Anthropology
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The Department of Anthropology at Goldsmiths is one of the most consistently innovative in the UK. It has played a significant role in the development of new fields and directions in the discipline, such as the anthropology of Europe and the anthropology of media. Anthropology at Goldsmiths has above all a contemporary orientation, and contributes both to the development of the academic discipline and to the world outside it.
This happens through policy-oriented research and advocacy in a range of areas – from health to community work, from development to music and art, from urban planning to brain imaging – in which anthropology is active and relevant in public domains in the UK and elsewhere.
Please note: in the Summer term you can choose to do 2 additional credits of project work related to courses studied in the Spring term. This work is negotiated individual study supported by some tutorial guidance. You should inform your home university and the Student Recruitment and International Office at Goldsmiths of the agreed topic once it has been confirmed. When you tell your International Liaison tutor the topics you are interested in studying, they can consider appropriate tutorial guidance arrangements. You should aim to confirm these details by week 6 of the Spring term.
See also Professional and Community Education for other courses in this subject.
| Undergraduate Year | Description |
|---|---|
|
Year 1 |
a course for which you do not need any previous experience |
| Year 2 |
assumes that you have had some experience |
| Year 3 |
assumes a specialist knowledge of the |
Year 1
AN51001A
Introduction to Social Anthropology
(4 credits, Autumn; 10 credits, Full year;)
Please note: not suitable for Anthropology majors.
You study the basic anthropological concepts of kinship, politics, economics and religion,using diverse ethnographic material. There is also a survey of the different theoretical schools of anthropology.
Introduction to Social Anthropology
(4 credits, Autumn; 10 credits, Full year;)
Please note: not suitable for Anthropology majors.
You study the basic anthropological concepts of kinship, politics, economics and religion,using diverse ethnographic material. There is also a survey of the different theoretical schools of anthropology.
AN51003A
Anthropological Methods
(4 credits, Spring)
Learn how anthropologists conduct their research. You undertake an exercise in participant observation, and learn about a range of data collection techniques.
Anthropological Methods
(4 credits, Spring)
Learn how anthropologists conduct their research. You undertake an exercise in participant observation, and learn about a range of data collection techniques.
AN51004A
Ethnographic Film
(4 credits, Autumn)
Your study focuses on film as a form of anthropological knowledge. You look at a series of documentary films and discuss and analyse them in the light of debates within both anthropology and film theory.
Ethnographic Film
(4 credits, Autumn)
Your study focuses on film as a form of anthropological knowledge. You look at a series of documentary films and discuss and analyse them in the light of debates within both anthropology and film theory.
AN51007B
Ethnography of a Selected Region I – Africa
(4 credits, Autumn)
This is an introduction to anthropological studies on societies and cultures in sub-Saharan Africa. Ethnographic case studies from different parts of Africa are used to address some of the major themes that have been explored in Africanist ethnography and to ask how, in past and present anthropology, empirical research is related to methodology and theorising. Particular emphasis is placed on issues of historical change, spatial mobility, power and social conflict, but also on the relations of people in Africa to other continents and the sociopolitical uses of the category ‘African’. A comparative approach to these issues raises important epistemological questions.
Ethnography of a Selected Region I – Africa
(4 credits, Autumn)
This is an introduction to anthropological studies on societies and cultures in sub-Saharan Africa. Ethnographic case studies from different parts of Africa are used to address some of the major themes that have been explored in Africanist ethnography and to ask how, in past and present anthropology, empirical research is related to methodology and theorising. Particular emphasis is placed on issues of historical change, spatial mobility, power and social conflict, but also on the relations of people in Africa to other continents and the sociopolitical uses of the category ‘African’. A comparative approach to these issues raises important epistemological questions.
AN51010A
Ethnography of Lowland South America
(4 credits, Autumn)
This course introduces you to the land, people and history of Amazonia. It draws on specific ethnographies of the region to explore key anthropological themes, such as the relationship between ‘nature’ and ‘culture’, gender, violence, ethics and the impacts of colonialism and globalisation. The course gives particular emphasis to the ways in which indigenous Amazonian people today are organising politically in response to various threats to their environment and way of life.
Ethnography of Lowland South America
(4 credits, Autumn)
This course introduces you to the land, people and history of Amazonia. It draws on specific ethnographies of the region to explore key anthropological themes, such as the relationship between ‘nature’ and ‘culture’, gender, violence, ethics and the impacts of colonialism and globalisation. The course gives particular emphasis to the ways in which indigenous Amazonian people today are organising politically in response to various threats to their environment and way of life.
AN51015A
Anthropology Today
(4 credits, Autumn)
What is anthropology’s role in public life? How have anthropologists past and present contributed to some of the most pressing debates of the day? This course examines anthropology’s unique position and methodologies for exploring issues such as environmental politics, new technologies, war, conflict, racism, cognition and the nature of social experience.
New course: subject to validation.
Anthropology Today
(4 credits, Autumn)
What is anthropology’s role in public life? How have anthropologists past and present contributed to some of the most pressing debates of the day? This course examines anthropology’s unique position and methodologies for exploring issues such as environmental politics, new technologies, war, conflict, racism, cognition and the nature of social experience.
New course: subject to validation.
AN51016A
Anthropology in London
(4 credits, Spring)
London, with its complex past and thriving multicultural present, offers a unique vantage point from which to study important historical and contemporary issues alongside the production of anthropology. Learn about issues such as the international slave trade, globalisation, cosmopolitanism, post-colonialism, migration, commemoration, identity politics and transformations through visiting museums, galleries, streets and markets in a course which combines readings in anthropology with field trips in the city.
New course: subject to validation.
Anthropology in London
(4 credits, Spring)
London, with its complex past and thriving multicultural present, offers a unique vantage point from which to study important historical and contemporary issues alongside the production of anthropology. Learn about issues such as the international slave trade, globalisation, cosmopolitanism, post-colonialism, migration, commemoration, identity politics and transformations through visiting museums, galleries, streets and markets in a course which combines readings in anthropology with field trips in the city.
New course: subject to validation.
Year 2
AN52003B
Ethnography of the Caribbean II
(4 credits, Autumn)
You explore the Caribbean as a socio-cultural area; cultural heritages and culture-building; race, class and gender; kinship and religion; rural development and urban life; and the Caribbean diaspora.
Ethnography of the Caribbean II
(4 credits, Autumn)
You explore the Caribbean as a socio-cultural area; cultural heritages and culture-building; race, class and gender; kinship and religion; rural development and urban life; and the Caribbean diaspora.
AN52004A
Politics, Economics and Social Change
(4 credits, Autumn; 10 credits, Full year;)
You examine the scope and approaches of economic and political anthropology, including theories of social change; comparative study of First and Third World development; agrarian structure; peasant societies; multinational corporations; dependency theory and nationalism and ethnicity.
Politics, Economics and Social Change
(4 credits, Autumn; 10 credits, Full year;)
You examine the scope and approaches of economic and political anthropology, including theories of social change; comparative study of First and Third World development; agrarian structure; peasant societies; multinational corporations; dependency theory and nationalism and ethnicity.
AN52005A
General Principles of Social Anthropology
(4 credits, Autumn; 4 credits, Spring; 2 credits, Summer; )
Offers an overview of the intellectual history of anthropology. Beginning well before the establishment of anthropology as a discipline, we start by considering what is at stake when one begins to theorise ‘otherness’, how one identifies a society or culture as ‘other’ (and why), and the methods employed for doing this. It then observes how anthropology and its practices have evolved through time. While some schools and theories seem to have become redundant, you are encouraged to pursue how some ideas and models return and/or persist in other guises. The point is to understand the circumstances and presumptions that underpin different schools of thought, so as to be better equipped to critically analyse the theory that is currently mobilised in anthropological analysis.
General Principles of Social Anthropology
(4 credits, Autumn; 4 credits, Spring; 2 credits, Summer; )
Offers an overview of the intellectual history of anthropology. Beginning well before the establishment of anthropology as a discipline, we start by considering what is at stake when one begins to theorise ‘otherness’, how one identifies a society or culture as ‘other’ (and why), and the methods employed for doing this. It then observes how anthropology and its practices have evolved through time. While some schools and theories seem to have become redundant, you are encouraged to pursue how some ideas and models return and/or persist in other guises. The point is to understand the circumstances and presumptions that underpin different schools of thought, so as to be better equipped to critically analyse the theory that is currently mobilised in anthropological analysis.
AN52007A
Ethnography of (Post)-Socialism
(4 credits, Spring; 2 credits, Summer; )
You develop an understanding of the main issues of the anthropology of socialism and after. The course also covers the recent anthropological research and literature on post-socialism, looking particularly at new nationalisms, changing economic formations, religion, and gender relations.
Ethnography of (Post)-Socialism
(4 credits, Spring; 2 credits, Summer; )
You develop an understanding of the main issues of the anthropology of socialism and after. The course also covers the recent anthropological research and literature on post-socialism, looking particularly at new nationalisms, changing economic formations, religion, and gender relations.
AN52008A
Anthropology and the Visual I
(4 credits, Spring; 2 credits, Summer; )
The body has been a major object of visual attention and theoretical and ethnographic investigation in anthropology. It features as: a key metaphor in anthropological theory; a cultural artefact; a medium of performance; the template for a range of associated material artefacts and practices; an object of obsessive representation in a wide variety of media; a model for non-human forms; and a medium for thinking about the boundaries and limitations of the body. This course offers you the opportunity to conduct your own piece of visually oriented research, combining text and images. You work in small groups to devise a project on some aspect of the body.
Anthropology and the Visual I
(4 credits, Spring; 2 credits, Summer; )
The body has been a major object of visual attention and theoretical and ethnographic investigation in anthropology. It features as: a key metaphor in anthropological theory; a cultural artefact; a medium of performance; the template for a range of associated material artefacts and practices; an object of obsessive representation in a wide variety of media; a model for non-human forms; and a medium for thinking about the boundaries and limitations of the body. This course offers you the opportunity to conduct your own piece of visually oriented research, combining text and images. You work in small groups to devise a project on some aspect of the body.
AN52009A
Anthropology of Religion
(4 credits, Autumn; 10 credits, Full year;)
You study religion, magic and symbolism in relation to social institutions, bodily inscription, nationalism and fundamentalism, as well as perspectives on selected world religions including Christianity and Islam.
Anthropology of Religion
(4 credits, Autumn; 10 credits, Full year;)
You study religion, magic and symbolism in relation to social institutions, bodily inscription, nationalism and fundamentalism, as well as perspectives on selected world religions including Christianity and Islam.
Year 3
AN53005B
History and Anthropology
(4 credits, Spring; 2 credits, Summer; )
You look at new anthropological history and historical anthropology; sources and methods (eg archives, oral history, paintings, maps, artefacts); fact and fiction; myth and memory; cross-cultural categories of time and space; and different ways of talking about the past.
History and Anthropology
(4 credits, Spring; 2 credits, Summer; )
You look at new anthropological history and historical anthropology; sources and methods (eg archives, oral history, paintings, maps, artefacts); fact and fiction; myth and memory; cross-cultural categories of time and space; and different ways of talking about the past.
AN53008A
Anthropology of Health I
(4 credits, Autumn)
You examine key themes in medical anthropology, ranging from ideas about healing to social inequality and the ‘new biology’. The course addresses issues of biomedicine in the UK alongside alternative therapies and explanations of health/illness in different parts of the world, and approaches to the political economy. Specific sessions include the application of medical anthropology, ‘new’ diseases and technologies.
Anthropology of Health I
(4 credits, Autumn)
You examine key themes in medical anthropology, ranging from ideas about healing to social inequality and the ‘new biology’. The course addresses issues of biomedicine in the UK alongside alternative therapies and explanations of health/illness in different parts of the world, and approaches to the political economy. Specific sessions include the application of medical anthropology, ‘new’ diseases and technologies.
AN53013A
Urban Anthropology
(4 credits, Spring; 2 credits, Summer; )
You study the changing use of different urban spaces at different times, and examine the following: how cities are represented; ideas of order and disorder; public and domestic places; ideas of control and resistance through carnival; informal economies; and kinship networks.
Urban Anthropology
(4 credits, Spring; 2 credits, Summer; )
You study the changing use of different urban spaces at different times, and examine the following: how cities are represented; ideas of order and disorder; public and domestic places; ideas of control and resistance through carnival; informal economies; and kinship networks.
AN53015A
Anthropology of Art
(4 credits, Autumn)
You study key issues in the anthropology of art. The course includes: conflicting definitions of art and aesthetics; modes of seeing within and across cultures; creativity, inspiration and the category of the artist; the body as art; issues of gender and ideology; the politics of the ownership and display of non-Western art works; imaging nationality and ethnicity through art; primitivism and the construction of the other.
Anthropology of Art
(4 credits, Autumn)
You study key issues in the anthropology of art. The course includes: conflicting definitions of art and aesthetics; modes of seeing within and across cultures; creativity, inspiration and the category of the artist; the body as art; issues of gender and ideology; the politics of the ownership and display of non-Western art works; imaging nationality and ethnicity through art; primitivism and the construction of the other.
AN53021A
Anthropology and the Environment
(4 credits, Spring; 2 credits, Summer; )
You consider ethnobiology; landscapes; art and the environment; the country and the city; ecological traditions in anthropology; the politics of ecology; indigenous peoples and resource management; eco-discourse and new social movements; developmentalism; indigenous rights; and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs).
Please contact the Student Recruitment and International Office to confirm that the course is running.
Anthropology and the Environment
(4 credits, Spring; 2 credits, Summer; )
You consider ethnobiology; landscapes; art and the environment; the country and the city; ecological traditions in anthropology; the politics of ecology; indigenous peoples and resource management; eco-discourse and new social movements; developmentalism; indigenous rights; and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs).
Please contact the Student Recruitment and International Office to confirm that the course is running.
AN53023A
The Anthropology of Development
(4 credits, Autumn)
You study the history of development and its institutions – from NGOs to the World Bank and IMF, while considering diverse case studies from around the world. You will also explore the historical role of anthropology’s involvement in development, as official mediators between ‘the West and the rest’ through imperial conquest, colonial administration and a post-war development industry.
The Anthropology of Development
(4 credits, Autumn)
You study the history of development and its institutions – from NGOs to the World Bank and IMF, while considering diverse case studies from around the world. You will also explore the historical role of anthropology’s involvement in development, as official mediators between ‘the West and the rest’ through imperial conquest, colonial administration and a post-war development industry.
AN53026B
Anthropology and Gender Theory
(4 credits, Autumn)
This course aims to explore the interrelationships of gender, sexuality and the body by bringing together ideas from contemporary Western social/cultural theory (including psychoanalytic, feminist and queer theories), detailed ethnographic and historical case studies, and some classic anthropological theories and issues. In doing this, we explore the ways in which the body, gender and sexuality have been produced/imagined in different ways.
Anthropology and Gender Theory
(4 credits, Autumn)
This course aims to explore the interrelationships of gender, sexuality and the body by bringing together ideas from contemporary Western social/cultural theory (including psychoanalytic, feminist and queer theories), detailed ethnographic and historical case studies, and some classic anthropological theories and issues. In doing this, we explore the ways in which the body, gender and sexuality have been produced/imagined in different ways.
AN53039A
Anthropology of Rights
(4 credits, Spring; 2 credits, Summer; )
You critically engage with the full spectrum of rights discourses, considering not only the language of Human Rights found in international law, but also the cross-cutting – and often competing – claims made in the name of gender and child rights, indigenous rights, cultural property, intellectual property, bioethics, customary law and cosmopolitan law.
Anthropology of Rights
(4 credits, Spring; 2 credits, Summer; )
You critically engage with the full spectrum of rights discourses, considering not only the language of Human Rights found in international law, but also the cross-cutting – and often competing – claims made in the name of gender and child rights, indigenous rights, cultural property, intellectual property, bioethics, customary law and cosmopolitan law.
AN53040A
Anthropology and the Visual: Production Course
(4 credits, Spring)
This is a practically based course in which you explore the techniques of video making/photography.
Anthropology and the Visual: Production Course
(4 credits, Spring)
This is a practically based course in which you explore the techniques of video making/photography.
AN53042A
Anthropology and the Visual 2
(4 credits, Autumn)
This course explores the role of visual representation in anthropology, in terms of both the history of its us within the discipline and the potential it holds for new ways of working. It looks at work in a wide range of media – photography, film/video, performance – and the ways in which they might be used in an anthropological context. This involves looking at work from outside anthropology such as photojournalism and contemporary art, as well as the work of visual anthropologists.
Anthropology and the Visual 2
(4 credits, Autumn)
This course explores the role of visual representation in anthropology, in terms of both the history of its us within the discipline and the potential it holds for new ways of working. It looks at work in a wide range of media – photography, film/video, performance – and the ways in which they might be used in an anthropological context. This involves looking at work from outside anthropology such as photojournalism and contemporary art, as well as the work of visual anthropologists.
AN53043A
Myth and Ritual
(4 credits, Spring; 2 credits, Summer; )
There was a time when myth and ritual were seen as products of the childhood of humankind, before the arrival of science. Anthropologists now tend to assume myth and ritual are aspects of all human societies; however, they can’t agree on the reason for this. What do myth and ritual actually do? Are they ways of resolving existential dilemmas? Or reflecting on the fact they can’t be resolved? Are they ways of establishing unquestionable authority? Forms of artistic self-expression? Media for political action? Or some combination of these? This course will explore some of these questions, by way of concrete case studies.
Myth and Ritual
(4 credits, Spring; 2 credits, Summer; )
There was a time when myth and ritual were seen as products of the childhood of humankind, before the arrival of science. Anthropologists now tend to assume myth and ritual are aspects of all human societies; however, they can’t agree on the reason for this. What do myth and ritual actually do? Are they ways of resolving existential dilemmas? Or reflecting on the fact they can’t be resolved? Are they ways of establishing unquestionable authority? Forms of artistic self-expression? Media for political action? Or some combination of these? This course will explore some of these questions, by way of concrete case studies.
AN53072A
Indian and Peasant Politics in Amazonia
(4 credits, Spring; 2 credits, Summer; )
This course looks at Amazonian societies from pre-history to the present – indigenous, peasant, colonial, developmentalist – and includes discussion of modern social movements (Landless Peoples Movement) as well as classic themes of Lévi-Strauss’s ‘world on the wane’, human ecology and extractivist economies.
Indian and Peasant Politics in Amazonia
(4 credits, Spring; 2 credits, Summer; )
This course looks at Amazonian societies from pre-history to the present – indigenous, peasant, colonial, developmentalist – and includes discussion of modern social movements (Landless Peoples Movement) as well as classic themes of Lévi-Strauss’s ‘world on the wane’, human ecology and extractivist economies.
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