UCL - Basics of anthropology

[ANTR2100]

[30h] 5 credits

This course is taught in the 1st semester.

Teacher(s): Pierre-Joseph Laurent

Language: French

Level: Second

Aims
Main themes
Content and teaching methods
Other information (prerequisite, evaluation (assessment methods), course materials recommended readings, ...)

Aims

As a result of these lectures the student will have been enabled
- to find his way through the debated fields of contemporary anthropology
- personally treat a basic anthropological issue
- critically examine anthropological discourse as resulting from diverse currents, thanks to an historical per-spective on the cultural causes and conditions underpinning it as well as on the trends making today for its unity in the light of overarching themes such as Nature, the Psyche, social Bonding

Main themes

In the light of work undertaken in the Laboratory for Prospective Anthropology, a basic issue will be examined such as systems of belief, death, relations between man , animals and the world at large, human identity, kinship, gender, territory, objects, virtual reality, violence, beauty, art, language, exchange, law and order. The fundamental options of anthropology together with ongoing debates will be woven around the theme chosen thus allowing for a contextualised presentation of disciplinary and interdisciplinary issues be they resolved or still at stake in such matters as natural sciences, ecology, ethol-ogy, ethnology, genetics, linguistics, paleoanthropology, archaeology, psychology and philosophy.

Content and teaching methods

Lectures centred on a key work by a major theoretical anthropologist will detail chapter by chapter the author's position (now and then) together with the trends influencing him and the debates aroused.
Lectures will also highlight the research and epistemological issues encountered by the author - themes will be treated in keeping with the lecturer's ethnological experiences in Africa
Pedagogically each intervention follows this pattern: 1. during the week prior to the lecture, the reading of the chapter concerned together with supple-mentary texts; 2. sharing of opinions and synthesis by the teacher followed by a synthesis; 3. the lecture
On occasion ethnographic films will be projected.

Other information (prerequisite, evaluation (assessment methods), course materials recommended readings, ...)

Pré-requis : connaissances du premier cycle en sciences humaines et sociales

Evaluation : Ce cours sera évalué selon les modalités des cours faisant partie du jury (cf. master en anthropolo-gie)
Livre de référence obligatoire et articles scientifiques

Encadrement : Professeur

Autres : Synthèse du cours et suivi des étudiants par icampus.