Module ANT3096 for 2022/3
- Overview
- Aims and Learning Outcomes
- Module Content
- Indicative Reading List
- Assessment
Undergraduate Module Descriptor
ANT3096: The Anthropology of Prisons
This module descriptor refers to the 2022/3 academic year.
Module Aims
Prisons and their operation, purpose and value are topics of great interest and importance in the contemporary world. The primary aim of the module is to introduce you to key anthropological and sociological concepts relating to experiences of imprisonment, and to a wide range of ethnographic work on prisons in different geographical and cultural settings. What commonalities do we find, and in what ways are prison lives different in these settings? What kinds personhood, and what types of social relationships are forged through prisons, their environs and aftermaths? What bearing do ethnicity, kinship and group membership, for instance, have on experiences of constraint? We will also think about how prisons relate to other carceral environments in contemporary society, such as detention centres, psychiatric units and zoos. The module aims to equip you with the necessary knowledge and skills to enable you to understand and evaluate the differing views expressed by established anthropologists and sociologists in relation to prisons. You will be empowered to use anthropological and sociological work as a tool in the development of your own thinking around carcerality.
On successfully completing the programme you will be able to: | |
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Module-Specific Skills | 1. display a detailed knowledge of specific theoretical concepts and methodological approaches in the anthropology and sociology of prisons and the intellectual debates concerning them 2. display a well-developed awareness of, and sensitivity to, cultural diversity in relation to prison experiences and a strong reflexive appreciation of the complexity of these experiences 3. Demonstrate a strong ability to contextualise particular prison ethnographies in relation to the anthropology and sociology of prisons more widely, and effectively critically evaluate examples of ethnographic work on imprisonment |
Discipline-Specific Skills | 4. demonstrate aptitude in using major theoretical perspectives and concepts in anthropology and sociology via the application of appropriate theoretical models in the analysis of ethnographic case studies 5. demonstrate a strong grasp of issues relating to ethnographic representation, the politics of language, indirect forms of communication, forms of power, theoretical statements and claims of authority, showing a well-developed ability to analyse these 6. plan, undertake and present sophisticated scholarly work that shows a developed understanding of anthropological aims, methods and theoretical considerations |
Personal and Key Skills | 7. express your own ideas clearly orally and in writing, summarizing the arguments of others with precision and drawing distinctions between the them 8. engage strongly in constructive discussion in group situations and seminar 9. evaluate your strengths and weaknesses in learning and study skills in detail and take action to improve your capacity to learn |
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 assessment | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
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Ethnographic case study review | 500 words | 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 | Written (oral feedback available on request during office hours) |
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.
Coursework | Written exams | Practical exams |
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100 | 0 | 0 |
...and this table provides further details on the summative assessments for this module.
Form of assessment | % of credit | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
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Essay | 50 | 1500 words | 1-9 | Written (oral feedback available on request during office hours) |
Essay | 50 | 1500 words | 1-9 | Written (oral feedback available on request during office hours) |
0 | ||||
0 | ||||
0 | ||||
0 |
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 assessment | Form of re-assessment | ILOs re-assessed | Timescale for re-assessment |
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Essay | Essay (1500 words) | 1-9 | August/September re-assessment period |
Essay | Essay (1500 words) | 1-9 | August/September re-assessment period |
Indicative Reading List
This reading list is indicative - i.e. it provides an idea of texts that may be useful to you on this module, but it is not considered to be a confirmed or compulsory reading list for this module.
Reed, Adam. 2006. Papua New Guinea's Last Place: Experiences of Constraint in a Postcolonial Prison. Oxford and New York: Berghahn.
Rhodes, Lorna A. 2001. ‘Toward an Anthropology of Prisons’. Annual Review of Anthropology 20: 65-83.
da Cunha, Manuela. 2014. ‘The Ethnography of Prisons and Penal Confinement’. Annual Review of Anthropology43: 217-233.
da Cunha, Manuela. 2008. ‘Closed Circuits: Kinship, Neighbourhoods and Incarceration in Urban Portugal’. Ethnography 9(3): 325–350.
Spedding, Alison, L. 1999. ‘Dreams of Leaving: Life in the Feminine Penitentiary Centre, Miraflores, La Paz, Bolivia’. Anthropology Today 15(2): 11-17.
Bandyopadhyay, M. 2010. Everyday Life in a Prison: Confinement, Surveillance, Resistance. New Delhi: Orient BlackSwan.
Feldman A. 1991. Formations of Violence: The Narrative of the Body and Political Terror in Northern Ireland. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press.