APPLIED ANTHROPOLOGY [ANTH301]

This third year course is designed to highlight the applied side of the discipline. Students will be introduced to some key concepts and debates on policy work, with case studies on health policy and HIV/AIDS, and policy development for human rights. Early interventionist work by anthropologists will be critically examined as a basis for discussion on the use and abuse of specialist knowledge and information. The ethical challenge of doing applied work and the question of who uses what information and for what purposes are carefully considered throughout the course. Advocacy work and the politics of development are examined.

RESEARCH PLUS SPECIAL TOPIC [ANTH302]

By the latter half of the third year of study, students are now ready to embark on their own research project. The course starts with an introduction to the nature of anthropological research, building upon the knowledge students have gained in their first and second years of study. Using examples of different kinds of research projects undertaken by anthropologists, the course examines the discipline's major principles, paradigms and methods.

Emphasis is placed on the ethnographic method and the use of theoretical frameworks in anthropology. Students will design, develop and pursue original research that is commensurate with the abilities of a third year student.

The second half of the course revolves around a special topic. In the past this has included a focus on religion in Africa, human rights and violence monitoring, workplace anthropology, socio-cultural change and identity, urbanisation and migration, and HIV/AIDS. The topic for 2004 was CULTURE AND COGNITION, a course in Psychological Anthropology. Students were introduced to the evolving theories and approaches used to develop a universal cross-cultural 'psychology', rather than one premised on western derived constructs and understandings. In our increasingly diverse societies, it is essential that our studies of human mental processes be as holistic and free of ethnocentric bias as possible.

The aim of the research plus special topic course is to acquaint students with the tools required to do ethnography and the wide range of topics that lend themselves to anthropological research. Those students who show potential to contribute to the dynamic and fascinating field of anthropology will be encouraged to proceed to Honours level.

*IN ADDITION TO UNDERGRADUATE COURSES, WE OFFER A FULL POST-GRADUATE PROGRAMME UP TO THE PHD LEVEL.