and documents (powerpoint presentations, outlines of lectures, CVs and texts of guest professors) will be available on Toledo at the start of the semester.
Reading lists with extra articles and books will be available on Toledo.
Format: more information
The course holder and guest lecturers will introduce the students to material culture theories and specific cases. Students are expected to:
- come to class prepared by reading mandatory literature beforehand; so they can follow the lectures and actively participate in the discussions initiated by the lecturer;
- distil arguments from the texts of the reader and discuss them in relation to the cases presented in class;
- search for examples and cases in preparation of their final presentation;
- critically reflect on cutting-edge issues in the field of the anthropology of material culture.
Students are encouraged to actively work with the course material in a creative way by preparing a reflection paper on an object of their own choice.
1 ects. Anthropology of Material Culture: Reflection Paper (B-KUL-S0I62a)
Content
Students will write a very short reflection paper (10%) in which they engage with the literature of one of the lectures of their choice. The reflection paper should not exceed 2 pages.
The paper may, but is not required to, build on the first steps of the final object study (see 2) of an object/group of objects/site of choice. The content of this essay may be used in the final presentation.
The deadline for the reflection paper will be announced in class and on Toledo.
Evaluation
Evaluation: Anthropology of Material Culture (B-KUL-S2D50b)
Explanation
The course will be evaluated by the lecturer on content and quality of the argument/writing as explained in the course syllabus on Toledo and in the exam regulations. Scores are always represented with whole numbers on a scale from 0 to 20, with 10 being the passing grade.
Attendance and active participation are a requirement.
Grades will be calculated based on an evaluation of the following elements:
1. Students write a discussion note (10% of the final grade) on one of the classes, as will be explained in the first session of the course. This discussion note needs to be submitted exactly 2 weeks after the selected class. Students will receive a pass or fail for this discussion note. The content of the discussion note can be used in the final paper or presentation.
2. Students do an oral exam (90% of the final grade).
In consultation with the course instructor, all students will prepare a final presentation of 20 minutes.
Students will not be requested to prepare a standard powerpoint presentation. Instead, each will be invited to construct an “object analysis” or to '"think through their 'thing'". More standard methodological approaches in anthropology endeavour to read the cultural world through the practices and discourses of human agents. What is expected from the students, however, follows the opposite path: students should try to write an ‘object study’ that relies on the agency of objects rather than that of human beings to decipher the social and cultural worlds these objects shape and give meaning to. This can be an individual object, a class of objects, or a clearly delineated community, a site or cluster of objects, in order to understand, in line with Appadurai’s ‘methodological fetishism’ the ways in which these objects generate and illuminate their human and social context and life. Depending on which object(s) are singled out for analysis the study may serve as a starting points for comments on various issues and themes, including issues of identity, meaning, structure, representation, (im)materiality, the movement from object to thing, etc.
The object study should dialogue with the theories and issues presented throughout the course (see syllabus). Students are expected to demonstrate that they are capable of personally and critically reflecting on one or more of the theories dealt with throughout the course, in a creative way.
Formal requirements of the final presentation during the oral exam:
The presentation should be (exactly) 20 minutes. Students are free to choose the format of their presentation. Creative use of visual material is encouraged. Choose a format that fits your object(s)/site and that demonstrates some of the theoretical insights acquired throughout the course. (Live performances are permitted...) A written preparation with name and course number, including references need to be submitted on the moment of the oral exam. References should include both materials used in the course and additional ones selected by the student. The text and references should be formatted in APA-style or AAA-style (see Toledo).
Students who need to retake their exam, have to retake the discussion note (*not for students of the Architecture department) and the oral exam.
Information about retaking exams
Students who need to retake their exam, have to retake the discussion note (*not for students of the Architecture department) and the oral exam.