Universität Wien
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240041 SE BM7 FbSE Multispecies Ethnography: Human- Bee- Plants relationships in Vienna (2025S)

Continuous assessment of course work

Participation at first session is obligatory!

The lecturer can invite students to a grade-relevant discussion about partial achievements. Partial achievements that are obtained by fraud or plagiarized result in the non-evaluation of the course (entry 'X' in certificate). The plagiarism software 'Turnitin' will be used.
The use of AI tools (e.g. ChatGPT) for the attainment of partial achievements is only allowed if explicitly requested by the course instructor.
Mo 03.03. 09:45-11:15 Seminarraum A, NIG 4. Stock

Registration/Deregistration

Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).

Details

max. 25 participants
Language: English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

  • Tuesday 04.03. 11:30 - 14:45 Hörsaal C, NIG 4. Stock
  • Tuesday 11.03. 11:30 - 14:45 Seminarraum A, NIG 4. Stock
  • Tuesday 17.06. 11:30 - 18:15 Übungsraum (A414) NIG 4. Stock

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

The course provides an overview of various approaches to studying human and non-human relationships, focusing on how these relationships are addressed in Human-Animal Studies, multispecies ethnography, and Critical Plant Studies.
Special attention will be given to two specific fields of inquiry: human-plant relationships and human-bee relationships.
Throughout the course, students will have the opportunity to participate in two field trips to visit beekeepers and their apiaries in Vienna. During these visits, they will interact directly with bees and beekeepers, ask questions, and take firsthand notes on their sensory experiences with non-humans.

The course has three learning goals: 1. to gain knowledge about multispecies theories and the anthropological discourse surrounding the current environmental crisis; 2. to learn how to conduct anthropological research with non-human participants; and 3. to develop academic reading and writing skills, particularly in analyzing scientific arguments and constructing original responses that engage anthropologists and social scientists.

All visits will take place in Vienna and are easily accessible by public transportation.

Learning goals
The following academic skills will be learnt or further developed in this course:
• insight into the relationship between humans and non-humans from multispecies perspective;
• knowledge about the critical aspects of conducting fieldwork with non-human participants;
• knowledge about anthropological theories and approaches regarding the theme of the course;
• analysing and evaluating ethnographic papers;
• recognising an academic argument and developing an academic argument
• writing academic papers;
• applying academic norms of citation and referencing.

Assessment and permitted materials

Weekly participation and preparation of all classes is compulsory (to be evaluated as either “sufficient” or “not sufficient” at the end of the course). “Sufficient” participation includes a maximum of 2 missed classes and evidence of active engagement with the compulsory study materials through participation in discussions or classroom tasks. Students who don't attend the first class will be deregistered.
Students are expected to write and upload on moodle their notes from each article in the compulsory literature. Before the field trips, they will be asked to prepare a detailed plan of questions for the field trips. After the fields, they must prepare an A4 resume of the trip experience.
Students submit a final paper (1.600-1.750 words) focusing on the treatment of theory and ethnography, argumentation, and structure. Students receive feedback within 4 weeks. In case it s necessary, students are expected to use the feedback to improve their grade in the final paper.

• Students use the KSA Writing Guidelines and the KSA Paper Checklist to construct their papers.
• Implementation of these guidelines are an aspect of the grade – pay special attention to the aspects of structure and referencing.
• Papers will be submitted on Moodle and checked automatically for plagiarism.

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

For each paper, the following assessment criteria will be used.
 in-depth understanding and correct description of course literature, including both theorical and empirical aspects, and the relation between them;
 selection and explanation of a core argument in the literature;
 ability to develop an original argument in response to this core argument;
 structure of the paper, internal coherence and logics, as visible for example in the interplay of introduction, middle, and conclusion;
 correct usage of citations and references;
 efficient and correct writing.

A = 1 (Very Good): 87 - 100% / B = 2 (Good): 75 - 86,99% / C = 3 (Satisfactory): 63 - 74,99% /
D = 4 (Enough): 50 - 62,99% / F = 5 (Not Enough): 00 - 49,99%

Examination topics

Reading list

• Bollig, Michael, and Franz Krause. 2023. Environmental Anthropology: Current Issues and Fields of Engagement. 1. Auflage. UTB 6089. Stuttgart: utb GmbH. https://doi.org/10.36198/9783838560892. [Pages 13 to 108].
• Haraway, Donna. 2018. “Staying with the Trouble for Multispecies Environmental Justice.” Dialogues in Human Geography 8 (1): 102–5. https://doi.org/10.1177/2043820617739208.
• Hustak, Carla, and Natasha Myers. 2012. “Involutionary Momentum: Affective Ecologies and the Sciences of Plant/Insect Encounters.” Differences 23 (3): 74–118. https://doi.org/10.1215/10407391-1892907.
• Mathews, Andrew S. 2018. “Landscapes and Throughscapes in Italian Forest Worlds: Thinking Dramatically about the Anthropocene.” Cultural Anthropology 33 (3): 386–414. https://doi.org/10.14506/ca33.3.05.
• Moore, Lisa Jean, and Mary Kosut. 2014. “Among the Colony: Ethnographic Fieldwork, Urban Bees and Intra-Species Mindfulness.” Ethnography 15 (4): 516–39. https://doi.org/10.1177/1466138113505022.
• Nimmo, Richie. 2015. “The Bio-­Politics of Bees: Industrial Farming and Colony Collapse Disorder.” Humanimalia 6 (2): 1–20.

Association in the course directory

Last modified: Sa 25.01.2025 10:06