Module ANTH2161: Kinship and Religion

Department: Anthropology

ANTH2161: Kinship and Religion

Prerequisites

• People and Cultures (ANTH1061) OR Being Human (ANTH1111)

Corequisites

• None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• This module builds on Level 1 modules introducing social anthropology theory and methods. It explores in greater depth themes which fall under the broad headings of kinship and religion. The module is an essential foundation for students wishing to study social anthropology topics at Level 3. More specially the module aims to:
• Provide a cross-cultural overview of the theoretical and ethnographic importance of the anthropological studies of kinship and religion
• Cover key theories of kinship and religion in social anthropology, supported by ethnographic case studies
• Consider the form that religious and kinship practices take in a variety of different societies and communities and their relationship with beliefs, values and experience
• Provide an in-depth and broad knowledge of kinship and its importance to human sociality
• Examine critically the relationship between the practice of different religions and different forms of kinship for social organisation, identities, conflict and culture
• Provide an awareness of how a theoretical and ethnographic awareness of these topics might help understand critical events and controversies in the contemporary world.

Content

• This module consists of two parts, kinship and religion.
• The indicative content of kinship is:
• Overview of key issues, trends and debates in the anthropology of kinship followed by coverage of the following major themes: kinship and the social structure of human communities; basic theoretical models and debates ranging from segmentary lineage theory to current studies in kinship and relatedness; marriage alliances and the problem of incest avoidance; non-standard family forms, new reproductive technologies; symbolic anthropology and processual theories of kinship; anthropological approaches to relatedness.
• The indicative content of religion is:
• Overview of key issues, trends and debates in the anthropology of religion followed by coverage of the following major themes: the politics of religious identity; sex, gender, and the sacred; ritual theory and rites of passage; belief; pilgrimage; religion and race; secularism.

Learning Outcomes

• Understand the role of kinship and religion in human societies, and the various ways it has been theorised by anthropologists.
• Be able to demonstrate familiarity with a range of representative ethnographic cases (present and past, Western and non-Western).
• Understand how to relate their personal experience of kinship and religion to the broader field of anthropological knowledge.

• Take notes during lectures and videos, and synthesise these with background reading and practical exercises.
• Have an understanding of the basic conceptual vocabularies of kinship and religion.
• Be able to analyse the symbolic foundations of kinship and religious practices.

• Library research
• Using kinship notation
• Debating skills
• Note taking
• Essay writing
• Critical reading and analysis.

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

• Lectures and seminars introduce students to the material and enable discussion of it, informed by wider reading.
• Formative assessment is by two 500 word essay plans.
• Summative assessment is by two 2500 word summative essays (each worth 50% of the module mark).

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Formative assessment is by two 500 word essay plans.

■ 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