Urban Anthropology

Code:

AU302

Acronym:

AU

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
CNAEF	Arts

Instance: 2019/2020 - 2S

Active?	Yes
Responsible unit:	Ciências da Arte e do Design
Course/CS Responsible:	Communication Design

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
AP	46	Official Study Plan 2011	3	-	3	30	81
			4
DC	50	Plano Oficial do ano letivo 2017	3	-	3	30	81

Teaching language

Portuguese

Objectives

Generally speaking, the main aim is to provide the students with a diverse set of theoretical and conceptual tools that enable them to investigate and understand contemporary urban phenomena from an anthropological point of view. In concrete terms, the idea is to sensitize the students to the specific nature of anthropology to study otherness, and to show that anthropology is particularly suitable to demonstrate that a very broad range of human phenomena results from complex historical, social and cultural processes, which cannot be thoroughly comprehended by simplistic and highly reductive biological explanations.

 

Learning outcomes and competences

By the end of the semester, it is expected that students will have developed a greater sensitivity to anthropology and ethnography in urban contexts, as well as to the importance of difference in the construction of common projects, which enable them to think more critically.

Working method

Presencial

Program

Based on the general objectives of the course, the syllabus was organized from a set of fundamental concepts and theories in order to understand the contemporary world. Firstly, to provide students a solid foundation that will enable them to understand the place of anthropology in the context of the social sciences. Secondly, to explore historically some key contributions of anthropologists, or schools of anthropology, to the understanding of cities and to the preparation and complicating matters of urban theory. Finally, to draw attention to some contemporary problems in the city, stressing the processes of change, as well as the relevance of the conceptual and methodological tools of anthropology to the study of these processes.

Table of contents:

1. The specificity of anthropology in the context of the social sciences: the study of otherness

2. The central role of field work in the study of otherness

3. Some key contributions in the anthropological study of urban phenomena.

4. Post-colonialism and the city

5. Some contemporary metropolitan problems: globalization and localization, city growth and migration, multiculturalism and segregation.

Mandatory literature

Bastos, S. T. P. (Ed.).; Antropologia Urbana, Lisboa: Cosmos, 1999
Cordeiro, G. Í., Baptista, L. V., & Firmino da Costa, A. (; Etnografias Urbanas, Barcelona: Ariel, 2003
Cucó i Giner, J.; Antropología Urbana, Barcelona: Ariel, 2008
Gmelch, G., Kemper, R. V., & Zenner, W. P. (Eds.).; Urban Life: Readings in the Anthropology of the City (5 ed.). , Long Grove: Waveland, 2010
Low, S. M (ed).; Theorizing the city: the new urban anthropology reader, New Brunswick, New Jersey, and London: Rutgers University Press, 2005
Silvano Filomena; Antropologia do espaço. ISBN: 972-774-143-6

Complementary Bibliography

Baert, P., & Carreira da Silva, F.; Teoria Social Contemporânea, Lisboa: Mundos Sociais, 2014
Fortuna, C., & Leite, R. P. (Eds.). ; Plural de cidade: novos léxicos urbanos., Coimbra: Almedina, 2009
Velho Gilberto 340; Antropologia urbana. ISBN: 85-7110-525-1

Teaching methods and learning activities

Generally speaking, throughout the semester various methods of teaching will be used- expository, interrogative, demonstrative, and active - in order to enable better acquisition of the diverse content. In concrete terms, we will use a combination of different pedagogical strategies, in accordance with the material:

 

- theoretical lectures followed by debates;

- analysis of anthropological texts and ethnographic case-studies;

- documentary film screening;

- occasionally, debates with experts (anthropologists, artists, designers, and other professionals).

keywords

Social sciences
Social sciences > Anthropology > Cultural anthropology
Social sciences > Anthropology

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation with final exam

Assessment Components

Designation	Weight (%)
Participação presencial	10,00
Prova oral	20,00
Trabalho de campo	20,00
Trabalho escrito	50,00
Total:	100,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

Designation	Time (hours)
Estudo autónomo	31,00
Frequência das aulas	30,00
Trabalho escrito	20,00
Total:	81,00

Eligibility for exams

The evaluation is done through practical work (video, poster, or photography) and a written essay, as agreed by the students at the beginning of the semester. The practical work will be presented in class and the written work may not exceed 2000 words. On the day of the examination (regular season or other) students should submit the written essay by email to the teacher. The presentation of the practical work will be done in the classroom at a date to be arranged.

Calculation formula of final grade

The evaluation is done through practical work (video, poster, or photography) and a written essay, as agreed by the students at the beginning of the semester. The practical work will be presented in class and the written work may not exceed 2000 words. On the day of the examination (regular season or other) students should submit the written essay by email to the teacher. The presentation of the practical work will be done in the classroom at a date to be arranged.

Observations

Bibliography

Appelrouth, S., & Edles, L. D. (2007). Sociological Theory in the Contemporary Era: Text and readings. Thousand Oaks, California: Pine Forge.

Baert, P., & Carreira da Silva, F. (2014). Teoria Social Contemporânea. Lisboa: Mundos Sociais.

Bastos, S. T. P. (Ed.). (1999). Antropologia Urbana. Lisboa: Cosmos.

Cardeira da Silva, M. (Ed.). (1997). Trabalho de Campo. Lisboa: Cosmos.

Cordeiro, G. Í., Baptista, L. V., & Firmino da Costa, A. (Eds.). (2003). Etnografias Urbanas. Oeiras: Celta.

Cucó i Giner, J. (2008). Antropología Urbana. Barcelona: Ariel.

Fortuna, C., & Leite, R. P. (Eds.). (2009). Plural de cidade: novos léxicos urbanos. Coimbra: Almedina.

Gmelch, G., Kemper, R. V., & Zenner, W. P. (Eds.). (2010). Urban Life: Readings in the Anthropology of the City (5 ed.). Long Grove: Waveland.

Low, S. M. (Ed.). (2005). Theorizing the city: the new urban anthropology reader. New Brunswick, New Jersey, and London: Rutgers University Press.

Low, S. M., & Denise, L.-Z. (Eds.). (2003). The anthropology of space and place: locating culture. Malden, Oxford, and Victoria: Blackwell.

Patterson, T. C. (2014). Karl Marx, antropólogo. Barcelona: Bellaterra.