Core courses

Anthropology of Art 1
Modern anthropology has had an uneasy relation with art and with objects and images in general. The reaction against 19th-century museum anthropology led to a certain iconoclasm in the discipline. Yet 100 years later, the interest of anthropologists in art, and conversely, of artists in anthropology, is blooming. But this is not so contradictory: in fact modern anthropology and modern art are very close in their critical reflection on the relation of images, objects and persons. After discussing this relationship, we will focus more deeply on the issues that the anthropological tradition has opened up on the relation of things, images and persons. Is the value of objects just a human construction? Do objects have agency? Are images only symbols? What are the arguments for idolatry and iconoclasm?  

Anthropology of Art 2
This course is designed to offer you the opportunity to conduct a short piece of research in the field broadly defined as the Anthropology of Art. Drawing on theoretical issues introduced in the Anthropology of Art course, you will be expected to select your own topic for research, which can include: the lives of objects (their production, consumption, circulation, interpretation etc); cases of iconoclasm (in public monuments, for example); the practice of an artist or collective (particularly those whose work relates to ethnography); art institutions like galleries or museums (techniques of display, audiences, exhibitions etc).

Anthropology Video Production
This course will train you in the use of camcorders (diverse formats), sound recording, lighting, scripting/story-boarding and digital editing. During the first two terms you will be required to produce short practice videos (2-4 minutes) supervised by members of staff, and keep production diaries to document your acquisition of skills.

Critique, Theory and Representation
This course covers the history of anthropology’s engagement with photographic and cinematic practice, theoretical contributions to the study of documentary film originating outside the field, and the development of critical analysis of the use of ethnographic media. The course aims to develop your analysis of the visual culture literature, ie ethnographic cinema and documentary, as well as to develop an understanding of modernist preoccupations with the representational force of images as both aesthetic and documentary artefacts. In addition, you will be trained in key practice areas required for the production of your final projects.

Ethnographic Film and Cinema Studies
This course consists of film screenings followed by discussions. The emphasis is on key documentary and ethnographic films, from Nanook of the North (Flaherty) to Sans Soleil (Monker) and Photo Wallahs (McDougall). A focal theme of the seminars will be the examination of the ‘language of film’.