ARTICULATION DOCUMENT
T241 Anthropological Studies
MODULE STRUCTURE
Module Category: Specialisation
Level (year of study): Year 2
Credit Units: 4 Modular Credits
Curriculum Hours: 90
Contact Hours: 60 over 15 weeks (4 hours per week)
Module Assessment: Continuous Assessment: 40%
- 15 Daily Grades
Summative Assessment: 60%
Understanding Test 1: 15% (online)
Understanding Test 2: 15% (online)
Understanding Test 3: 30% (online)
SECTION 2: MODULE OVERVIEW
This module is an introduction to the study of humankind. It helps students gain a better
understanding of people as individuals and masses through observing their everyday behaviours in
human societies and cultures. The module aims to lay down a foundation for developing research
techniques and skills in the documentation, description, analysis and interpretation of human
activities and artefacts. The module involves context-focused fieldwork, as well as theoretical
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T241, Anthropological Studies
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studies, to encourage thinking about design and communication relating to socio-cultural
interactions.
MODULE OUTCOMES AND LEARNING OUTCOMES
The aim of the module is for students to acquire a critical understanding of the following principles
in ethnographic research:

Direct / participant observation (developing skills in listening, watching, touching, smelling
etc. perceptiveness, essentially to have an eye/ear/whatever organ for details) and fieldwork

Information / data gathering and documentation (e.g. videoing/filming, writing, capturing
sights and sounds, memory etc.)

Personal, social and mass communication (understanding the various roles of the author,
reader, message, medium, and context)

Ethical conduct in anthropological research (e.g. open-mindedness - willingness to explore a
culture that is different from one's own; objectivity - not letting one's bias/prejudice get in
the way of uncovering 'truths'; questioning the fidelity/accuracy of documentation in how it
represents the source/original etc.)

Contextual analysis (e.g. language, community, society, culture, history, civilization etc.)

Qualitative and quantitative methods

Thick description(description that is layered, manifold, multifaceted)
The module is enhanced by the iterative process of the pedagogical approach at the institute,
students will develop skills and aptitudes in:

Observing in the field.

Videoing / filming and sound recording in relation to fieldwork.

Making detailed field notes and transcription.

Self-reflection and ethical position as a field researcher.

Understanding the various roles of sender, receiver, message, medium, and context in
communication theory.

Analysis of data relating to various contexts, including language, community, society,
culture, history, and place.

Producing multilayered report in relation to fieldwork, observations, and research
methodologies.
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Allocated time per day
Module Coverage
Discussions in
Study Cluster
Resource
gathering
and team
work
Skills acquisition
and practice
Site observation skills
- Methods eg “covertly” vs “overtly”
- Evidences of human activity
Communication and documentation
4
1
1
Ethical implications when conducting
fieldwork
- Cultural and moral relativisim
4
1
1
Cause of the formation of cultural
trends and norms
4
1
1
Issues related to the conduct of an
independent quality survey
-legal and ethical rights
4
1
1
Mass observation project
-motivations and intentions
4
2
Author-audience relationship
-implications of utility in contrast to
self-view.
-values associated with a subject
4
2
Transcription skills
-nuances and details
Issues concerning the posting of
personal information on the internet
4
2
Context and Interpretation
–author, reader and the message
Framing and reframing of questions
4
2
Human history and the study of human
artifacts
4
2
Translation from Singlish to English
-contextualisation
-social and cultural issues
4
2
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Cultural values
-Thinness
4
2
Human behavior in urban settings
-Process, assumptions, insights
surrounding fieldwork
4
2
Ethical obligations of an anthropologist
4
2
Concept of childhood and development
4
2
Identity of Singapore
-race, gender, income, social class,
education
4
2
Total = 15 Problems = 90 hours
60
26
4
TEACHING AND LEARNING
Every lesson / Problem was designed to include an element of fieldwork, e.g. observing people in
specific locations / particular locales, transcribing the experience of making observations,
documenting what had been observed etc. and to allow for deep learning of ethical issues in
anthropological studies.
LEARNING RESOURCES
Anfara, V. A., & Mertz, N. T. (2006). Theoretical frameworks in qualitative research.
Thousand Oaks, Calif: SAGE Publications.
Augé, M., & Colleyn, J. P. (2006). The world of the anthropologist. Oxford: Berg.
Augé, M. (1995). Non-places: Introduction to an anthropology of supermodernity. London:
Verso.
Bell, S. (2004). The secret lives of us. [Nathan, Qld.]: Griffith University.
Brown, J. S., & Duguid, P. (2000). The social life of information. Boston: Harvard Business
School Press.
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Creswell, J. W. (2005). Research design Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods
approaches. Thousand Oaks [u.a.]: Sage.
DeWalt, K. M., & DeWalt, B. R. (2002). Participant observation: A guide for fieldworkers.
Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press.
Dittmar, H., & Halliwell, E. (2008). Consumer culture, identity and well-being: The search for
the "good life" and the "body perfect". European monographs in social psychology.
Hove [England]: Psychology Press.
Fife, W. (2005). Doing fieldwork: Ethnographic methods for research in developing countries
and beyond. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Finkelstein, J. (2007). The art of self invention Image and identity in popular visual culture.
London: I.B. Tauris.
Flick, U. (2002). An introduction to qualitative research. London: SAGE Publications.
Fuchs, C. (2008). Internet and society: Social theory in the information age. Routledge
research in information technology and society, 8. New York: Routledge.
Godin, S. (2008). Tribes: We need you to lead us. New York: Portfolio.
Greenfield, L., Herzog, D. B., & Strober, M. (2006). Thin. San Francisco: Chronicle Books.
Grimshaw, A., & Ravetz, A. (2004). Visualizing Anthropology: Experimenting with ImageBased Ethnography. Bristol: Intellect.
http://www.UCM.eblib.com/EBLWeb/patron?target=patron&extendedid=P_283018_0 &.
Hall, S. (1997). Representation: Cultural representations and signifying practices. Culture,
media, and identities. London: Sage in association with the Open University.
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Hubble, N. (2006). Mass-Observation and everyday life Culture, history, theory. Houndmills,
Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.
http://www.palgraveconnect.com/doifinder/10.1057/9780230503144
Kathy A. Riley. (2009). Participation and the State: Towards an Anthropological View of the
“New Participatory Paradigms”.
Katz, J. E., & Aakhus, M. A. (2002). Perpetual contact: Mobile communication, private talk,
public performance. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Kawamura, Y. (2005). Fashion-ology: An introduction to fashion studies. Dress, body, culture.
Oxford: Berg.
Lancy, D. F. (2008). The anthropology of childhood: Cherubs, chattel, changelings.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Lavenda, R. H., & Schultz, E. A. (2003). Core concepts in cultural anthropology. Boston:
McGraw-Hill.
Madison, D. S. (2005). Critical ethnography: Method, ethics, and performance. Thousand
Oaks, Calif: Sage.
Mass Observation. (1943). Enquiry into people's homes: A report. Murray.
Müller, U. (2008). Social life and social knowledge: Toward a process account of
development. New York: L. Erlbaum Associates.
O'Reilly, K. (2004). Ethnographic methods. London: Routledge.
Peters-Golden, H. (2006). Culture sketches: Case studies in anthropology. Boston: McGrawHill.
Rossman, G. B., & Rallis, S. F. (2003). Learning in the field: An introduction to qualitative
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research. Thousand Oaks, Calif: Sage Publications.
Sault, N. L. (1994). Many mirrors: Body image and social relations. New Brunswick, N.J.:
Rutgers University Press.
Schiffer, M. B., & Miller, A. R. (1999). The material life of human beings: Artifacts, behavior,
and communication. London: Routledge.
Schirato, T., & Webb, J. (2004). Understanding the visual. London: SAGE.
Schwartz, T. (1973). The Responsive Chord. Garden City, N.Y.: Anchor Press.
Shepherd, G. J., St. John, J., & Striphas, T. G. (2006). Communication as--: Perspectives on
theory. Thousand Oaks, Calif: Sage Publications.
Shirky, C. (2008). Here comes everybody: The power of organizing without organizations.
New York: Penguin Press.
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