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The Secret Life of Students (ANTH20014)
Undergraduate level 2Points: 12.5On Campus (Parkville)
For information about the University’s phased return to campus and in-person activity in Winter and Semester 2, please refer to the on-campus subjects page.
About this subject
- Overview
- Eligibility and requirements
- Assessment
- Dates and times
- Further information
- Timetable(opens in new window)
Contact information
Semester 2
Please refer to the LMS for up-to-date subject information, including assessment and participation requirements, for subjects being offered in 2020.
Overview
Availability | Semester 2 |
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Fees | Look up fees |
How much do you really know about the lives of your fellow students? In the grand anthropological tradition of making the “familiar strange”, this subject takes the University of Melbourne as a fieldsite in a hands-on ethnographic research project. Stepping away from taken-for-granted assumptions about university education, we will ask big questions like: Is university education really about learning? Or, is it more about credentialling? And, given that learning is most enjoyable and meaningful when undertaken in collaboration, why are measures of educational succcess so individualised? Why is learning clumped into majors and classes and credit points? And what is the real meaning of marks? What pedagogies work, and which leave students frustrated or despondent? How is the experience of university by a student’s national, cultural, or ethnic background, their linguistic compentencies, their class background or economic means, their faith or lack of faith, their extra-curricular activities, their gender, sexuality, or age? Teaching in this subject is seminar style, with short lectures and discussions of the practice of ethnographic research. Assessment is based on individual work, but much of our meeting time will be used to work collaboratively to 1) formulate a set of theoretically-informed research questions; 2) design plans for answering those questions through enthnographic research; 3) develop a protocol for engaging ethically with research subjects; 4) undertake participant observation and conduct semi-structured interviews; 5) interpret the ethnographic data; and 6) reflect on the challenges and insights of ethnographic research. Through this process, students in the subject will deepen their understanding of the craft of research, gain confidence in their research and communication skills, and experience the excitement of ethnographic inquiry.
Intended learning outcomes
- Learn how to formulate theoretically informed questions that can be answered through ethnographic research;
- Undertake hands-on research, gaining practical experience and a critical awareness of the strengths and limitations of diverse ethnographic research techniques;
- Gain new insights into the university and broader community as well as the issue that is the focus of the research for the semester;
- Work collaboratively with peers and instructors on a shared project, making the most of the diverse skills and experiences of individual team members;
- Effectively communicate with peers and a broader audience in oral and written formats.
Last updated: 30 October 2023
Eligibility and requirements
Prerequisites
None
Corequisites
None
Non-allowed subjects
None
Recommended background knowledge
ANTH10001 Anthropology: Studying Human Diversity
Inherent requirements (core participation requirements)
The University of Melbourne is committed to providing students with reasonable adjustments to assessment and participation under the Disability Standards for Education (2005), and the Assessment and Results Policy (MPF1326). Students are expected to meet the core participation requirements for their course. These can be viewed under Entry and Participation Requirements for the course outlines in the Handbook.
Further details on how to seek academic adjustments can be found on the Student Equity and Disability Support website: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/student-equity/home
Last updated: 30 October 2023
Assessment
Due to the impact of COVID-19, assessment may differ from that published in the Handbook. Students are reminded to check the subject assessment requirements published in the subject outline on the LMS
Description | Timing | Percentage |
---|---|---|
Contribution to annotated bibliography
| Week 3 | 10% |
Research Plan
| Week 4 | N/A |
Research presentation
| From Week 10 to Week 12 | 25% |
Research data and analysis (padlet)
| Week 12 | 50% |
Participation and end-of-semester reflection
| Throughout the semester | 15% |
Hurdle requirement: Attendance at 75% of tutorials. | Throughout the semester | N/A |
Last updated: 30 October 2023
Dates & times
- Semester 2
Coordinator Debra McDougall Mode of delivery On Campus (Parkville) Contact hours A 3 hour seminar per week for 12 weeks. Total time commitment 170 hours Teaching period 3 August 2020 to 1 November 2020 Last self-enrol date 14 August 2020 Census date 21 September 2020 Last date to withdraw without fail 16 October 2020 Assessment period ends 27 November 2020 Semester 2 contact information
Last updated: 30 October 2023
Further information
- Texts
Prescribed texts
Madden, Raymond. 2017. Being ethnographic: A guide to the theory and practice of ethnography. 2nd ed. London: Sage Publications.
An accessible introduction to ethnography that reflects on both academic and applied ethnographic research in Australia.
Blum, Susan D. 2016. "I love learning; I hate school": An anthropology of college. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
This anthropological study of college challenges taken-for-granted ideas about the value of schooling. It is assigned to open questions for this semester’s research project.
Recommended texts and other resources
O’Reilly, Karen. 2012. Ethnographic Methods, 2nd ed. London: Routledge.
Robben, Antonius C. G. M and Jeffrey A. Sluka (eds) 2007 Ethnographic Fieldwork: An Anthropological Reader. Malden, MA: Blackwell.
- Available through the Community Access Program
About the Community Access Program (CAP)
This subject is available through the Community Access Program (also called Single Subject Studies) which allows you to enrol in single subjects offered by the University of Melbourne, without the commitment required to complete a whole degree.
Entry requirements including prerequisites may apply. Please refer to the CAP applications page for further information.
- Available to Study Abroad and/or Study Exchange Students
This subject is available to students studying at the University from eligible overseas institutions on exchange and study abroad. Students are required to satisfy any listed requirements, such as pre- and co-requisites, for enrolment in the subject.
Last updated: 30 October 2023