Universität Wien
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240015 VO BM2 New Critical Perspectives in Social and Cultural Anthropology (2026W)

5.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 24 - Kultur- und Sozialanthropologie
We 21.10. 15:00-18:15 Hörsaal A, NIG 4.Stock

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Details

Language: English

Examination dates

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

  • Wednesday 28.10. 15:00 - 18:15 Hörsaal A, NIG 4.Stock
  • Wednesday 04.11. 15:00 - 18:15 Hörsaal A, NIG 4.Stock
  • Wednesday 18.11. 15:00 - 18:15 Hörsaal A, NIG 4.Stock
  • Wednesday 25.11. 15:00 - 18:15 Hörsaal A, NIG 4.Stock
  • Wednesday 02.12. 15:00 - 18:15 Hörsaal A, NIG 4.Stock
  • Wednesday 16.12. 15:00 - 18:15 Hörsaal A, NIG 4.Stock

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

In this lecture, students will be introduced to newer critical perspectives in the discipline of Anthropology. They will learn to understand the critical, reflexive and collaborative ethos that underlies anthropological research through exemplary theories, topics and approaches. A strong focus lies on the ethical and political challenges that arise from the discipline's past, and on the ways through which anthropologists have grappled with these challenges. By paying particular attention to the contributions of feminist, anti-racist and post-colonial positions to the understanding of social and cultural anthropology, students will be able to better understand anthropological knowledge production and reflect on their own positionality.
Method:
The course is a lecture; however, student participation will be encouraged and class activities will take place to allow active learning. To enhance class discussions, students need to read/ prepare the material meant for each session.
As the course engages with feminist, anti-racist, and decolonial forms of knowledge production, class material will not be limited to academic publications. Students will also engage with artistic expressions (visual and performative arts, music, poetry, plastic arts, popular art expressions) as forms of legitimate and relevant knowledge

Tutor: Kamilla Péter

Tutorial session: TBA

Assessment and permitted materials

There will be a written exam at the end of the semester that will cover all topics addressed during the sessions. The format will be open-ended questions. The exam will be open-book, so students can consult their notes and the readings and materials used during the semester.

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

The course will be taught in English and the examination will also be in English.
For a positive grade, 51 % is required
90-100 %= 1
77-89 %= 2
64-76 %= 3
51-63 %= 4
0-50 % = 5

Examination topics

Written examination including all course readings and lectures' content

Reading list

Reading list (tentative):
Abu-Lughod L. 1991. Writing against culture. In Recapturing Anthropology: Working in the Present, ed. RG Fox, pp. 137–62. Santa Fe, NM: Sch. Am. Res. Press
Ahmed, S., 2007. A phenomenology of whiteness. Feminist theory, 8(2), pp.149-168.
Anzaldúa, G., 1987. Borderlands/la frontera. The New Mestiza. Aunt Luke Books.
Behar, Ruth. 1996. The Vulnerable Observer: Anthropology That Breaks Your Heart. Boston: Beacon Press.
Csordas, Thomas J. 1990. ‘Embodiment as a Paradigm for Anthropology’. Ethos 18, no. 1: 5–47.
Asad, Talal. 1979. ‘Anthropology and the Colonial Encounter’. In The Politics of Anthropology, 85–94. De Gruyter Mouton.
Hooks, B., 2009. Reel to real: race, class and sex at the movies. Routledge.
Haraway, D 1988 Situated Knowledges: The science question in feminism and the
privileged of partial perspective. Feminist studies 14 (3): 575-599
Hazel, Y.P., 2014. Sensing difference: Whiteness, national identity, and belonging in the Dominican Republic. Transforming Anthropology, 22(2), pp.78-91.
Fals-Borda, O., 1992. Evolution and convergence in participatory action research. A world of communities: Participatory research perspectives, pp.14-19.
Fanon, F., 2008. Black skin, white masks. Grove press.
Gupta, A. and Stoolman, J., 2022. Decolonizing US anthropology. American Anthropologist.
Icaza, R., 2023. Tanteando en la oscuridad:: Decolonial Feminist Horizons.
Mahmud, Lilith. ‘Feminism in the House of Anthropology’. Annual Review of Anthropology 50, no. 1 (2021): 345–61. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-anthro-101819-110218.
Lugones, M., 2007. Heterosexualism and the colonial/modern gender system. Hypatia, 22(1), pp.186-219.
Olarte-Sierra, M.F., 2019. Of flesh and bone: emotional and affective ethnography of forensic anthropology practices amidst an armed conflict. Tapuya: Latin American Science, Technology and Society, 2(1), pp.77-93.
Walsh, C. and Mignolo, W., 2018. On decoloniality. DW Mignolo, & EC Walsh, On Decoloniality Concepts, Analysis, Praxis, 304.

Association in the course directory

Last modified: Fr 14.08.2026 06:46