ANTHROPOLOGY (AQA)
AS Course Outline
What Is Anthropology?
Anthropology is the study of cultural institutions. There is some overlap with the content of Sociology, Biology and Religious Studies. Anthropology encourages empathy between people of different cultural backgrounds, as well as helping students to distinguish what is normal and/or rational in a particular context, and what is merely habitual or conventional.
One of the distinguishing features of anthropology is its method; typically, immersion in the cultures to be studied. Students may not be able to develop a full understanding of the method during AS Levels, but the syllabus is designed to give students an initial understanding of ‘fieldwork’ and the availability of multimedia materials should allow them to develop their visual observation skills: watching footage of rituals in other societies, as well as the behaviour of primates, so as to understand what we mean by ‘human’ nature.
Anthropology often presents a surprising view of the world, but cultures are never merely studied for the ‘exoticism’ or ‘otherness’ - the purpose is always to compare their practices and beliefs with our own. Students may be presented with ethnography involving body modification among members of a geographically distant society and then encouraged to find material for themselves, on body modification in their own society. Thus, students could be given a short ethnography on scarification in some African societies that may relate to rites of passage, alongside plastic surgery/ tattooing/ piercings in ‘modern‘ western societies. The students’ own culture and experience should be an important source of ethnographic material. They should be encouraged to undertake their own mini-research projects as opposed to just providing personal anecdotes.
While it is possible to study anthropological theories chronologically (recognising that different theoretical perspectives may co-exist in the same historical moment, or overlap, particularly in the present) it is more interesting and engaging for students to have such abstract ideas drawn directly from the ethnographies that they are studying in class. Many classical theorists continue to be relevant to contemporary studies (e.g. Marcel Mauss writing in the 1920s on exchange).
What Skills Will Students Develop When Studying Anthropology?
- Anthropology enables students to understand how ideas of ‘what is normal’ vary from culture to culture.
- Students will be able to use their anthropological awareness to be critical of what others take for granted. They will see issues from a variety of viewpoints.
- Students will develop problem-solving skills in applying their knowledge of (general) anthropological theories to the analysis of rituals, cultural practices, and social behaviour in specific historical and geographical contexts.
- Students will develop their essay writing-skills during the course and will have to assimilate information and present it in a clear and concise way.
| ANTHROPOLOGY (AQA) AS Specification COURSE STRUCTURE |
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| Unit One
90 Minutes |
Being Human
Unit One introduces students to the subject matter and practices of anthropology. It has as its focus the question of what it means to be human. The syllabus looks at four main areas that encompass ‘being human’: the body, ways of thinking and communicating, organising social relations, interacting with nature. |
| Unit Two
90 Minutes |
Becoming a Person
Building on Unit 1, ‘what does it mean to be human?’, the focus of Unit will be understanding the processes involved with becoming a person and developing an identity, including the different aspects of personhood, identity and belonging, and how they interrelate. |
Structure of the Course
This course will be taught for 6 x 45 minute lessons per week. Homework will be set weekly and deadlines must be adhered to. Reading of textbooks is essential, and students will be expected to seek their own ethnographic texts and films, online, as well.
Recommended Reading
- J. Hendry, An Introduction to Social Anthropology. Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan, 2008
This very readable textbook provides overviews of many topics covered at A-Level. There is also a very useful resources list at the end of each chapter which includes films, novels, and questions for discussion. - J. Monaghan & P. Just, Social and Cultural Anthropology: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000
This is an excellent book which integrates overviews of many of the key topics with illustrations from the authors’ own fieldwork. This might look like OUP’s equivalent of “Anthropology for Dummies” but it’s much smarter - and, in places, more moving - than you’d expect. - F. Bowie, The Anthropology of Religion. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2006
Though this focuses on religion, the text manages to clearly express some of the key concepts, themes and debates in both Unit One and Unit Two.
