Universität Wien

240550 SE Hydrosocial anthropology: waterworlds and wet ontologies (P4) (2023S)

5.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 24 - Kultur- und Sozialanthropologie
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 for courses with continuous assessment.
Moodle

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

If possible, the course is to be conducted in presence. Due to the respective applicable distance regulations and other measures, adjustments may be made.

  • Tuesday 28.03. 09:45 - 11:15 Seminarraum D, NIG 4. Stock
  • Wednesday 29.03. 09:45 - 11:15 Seminarraum A, NIG 4. Stock
  • Thursday 30.03. 09:45 - 11:15 Hörsaal C, NIG 4. Stock
  • Friday 31.03. 09:45 - 11:15 Seminarraum D, NIG 4. Stock
  • Monday 24.04. 09:45 - 11:15 Seminarraum D, NIG 4. Stock
  • Wednesday 26.04. 09:45 - 11:15 Seminarraum D, NIG 4. Stock
  • Thursday 27.04. 09:45 - 11:15 Seminarraum D, NIG 4. Stock
  • Friday 28.04. 09:45 - 11:15 Seminarraum D, NIG 4. Stock

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

Water is essential not only for biological life, but also for social and cultural life. In a time of water crises - droughts, floods, thaw, privatisation, pollution and sea-level rise - this element has been thrust into the public spotlight. To avoid simplistic generalisations and problematic reductionisms in discussions of these crises, anthropological approaches to these issues are important. More generally, anthropological water research also helps to question specific Western assumptions about the stability of social life and material structures.
This course explores classical and recent approaches to the role of water in human societies. We will discuss ethnographies that address water directly or indirectly - e.g. in the context of irrigation systems, flood disasters, drinking water supply, constructions of space and time, notions of purity and hygiene, and climate change. In addition to anthropological works, we will also peek into human geography and environmental history literature.
The overall aim of the course is to develop a social and cultural anthropology that can holistically analyse hydrological and social contexts. Through reading, lecture and discussion, we will work towards developing an understanding of water use, water distribution, wet ontologies and water symbolism that comprehends social relations and hydrological realities not only as intimately connected, but also as part of the same relational and hydrosocial world.

Assessment and permitted materials

The course will be structured in eight sessions, in part lectures and in part seminars; four sessions will take place in the last week of March, the other four in the last week of April. Attendance is obligatory. Each session has a mandatory reading, for which participants will submit a written reflection and critical question before the respective session. In between the two blocks, students will be expected to read and review a book-length water-related ethnography. Other requirements include an oral presentation and a term paper on a topic to be defined with the instructor. The course will also rehearse methods of giving and receiving constructive feedback on each other’s work. Please sign up for an oral presentation on Moodle by March 20th.

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

Course participants will be assessed as follows:
• Participation: mandatory
• Reading reflections and questions: 20%
• Oral presentation: 20%
• Feedback on oral presentation: 10%
• Book review: 20%
• Final paper: 30%

Scale of marks:
Grades:
• 91-100 points - 1 (excellent)
• 81-90 points - 2 (good)
• 71-80 points - 3 (satisfactory)
• 61-70 points - 4 (sufficient)
In order to complete the course, one needs to obtain at least 61 points.

Examination topics

The topic of the term paper will be determined between student and instructor during the course.

Reading list

There is no mandatory reading before the course. Prospective students may have a look at any of these articles if interested:
Ballestero, Andrea. 2019. ‘The Anthropology of Water’. Annual Review of Anthropology 48 (1): 405–21. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-anthro-102218-011428.
Barnes, Jessica, and Samer Alatout. 2012. ‘Water Worlds: Introduction to the Special Issue of Social Studies of Science’. Social Studies of Science 42 (4): 483–88.
Fontein, Joost. 2008. ‘The Power of Water: Landscape, Water and the State in Southern and Eastern Africa: An Introduction*’. Journal of Southern African Studies 34 (4): 737–56. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057070802456730.
Gagné, Karine, and Mattias Borg Rasmussen. 2016. ‘Introduction–An Amphibious Anthropology: The Production of Place at the Confluence of Land and Water’. Anthropologica 58 (2): 135–49.
Hastrup, Kirsten. 2013. ‘Water and the Configuration of Social Worlds: An Anthropological Perspective’. Journal of Water Resource and Protection 05 (04): 59–66. https://doi.org/10.4236/jwarp.2013.54A009.
Helmreich, Stefan. 2011. ‘Nature/Culture/Seawater’. American Anthropologist 113 (1): 132–44. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1548-1433.2010.01311.x.
Jensen, Casper Bruun. 2017. ‘Amphibious Worlds: Environments, Infrastructures, Ontologies’. Engaging Science, Technology, and Society 3 (May): 224–34. https://doi.org/10.17351/ests2017.56.
Krause, Franz. 2021. ‘Water and Materiality’. In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Anthropology. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Krause, Franz, and Veronica Strang. 2013. ‘Introduction to Special Issue: “Living Water”’. Worldviews: Global Religions, Culture, and Ecology 17 (2): 95–102.
———. 2016. ‘Thinking Relationships Through Water’. Society & Natural Resources 29 (6): 633–38. https://doi.org/10.1080/08941920.2016.1151714.
Orlove, Ben, and Steven C. Caton. 2010. ‘Water Sustainability: Anthropological Approaches and Prospects’. Annual Review of Anthropology 39 (1): 401–15. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.anthro.012809.105045.
Strang, Veronica. 2006. ‘Substantial Connections: Water and Identity in an English Cultural Landscape’. Worldviews: Global Religions, Culture, and Ecology 10 (2): 155–77. https://doi.org/10.1163/156853506777965820.

Association in the course directory

Last modified: Mo 20.03.2023 09:49