Anthropology

The Anthropological Imagination

Module code: L6001
Level 4
15 credits in autumn semester
Teaching method: Lecture, Seminar
Assessment modes: Essay

The module aims to convey a sense of anthropology as an exciting, 'living' subject. Anthropology is:

• alive to the concerns of different communities and populations living across the globe
• cutting edge in terms of the research conducted by anthropologists at Sussex as they actively engage with issues of social, cultural and global transformation.

The module revolves around five core themes considered central to the subject, capturing anthropological thinking on:

• culture, identity and representation
• kinship, self and body
• economy as culture
• religion and politics
• work on the global-local interface.

Module learning outcomes

• A reflexive understanding of the core issues which make anthropology an important subject in the contemporary world
• Basic knowledge of the historical development in the analysis of each issue through specific examples of research
• A critical understanding of some of the key analytic perspectives as they emerge through the ethnographic examples used
• The ability to structure arguments in an anthropological frame, develop analysis and present these in written form