ANTH4030 – Advanced Anthropological Methods
Schedule, syllabus and examination date
Course content
Taken in parallel with ANTH4010 - Advanced Anthropological Theory and ANTH4020 - Academic Writing and Project Development, this class takes as point of departure the relevance of fieldwork as a practice of anthropological knowledge making. It explores the ethics, politics, and practice of ethnographic fieldwork. It considers questions about the way we produce evidence, the research spaces we choose (e.g., "the field"), our relationships to the people with whom we work, and "method" itself. It uses ethnographies (often monographs) to think about contemporary issues and for that it starts with the present to think about our past and our futures. Students’ projects and our common lived realities (including life after COVID-19) are bases for workshops on participant observation, conducting interviews, data management, as well as a critical and ethical reflections on anthropological truth claims, scale, positionality, representation, and collaboration in ethnographic practice as it intersects with gender, class, ethnicity, and nationality. Centered in anthropology it also looks at neighboring disciplines in an effort to understand our practice in connection and conversation with other forms of knowledge making and ontological differences. Students will learn to "deep read" and think critically to produce written responses, in-class presentations, and a final creative project.
Learning outcome
Knowledge
Reflect on contemporary ethical challenges involved in anthropological research, and be able to evaluate risks related to one’s own project plans
- Appreciate the variety of data collection methods available in Social Anthropology
- Understand how theory and methods in Social Anthropology are related and how they are combined in specific ethnographic cases
- Reflect on contemporary ethical challenges involved in anthropological research, and be able to evaluate risks related to one’s own project plans
Skills
- Discuss qualitative research methods in written and oral form
- Identify, define and collect anthropological data
- Develop ethical awareness regarding qualitative research and the use of research results
General competence
- Deepen the capacity for independent academic thought
- Enhance the ability to discuss academic issues in solid English, both written and orally
- Improve competence in argument construction
Admission to the course
Students who are admitted to study programmes at UiO must each semester register which courses and exams they wish to sign up for in Studentweb.
If you are not already enrolled as a student at UiO, please see our information about admission requirements and procedures.
This course is not available for single course students.
Teaching
3-hour teaching blocks with a combination of lectures and in-class group discussions moderated by the lecturer.
Access to teaching:
A student who has completed compulsory instruction and coursework and has had these approved, is not entitled to repeat that instruction and coursework. A student who has been admitted to a course, but who has not completed compulsory instruction and coursework or had these approved, is entitled to repeat that instruction and coursework, depending on available capacity.
Examination
Compulsory activities:
- Three reflection papers (300-500 words each).
The compulsory activities will be assessed as Approved/Not approved. You must have the compulsory activities approved in order to take the exam.
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Exam:
- Creative project that you will build throughout the course and will be part of a collective exhibit at the end of the semester.
- Short description (up to 300 words) in which you explain what inspired and guided your final production, including a picture of your creative project, a file with it or a link to it. The description and picture/file/link are submitted in Inspera.
The project must be accepted by the lecturer beforehand.
All compulsory activities must be approved and the exam passed in the same semester.
Previous exams and assessment guidelines.
Examination support material
All exam support materials are allowed during this exam. Generating all or part of the exam answer using AI tools such as Chat GPT or similar is not allowed.
Language of examination
All reflection papers and the short description of the creative project must be written in English.
Grading scale
Grades are awarded on a pass/fail scale. Read more about the grading system.
Also see?Grading guidelines in social anthropology
Resit an examination
It is possible to take the exam up to 3 times. If you?withdraw from the exam?after the deadline or during the exam, this will be counted as an examination attempt.
More about examinations at UiO
- Use of sources and citations
- Special exam arrangements due to individual needs
- Withdrawal from an exam
- Illness at exams / postponed exams
- Explanation of grades and appeals
- Resitting an exam
- Cheating/attempted cheating
You will find further guides and resources at the web page on examinations at UiO.