Module HUSS3471: CYBER ANTHROPOLOGY

Department: Anthropology (Human Sciences) [Queen's Campus, Stockton]

HUSS3471: CYBER ANTHROPOLOGY

Prerequisites

• ANTH2031: METHODS AND EXPLANATIONS; HUSS2101: METHODS AND ANALYSIS I: RESEARCH TECHNIQUES

Corequisites

• None

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None

Aims

• To provide students with an advanced understanding of the impact of of technology on culture and society and vice versa in the contemporary world.
• To integrate computer science, artificial intelliegence and anthropological study, with particular reference to issues and methods that are common to all disciplines.

Content

• Lectures
• 14 lectures covering three broad areas: 1) the anthropology of cyber space; 2) the use of information and communication technologies in anthropological enquiry and 3) the impact of technologies and technological change on society and culture
• Seminars and Practicals
• 12 seminars and practicals providing both practical and theoretical formative tasks for students including: 1) designing the specification for a computer simulation of real human phenomena; 2) practical exercises in using simulation, expert system and social network analysis tools; 3) group discussion of the impact of the internet and other information and communication technologies on different societies and cultures.

Learning Outcomes

• Factual material:
• Understanding the range of ICTs and the pervasive nature of some of these technologies in contemporary societies.
• Familiarity with the main features of technological change in the past and present.
• Critical appreciation of current theories concerning ICTs society and culture.
• Understanding the interaction between ICTs, society and culture.

• Ability to test theory through its application to computing and anthropological case studies.
• Ability to integrate computer science, artifical intelligence and anthropology in the understanding of social and cultural change.
• Ability to evaluate the place of ICTs in the modern world.

• Essay writing based on independent reading used to address novel issues at an advanced level.
• Advanced ICT skills.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• Modes of Teaching and Learning:
• Lectures introduce students to broad subject knowledge
• Small group practicals with computers (normally one student per computer) give students the opportunity to improve ICT skills
• Modes of Assessment:
• Summative: Essay (50%) - Summative essays assess students' ability to develop sustained and coherent theses on appropriate topics; Exam (50%) - summative exams assess students knowledge acquisition and their capacity to articulate complex ideas and arguments in concise and efficient ways.
• Formative: Practice essay; simulation design; software implementation tests/quizzes in practical/seminar sessions Formative work allows students to practice and revise skills and ideas prior to submission of summative work.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Practice Essay (1500 words) on the same topic as the Summative Essay (2500 words). In practicals: group and individual work with computers on simulation, simulation design and software tools. In practicals: Pop quizzes/tests on aspects of simulation and software implementation. Small group work on formal modelling of social phenomena.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University