Sentiments and Structures

Subject 671-350 (2009)

Note: This is an archived Handbook entry from 2009. Search for this in the current handbook

Credit Points: 12.50
Level: 3 (Undergraduate)
Dates & Locations:

This subject is not offered in 2009.
Time Commitment: Contact Hours: A 2-hour lecture and a 1-hour tutorial per week. There will be no tutorials in the first and last weeks of semester
Total Time Commitment: 3 contact hours/week, 5.5 additional hours/week. Total of 8.5 hours per week.
Prerequisites: Usually 50 points of first year subjects.
Corequisites: None
Recommended Background Knowledge: None
Non Allowed Subjects: None
Core Participation Requirements:

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Student Support and Engagement Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Overview, Learning Outcomes, Assessment and Generic Skills sections of this entry.

It is University policy to take all reasonable steps to minimise the impact of disability upon academic study, and reasonable adjustments will be made to enhance a student's participation in the University's programs. Students who feel their disability may impact on meeting the requirements of this subject are encouraged to discuss this matter with a Faculty Student Adviser and Student Equity and Disability Support: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/disability

Contact

Assoc Prof Mary Patterson

marycp@unimelb.edu.au

Subject Overview: The subject is concerned with the comparative study of kinship and family in Western and non-Western societies, considering them as both forms of social structure and primary sites of sentimental and affective states. Students who complete the subject should have an introductory knowledge of the variety of forms of kinship reckoning and family organisation to be found in the world today, and a general understanding of the variable relationship between kinship and family and the wider issues of social identity, gender roles, economic and political organisation and social structure.
Objectives:
  • be well acquainted with the major forms of kinship reckoning and family organisation of the world's societies;
  • have a general understanding of the principal theoretical frameworks within which ethnologists have studied kinship and family;
  • have a general understanding of the ethnographically variable relationship between kinship and family and the wider issues of social identity, gender roles, economic and political organisation and social structure.
Assessment: A research essay of 2250 words 50% (due at the end of semester), a class test of 750 words 25% (due late in the semester), a genealogy of 500 words 10% (due late in the semester), a tutorial presentation and paper no longer than 500 words 15% (due during the semester and no later than one week after the oral presentation).
Prescribed Texts: A subject reader will be available from the University Bookshop at the beginning of semester
Breadth Options:

This subject potentially can be taken as a breadth subject component for the following courses:

You should visit learn more about breadth subjects and read the breadth requirements for your degree, and should discuss your choice with your student adviser, before deciding on your subjects.

Fees Information: Subject EFTSL, Level, Discipline & Census Date
Generic Skills:
  • have practice in conducting research and speaking articulately;
  • have practice in writing clearly in a variety of formats and reading with attention to detail;
  • have experience of systematically evaluating a body of empirical data and identifying its theoretical context;
  • have experience of methods of critical inquiry and argument leading to improved analytical skills;
  • have acquired awareness of issues relating to cross-cultural communication.
Related Majors/Minors/Specialisations: Anthropology
Anthropology
Anthropology & Social Theory

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