module
Undergraduate Module Descriptor
SOC1003: Imagining Social Worlds: Texts
This module descriptor refers to the 2016/7 academic year.
Module Content
Syllabus Plan
Through a series of interactive lectures and seminars which focus on the published work of established anthropologists and sociologists students will be introduced to the practical and theoretical issues associated with conducting, evaluating and disseminating social research. Topics covered include:
- Preparing for the field (looking at researchers such as Nigel Barley who provide candid accounts of how they chose their fieldsites, and what motivated them in the first place)
- Negotiating access (looking at the process from a range of perspectives, for example Lila Abu-Lughod's introduction to the Bedouin via her father, and Judith Okely's difficulties gaining access to her traveller informants)
- Culture shock (comparing experiences of 'difference', e.g. Chagnon's confrontation with armed Yanomami)
- Working with informants (exploring the relationships with gate-keepers, e.g. Foote-Whyte's collaboration with Doc)
- Analysing data (exploring different ways to theorise research findings)
- Dissemination (looking at different ways of presenting research findings, such as Turner's work on Kayapo film making)
Hostile receptions (looking at how some ethnographic work has been challenged by the research subjects, e.g. Scheper-Hughes' work on mental illness in rural Ireland).
Learning and Teaching
This table provides an overview of how your hours of study for this module are allocated:
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | Guided independent study | Placement / study abroad |
|---|---|---|
| 27 | 123 |
...and this table provides a more detailed breakdown of the hours allocated to various study activities:
| Category | Hours of study time | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching activity | 22 | 2 hour weekly lectures, including some use of ethnographic film material. |
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching activity | 5 | Fortnightly 1 hour tutorials, including some use of ethnographic film material. |
| Guided Independent Study | 72 | Preparatory reading in advance of lectures and tutorials |
| Guided Independent Study | 5 | Watching films linked to via ELE |
| Guided Independent Study | 8 | Preparation of formative assignments |
| Guided Independent Study | 38 | Preparation of summative assignemnts |
Online Resources
This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).
Other Learning Resources
Other resources:
Ethnographic and feature films