| Course title | Social anthropology and Asia |
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| Course code | DAS/SAA |
| Organizational form of instruction | Seminary |
| Level of course | Bachelor |
| Year of study | not specified |
| Semester | Winter and summer |
| Number of ECTS credits | 4 |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Status of course | Compulsory-optional |
| Form of instruction | Face-to-face |
| Work placements | This is not an internship |
| Recommended optional programme components | None |
| Course availability | The course is available to visiting students |
| Lecturer(s) |
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| Course content |
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Class 1. Introduction. What is Social anthropology? PART I. Foundation of Social Anthropology: Class 2. Introduction to the Anthropological Study of Kinship. Kinship as a basic principle of social organization. Blood kinship and marriage. The social and biological dimensions of kinship. Families, clans and lineages. Critique of biologism (Schneider). New kinship studies and feminist anthropology. (Carsten). Class 3. Introduction to the Anthropological Study of Economic Exchanges. The rules of giving and the Kula ring (Malinowski). The gift and the commodity (Moss). Economic Spheres and Their Transformation in the Monetary Economy (F. Barth, P. Bohannan). Class 4. Introduction to the Anthropological Study of Religion. 'Belief' and 'rationality'. 'Religion as a cultural system' (Geertz) and critique (Asad). Class 5. Introduction to the Anthropological Study of Political Systems and the Political beyond Institutions. Functional differentiation of political institutions (Radkliff-Brown, Evans-Pritchard). National foundations of political formations. What is meant by "the study of the state beyond state institutions" (A. Gupta). Everyday politics. PART 2. Topic in Social Anthropology & Asia: Class 6. Consumption (& "Asian cultures" in Czechia). Class 7. Bridewealth and dowry (& India). Families, genders and new reproductive technologies (& Islamic Middle East) Class 8. Money (& Vietnam). Debt (& Mongolia) Class 9. Conversion (& Malasya). Witchcraft (& Indonesia) Class 10. The state and sovereignty (& Urban China, Eastern Russia) Class 11. Resistance (& South-East Asia) Class 12. Environmental issues and social movements (& South Korea, Japan)
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| Learning activities and teaching methods |
| unspecified |
| Learning outcomes |
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The course provides an introductory overview of Social Anthropology, helps students to encounter those faraway Asian cultures, makes the everyday "strange," and, in so doing, allows students to explain the many different aspects of being humans. To achieve these goals, "Social Anthropology & Asia" introduces the four main theoretical pillars encompassing kinship, economic exchanges, religion and politics and then delivers rich and exciting ethnographies about debt, consumption, resistance, the state in different Asian contexts. Designed to foster student engagement, the course adopts a learning-by-doing approach. Specifically, this means that each student will engage in activities that mirror the usual practices of anthropologists: conducting fieldwork, essays and ethnographic descriptions writing. In the first part of the course, each student will choose one "pillar" (kinship, economic exchanges, religion, politics) and write a short theoretical essay. Before the second phase of the course, each student will conduct a simple (educational) fieldwork and then (in the 6th class) present and explain visual materials that depict different aspects of Asian culture within the Czech context. Through these materials, we will discuss and critique the notion of "consumption". Then, each student focuses on one Asian country (Korea, Japan, Mongolia) or region (Xingjiang, the Russian Far East, Indonesian Papua) and makes a short presentation on a topic related to his/her "pillar" choice. For example, if she/he chose "kinship" for a theoretical essay, it is expected that she will present on "dowry," "new reproductive technologies," "house" and the like. At the end of the course, each student writes an empirical essay, trying to connect the conceptual approach and ethnographical data. Literature: Miller, Barbara D. 2007. "Cultural anthropology." Carrier, James G., ed. 2022 A handbook of economic anthropology. Edward Elgar Publishing. Morris B. 1987. Anthropological Studies of Religion Carsten J. 2004. After Kinship Cambridge: CUP Sharma A. & A. Gupta (eds.), 2009. The Anthropology of the State: A Reader, John Wiley & Sons.
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| Prerequisites |
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unspecified
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| Assessment methods and criteria |
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unspecified
All course readings will be posted on Moodle. You are expected to do all the weekly readings and come prepared to discuss them during your tutorial sessions. The grading will consist of: 1. theoretical essay. Students are expected to choose a topic and answer a question proposed. For example, the "exchange" topic will include the following questions: "Having given a gift, one should not expect a return," "Money has freed individuals and destroyed pre-colonial social orders." The maximum score for the theoretical essay is 25%. 2. presentation (students will present on the issue related to the chosen theory. The maximum score for the presentation is 30%. 3. An empirical essay should combine theoretical approaches and "Asian ethnography." Ideally, students will use (1) and (2) to fulfill this assignment - max score for the presentation - 35%. 4. attendance - 10%. |
| Recommended literature |
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| Study plans that include the course |
| Faculty | Study plan (Version) | Category of Branch/Specialization | Recommended semester | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): Indonesian Studies (2022) | Category: Philological sciences | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: - |
| Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): Chinese Studies (2019) | Category: Philological sciences | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: - |
| Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): Chinese Studies (2023) | Category: Philological sciences | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: - |
| Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): Vietnamese Philology (2019) | Category: Philological sciences | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: - |
| Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): Vietnamese Philology (2023) | Category: Philological sciences | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: - |
| Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): Asian Studies, Specialization Indonesian Language and Culture (2019) | Category: Philological sciences | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: - |
| Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): Chinese Studies (2023) | Category: Philological sciences | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: - |
| Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): Chinese Studies (2019) | Category: Philological sciences | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: - |
| Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): Chinese Studies (2023) | Category: Philological sciences | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: - |
| Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): Asian Studies (2019) | Category: Philological sciences | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: - |
| Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): Asian Studies, Specialization Vietnamese Language and Culture (2019) | Category: Philological sciences | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: - |
| Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): Korean Studies (2023) | Category: Philological sciences | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: - |
| Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): Korean for Business (2023) | Category: Philological sciences | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: - |
| Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): Chinese Studies (2023) | Category: Philological sciences | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: - |
| Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): Vietnamese Philology (2023) | Category: Philological sciences | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: - |
| Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): Indonesian Studies for Tourism (2019) | Category: Philological sciences | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: - |
| Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): Korean Studies (2022) | Category: Philological sciences | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: - |
| Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): Chinese Studies (2019) | Category: Philological sciences | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: - |
| Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): Vietnamese Philology (2019) | Category: Philological sciences | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: - |
| Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): Asian Studies, Specialization Korean Language and Culture (2019) | Category: Philological sciences | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: - |
| Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): Japanese Philology (2019) | Category: Philological sciences | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: - |
| Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): Indonesian Studies for Tourism (2023) | Category: Philological sciences | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: - |
| Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): Asian Studies, Specialization Chinese Language and Culture (2019) | Category: Philological sciences | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: - |
| Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): Korean for Business (2019) | Category: Philological sciences | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: - |
| Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): Chinese Studies (2019) | Category: Philological sciences | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: - |
| Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): Asian Studies, Specialization Japanese Language and Culture (2019) | Category: Philological sciences | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: - |