Module ANTH2207: Biology, Culture and Society

Department: Anthropology

ANTH2207: Biology, Culture and Society

Prerequisites

• Being Human (ANTH1111)

Corequisites

Excluded Combination of Modules

Aims

• To introduce students to problems of interest to both biological and social scientists, and engage with debates and controversies occurring across disciplinary boundaries.
• To develop skills in identifying the theoretical orientation of anthropological texts.
• To give students the tools to think critically about the possibilities, limitations and the challenges of integrating different approaches.
• To equip students with the know-how to navigate newly emerging knowledge environments by gaining hands-on experience with AI-enhanced enquiry.

Content

• Historical and intellectual contexts in which different subfields of anthropology developed.
• Key debates, controversies and examples of collaboration involving different subfields of anthropology and related disciplines.
• Theories and case studies on the interrelationships between biology and culture, their coevolution, and the multifaceted, biosocial character of the human condition.
• Training in the use of AI as a collaborative interlocutor to explore complex problems/questions from different intellectual perspectives and bring them into conversation with one another.

Learning Outcomes

• Critical awareness of possibilities, limitations and challenges of working across the different sub-disciplines within anthropology.
• Students will learn about the perspectives from which social and biological scientists approach disputed issues of key ideas in theory and of the presuppositions underlying those perspectives.
• Understanding how sources of evidence have been used to support these perspectives, which may include evolutionary theory, ethnography, social theory, animal behaviour, genetics, and psychology.
• Awareness of theoretically and empirically based criticisms of particular perspectives.
• Familiarity with the technical vocabularies of social science and biological science as these apply to the study of anthropology.

• Negotiate the boundaries, overlaps and intersections of human biology and culture.
• Develop skills in applying types of evidence and modes of reasoning employed in social and biological anthropology.
• Practice interdisciplinary dialogue through AI role-play games exploring the possibilities and challenges of integrating the natural and social sciences.

• Intellectual agility, and the ability to think critically and coherently across different paradigms and perspectives.
• Ability to integrate and evaluate a range of information and data from different sources, discern and establish connections, extract material points and present a coherent theoretical and practical understanding of them.
• Cultivate prompt-engineering as a powerful new academic and professional skill, learning how to manipulate AI tools effectively and creatively to produce nuanced, contextually rich responses.
• Critical and ethical awareness in the use of generative AI, including considerations of data privacy and intellectual property rights, content filtering, and responsible engagement with automated outputs.

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

• Lectures will map out the general intellectual context of the topics, outline key theories and present relevant case studies.
• Lectures will also include guidance on AI-enhanced inquiry, supported by online resources and worked examples available on the module Ultra site.
• Lectures will provide a platform for the students’ own reading using sources from the reading list to deepen their knowledge and understanding of the topics and themes covered in the module.
• Seminars will provide students with opportunities to discuss material covered in the lectures and readings with the module tutor/s and peers.
• Seminars will provide students with opportunities to discuss material covered in the lectures and readings with the module tutor/s and peers.
• Seminars will also incorporate live AI role-play exercises to help prepare students for the assessment and workshop their ideas.
• Formative assessment will involve a mini AI prompt-engineering task comprising of 3 prompts and a brief (250 word) commentary.
• Summative assessment will consist of two AI role-play games in which the AI is instructed to adopt a specific epistemological stance on a topic or theme from the module, which the student then interrogates from one or more alternative perspectives through a series of prompts. The transcripts for both role plays will be submitted along with a critical commentary of 1000 words explaining the strategic choices behind the prompts and an evaluation of the AI’s responses.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Mini AI prompt-engineering task with 250 word commentary

■ Students who do not attend monitored activities shown under Teaching Methods and Learning Hours, or who fail to complete the summative or formative assessment(s) specified above, may be subject to the Academic Progress procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University.