This course can be followed as part of the BA specialisation Media and Culture.
(onderdeel BA Culturele Antropologie en Ontwikkelingssociologie)
Course Description
The course ‘anthropology of art and material culture’ introduces the student in the ways anthropologists have dealt with art, in particular the material expressions of art, and material culture. After a general introduction on how western philosophy has dealt with the material world, a historical overview will be given of anthropological studies about material objects. Ending with a critical analysis of the recent discussions on materiality. Then some special subjects will be presented, varying from a structuralist analysis of material culture to practice-oriented approaches, from rituals in New Guinea to shopping centres in Jakarta. The tutorials will concentrate on collecting and museums. Students are expected to finalised the course with a written paper.
Coordination
Dr. Pieter ter Keurs, head of the Collections Department of the Dutch National Museum of Antiquities (Rijksmuseum van Oudheden)
E-mail: p.terkeurs@rmo.nl
Literature
The Material Culture Reader – ed. Victor Buchli, Berg Publishers, Oxford, New York 2002.
The Social Life of Things – Arjun Appadurai, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1986 (or the reprint).
Condensed Reality, A study of Material Culture – Pieter ter Keurs, CNWS Publications, Leiden, 2006. (now Leiden University Press)
Some articles related to the subjects treated in the tutorials.
Methods of Instruction
This course comprises a total of 280 sbu (hours of study) which is equivalent to 10 ECTS:
12 lectures (each 2 hours) = 36 sbu
2 tutorials (each 2 hours) = 4 sbu
2 visits to museums (practicums) = 22 sbu
Literature (ca. 1000 pages = 170 sbu )
Paper 6 pages (3600 words) = 48 sbu
Examination
Written exam about literature and lectures
Paper
Presence at lectures, tutorials and practicums is obligatory
Time-able
Lectures take place on Mondays, from 1 Feb-17 May 2010, 11-13 h
Location: Pieter de la Court Building, Wassenaarseweg 52, Leiden
1 and 8 February: room 1A11
15 February to 3 May: room 5A41 (NB: no lecture on 22 February !)
10 May: room PARTZAAL
17 May: room 1A37
Written exam: Monday 31 May 2010, 10-13 h, rooom SB11, Pieter de la Court Building
Retake: Monday 21 June 2010, 10-13 h, room 5A37, Pieter de la Court Building
Registration
Only the following categories of students can register for this course:
Students enrolled for the BA programme “Culturele antropologie en ontwikkelingssociologie”:
Inschrijving mogelijk via het secretariaat CA-OS, kamer 3A19, tel. 5273469, e-mail: secrcaos@fsw.leidenuniv.nl, tussen 30 november 2009 en 22 januari 2010.International exchange students:
For application please follow regular procedure through International Office , or contact the departmental coordinator N. Osterhaus-Simic.