Culture Change and Protest Movements

This subject is not offered in 2011.

This subject addresses problems of culture change and the ways that people respond to the experience of change, including cultural protest. While a major focus will be on the ways that non-Western societies have responded to encounters with the Western world, the subject is concerned more generally with the experience of, and responses to, modernity and globalisation in all cultures. Students who complete this subject should have a knowledge of the range of ways in which societies have responded to encounters with missionaries, colonisers and imperial control; mastered the principal anthropological approaches to the study of social and cultural change; engaged in a critical assessment of the impact of change in different societies, including the emergence of alternative modernities; acquired a knowledge of the ethnographic and ethnological literature on Africa, South and Southeast Asia, Melanesia and South America.

Students who successfully complete this subjects will:

• have a knowledge of the range and variety of ways in which non-Western societies have evolved and acculturated under the influence of western missionisation, colonialisation and imperial control.
• have mastered the principal anthropological approaches to the study of acculturation and theories of social change.
• have engaged in a critical assessment of the impact of western cultures on the non-Western world.
• have acquired a knowledge of the ethnographic and ethnological literature on Africa, south and South-East Asia, Melanesia and South America.

Two 500 word tutorial papers 15% each (due during semester) and a 3000-word essay 70% (due at the end of semester). A hurdle requirement of participation in 8 of 10 tutorials (ie. 80% of tutorials) applies in this subject. Regular participation in tutorials is required. Assessment submitted late without an approved extension will be penalised at 10% per day. In-class tasks missed without approval will not be marked. All pieces of written work must be submitted to pass this subject.

A subject reader will be available from the University Bookshop at the beginning of semester. Set readings will also be available online, through LMS.

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

• Bachelor of Biomedicine
• Bachelor of Commerce
• Bachelor of Environments
• Bachelor of Music
• Bachelor of Science
• Bachelor of Engineering

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.

Students who successfully complete this subjects will:

• 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.