Materiality and Social Life

Contenu du cours

Human sociality would be impossible without the mediation of material things through which consciousness is shared and “culture” is formed, and such collective immaterial worlds are deeply embedded within the production and perception of material reality. This course examines the way we produce social relationality, social forms, cultural schemas, and structures of power and hierarchy by consuming, exchanging, making, and inhabiting the things around us. We will investigate the relationship between materiality and meaning both in the historical development of the human species and across a wide variety of contemporary societies, from hunter-gatherers to the high consumerism of contemporary capitalism. In the anthropological tradition of problematizing the opposition between persons and things, the course considers hybrids such as fetishes, masks, relics, art objects, historical antiquities and other sacred objects for what they can tell us about more quotidian interactions between humans and their possessions. Consumer culture, fashion, and self-construction through the display of things are all social activities at the core of sociality in capitalist societies, materializing and fixing cultural categories such as gender, ethnicity, class, and generation. Through ethnographic exploration of cognitive and social consequences of tools, technological transformation, and rampant accumulation of possessions we will discover the agency of material things and the ways in which materiality often exceeds our efforts to culturally constrain matter within social expectations. Finally, we will explore the environmental consequences of contemporary practices around materiality, the sheer excess of human production, and what social alternatives might produce alternative material realities.

Objectifs (et/ou acquis d'apprentissages spécifiques)

Students will learn anthropological approaches, debates, and methods surrounding material culture and their close relation to the history of the discipline. Skills in critical thinking, comprehending and analyzing anthropological theory, and applying theory to concrete social situations will be practiced and honed.

Pré-requis et Co-requis

Connaissances et compétences pré-requises ou co-requises

Students who are interested in the course but do not meet prerequisites should ask permission of the professor.

Méthodes d'enseignement et activités d'apprentissages

The course is a hybrid between ex cathedra teaching and seminar. Students are expected to arrive in class having read the required reading and prepared questions or comments about it to contribute to the discussion, which forms the core of the class. The professor will complement these discussions with lecture materials, powerpoints, and the occasional film.

Students can compensate for absence with a critical written response turned in on UV before the class session is completed.

Références, bibliographie et lectures recommandées

These are provided in the course plan available on UV

Support(s) de cours

Université virtuelle

Autres renseignements

Contacts

alexander.newell@ulb.be

Campus

Solbosch

Evaluation

Méthode(s) d'évaluation

Evaluation continue
Portfolio
Examen oral

Evaluation continue

Portfolio

Examen oral

Presence and participation in class discussion will count for 50% of the course grade.

Students who do not attend can compensate by turning in critical reading responses on that week's assignements, from 1-2 pages long. Reports are not summaries but critical discussions that bring the reading into relation with other readings from the class. Students can miss up to three classes without reading responses, but after 6 classes without responses, they are at risk to fail the class. Students may turn these in even on days they attend to boost participation grade if they have difficulty speaking in class.

The final 50% of the course grade will be based upon an oral exam to be conducted during the exam period.

If a student can provide a valid reason that they are incapable of following these criteria, they must arrange for another form of evaluation with the professor during the first two weeks of class.

Construction de la note (en ce compris, la pondération des notes partielles)

Evaluation is progressive: Each reading report is worth up from 0-5 points, contributing to a final score adding up to 50 points, worth fifty percent of the course grade.
The oral exam, also rated on a scale of 50, will make up the final 50% of the course grade.

Langue(s) d'évaluation

anglais
français

Recherche