Undergraduate Module Descriptor

ANT2090: Sound and Society

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

Module Aims

To explore ways in which the production and consumption of sound are bound up in social relations and practices.

To question cultural assumptions about the nature and possibilities of sound and listening.

To examine how key concepts (for example, ideas of 'place' and 'space') may be re-configured through acoustic perspectives.

To consider the implications of 'thinking acoustically' for anthropological methodology and analysis.

To interrogate listening and sound recording as ways of engaging with and representing social life.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
This module's assessment will evaluate your achievement of the ILOs listed here – you will see reference to these ILO numbers in the details of the assessment for this module.
On successfully completing the programme you will be able to:
Module-Specific Skills	1. Competently explain how some key texts give insight into the involvement of sound in social relations; 2. Make competent critical assessments of some theoretical perspectives in anthropological and sociological approaches to the study of sound; 3. Accurately identify and competently discuss some methodological issues associated with the study of sound in anthropology and sociology;
Discipline-Specific Skills	4. Give clear explanations of how some key concepts in sociology and anthropology can be illustrated in relation to the analysis of empirical data; 5. Competently communicate, both in writing and orally, some awareness of strategies for analytically linking micro and macro perspectives; 6. Show competence in critically assessing and developing theoretical ideas through reflection on experiences and observations of social life;
Personal and Key Skills	7. Show an ability to engage in independent research and analysis; 8. Competently build and defend an argument based on evidence; 9. Communicate effectively in written and verbal form.

Module Content

Syllabus Plan

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

1. Sound, Space and Place (part 1)

2. Sound, Space and Place (part 2)

3. Audible Pasts

4. Noise

5. Sound and Surveillance

6. Sound and Control

7. Sound and Sensory politics

8. Listening

9. Sonic sites (a case study of a particular sonic environment)

10. Anthropology in Sound

Learning and Teaching

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

Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities	Guided independent study	Placement / study abroad
22	128	0

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

Category	Hours of study time	Description
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activity	22	11 x 2 hour seminars
Guided independent study	40	Examination preparation
Guided Independent Study	42	Module Reading
Guided independent study	26	Essay writing
Guided independent study	20	Seminar Preparation

Online Resources

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

http://vle.exeter.ac.uk

Web based and electronic resources:

Anthropology and Sound - online resource produced through a collaboration between the Centre for Creative Research in Sound Arts Practice at the London College of Communication and the Anthropology Department at the University of St Andrews - http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/soundanth/index.php

Cusick, S. 2006. ‘Music as torture: Music as weapon’. Transcultural Music Review 10.http://www.sibetrans.com/trans/a152/music-as-torture-music-as-weapon.

Other Learning Resources

Drever, J. 2005. Sounding Dartmoor. iDAT.

Feld, S. 1991. Voices of the Rainforest. Rykodisc.

Rice, T. 2015. Govindpuri Sound. BBC World Service Documentary. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02hm1rx

Wynne, J. 2007. Hearts, Lungs and Minds. BBC Radio 4 documentary