Handbook home
Anthropology of Urban Life and Conflict (ANTH30020)
Undergraduate level 3Points: 12.5Not available in 2021
Please refer to the return to campus page for more information on these delivery modes and students who can enrol in each mode based on their location.
Overview
Fees | Look up fees |
---|
Based on the detailed reading of five ethnographic monographs, this subject considers the peculiar problems of studying the intimacy of social life in urban contexts and amid serious conflict and dislocation. Examples are taken from a range of contexts such as southern Europe, southeast Asia, Japan, and Latin America, and students are invited to discuss Australian and other examples familiar to them. The course considers issues such as the impact of urban life on rural migrants; the effects of gentrification and other forms of class discrimination; the sacred forms underlying secular urban spaces; the problems of cultural interaction and historic conservation in densely populated spaces; and the relation between capital cities and their respective nation-states. Written work is focused on careful reading of the ethnographic examples and on students’ skills in comparing cases and understanding the significance of the urban as a distinctive kind of context.
Intended learning outcomes
On successful completion of this subject students should be able to:
- demonstrate a thorough understanding of how anthropology addresses the urban condition and why its approach differs from those of other social sciences;
- critically inspect ethnographic works addressing the concept of the urban (and of associated manners and values) and the relevance of such work for assessing the dynamics of everyday life in cities;
- discuss and analyse the particular features of urban conflict, including forms of conflict based on class and race, and relate these areas of contention to spatial form and land use;
- offer intellectually coherent explanations of culturally specific uses of urban space as well as of the economic and other pressures that constrain and distort such cultural forms;
- evaluate anthropological writings about cities and situate them in their appropriate theoretical frameworks; and
- discuss relevant ideas in writing and in oral presentation, showing a clear understanding of the requirements of both academic and public discourse (and the relevance of both for city life).
Last updated: 15 February 2024
Eligibility and requirements
Prerequisites
None
Corequisites
None
Non-allowed subjects
None
Recommended background knowledge
Knowledge gained in completing at least 12.50 points of Anthropology subjects at Level 1 and Level 2 is recommended but not essential.
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: 15 February 2024
Assessment
Description | Timing | Percentage |
---|---|---|
1 in-class exam (equivalent to 500 words) completed in seminar 4
| During the teaching period | 10% |
2 x short essays of 750 words each (total 1500 words) due during the intensive teaching period
| During the teaching period | 40% |
Take-home essay exam of 2000 words, due 4 weeks after the conclusion of the intensive teaching period
| End of the assessment period | 50% |
Hurdle Requirement: As this is an Intensively-taught subject, class attendance is compulsory on all 8 teaching days. All pieces of written work must be submitted to pass this subject Hurdle requirement: Hurdle Requirement: As this is an Intensively-taught subject, class attendance is compulsory on all 8 teaching days. All pieces of written work must be submitted to pass this subject | Throughout the semester | N/A |
Last updated: 15 February 2024
Dates & times
Not available in 2021
Last updated: 15 February 2024
Further information
- Texts
Prescribed texts
Theodore C. Bestor, Tsukiji: The Fish Market at the Center of the World, Berkeley: University of California Press, 2004, ISBN: 9780520220249.
Michael Herzfeld, Evicted from Eternity: The Restructuring of Modern Rome, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2009; ISBN 9780226329123.
Michael Herzfeld, Siege of the Spirits: Community and Polity in Bangkok, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2016, ISBN 9780226331614.
Teresa Caldeira, City of Walls: Crime, Segregation, and Citizenship in São Paulo, Berkeley: University of California Press, ISBN 9780520221437
Erik Harms, Saigon’s Edge: On the Margins of Ho Chi Minh City, University of Minnesota Press, 2011, ISBN 78-0-8166-5606-6.
- Breadth options
This subject is available as breadth in the following courses:
- Bachelor of Biomedicine
- Bachelor of Commerce
- Bachelor of Design
- Bachelor of Environments
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Acting)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Animation)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Dance)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Film and Television)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Music Theatre)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Production)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Screenwriting)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Theatre)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Visual Art)
- Bachelor of Music
- Bachelor of Science
- 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: 15 February 2024