Undergraduate Module Descriptor

ANT1005: Introduction to Social Anthropology: Exploring Cultural Diversity

This module descriptor refers to the 2021/2 academic year.

Module Content

Syllabus Plan

Whilst the precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover all or some of the following topics:

-       Kinship and the construction of relatedness

-       Gendered difference

-       Of witches and fallen gods: thinking in different modes

-       Senses of place, qualities of time: questioning ontologies

-    Race and colonialism in the ethnographic encounter

Typical questions for formative assignments and tutorial presentations are:

1.       Why study kinship? How would social anthropologists answer this question?

2.       Why did Captain Cook have to die? And why have anthropologists argued about it?

3.       People across the world perceive different qualities of time. Without clocks, would we be living unstructured lives?

4.       What does it mean to say that the belief in witchcraft is rational?

Learning and Teaching

This table provides an overview of how your hours of study for this module are allocated:

Scheduled Learning and Teaching ActivitiesGuided independent studyPlacement / study abroad
271230

...and this table provides a more detailed breakdown of the hours allocated to various study activities:

CategoryHours of study timeDescription
Scheduled Learning & Teaching22Eleven 2-hour lectures, involving group discussion and film screenings
Scheduled Learning & Teaching5Five 1-hour tutorials
Guided independent study33Weekly reading for lectures and tutorials
Guided independent study18Preparing tutorial presentation individually or in pairs
Guided independent study27Peer workshopping of reading responses via ELE
Guided independent study20Essay writing (reading, library-based research)
Guided independent study25Preparing reading responses portfolio for submission

Online Resources

This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).

ELE – https://vle.exeter.ac.uk/

How this Module is Assessed

In the tables below, you will see reference to 'ILO's. An ILO is an Intended Learning Outcome - see Aims and Learning Outcomes for details of the ILOs for this module.

Formative Assessment

A formative assessment is designed to give you feedback on your understanding of the module content but it will not count towards your mark for the module.

Form of assessmentSize of the assessment (eg length / duration)ILOs assessedFeedback method
Reading Response Workshop2000 words (10 weekly 200 word responses)1-11Oral and written
Tutorial participation Throughout every tutorial1-7, 11Oral

Summative Assessment

A summative assessment counts towards your mark for the module. The table below tells you what percentage of your mark will come from which type of assessment.

CourseworkWritten examsPractical exams
10000

...and this table provides further details on the summative assessments for this module.

Form of assessment% of creditSize of the assessment (eg length / duration)ILOs assessedFeedback method
Essay502000 words1-6, 8, 10Written
Portfolio502000 words (six 300-word reflections plus intro)1-11Written

Re-assessment

Re-assessment takes place when the summative assessment has not been completed by the original deadline, and the student has been allowed to refer or defer it to a later date (this only happens following certain criteria and is always subject to exam board approval). For obvious reasons, re-assessments cannot be the same as the original assessment and so these alternatives are set. In cases where the form of assessment is the same, the content will nevertheless be different.

Original form of assessmentForm of re-assessmentILOs re-assessedTimescale for re-assessment
EssayEssay (2000 words)1-6, 8, 10August/September reassessment period
PortfolioPortfolio (2000 words)1-11August/September reassessment period