Cultural anthropology 2900-HAMC-K2-CULT
This series of twelve meetings is meant to provoke reflection on concepts such as time, modernity and postmodernity, orality versus literacy as well as the positionality of researchers in the contemporary European academia. We will base such reflection on anthropological and, occasionally, literary, philosophical and cinematic texts, paying particular attention to the places in which these texts present authors’ self-awareness about their predicament – as intellectuals and individuals. The distinct character of the anthropological research in the 20th and 21st century will be mapped as we study how anthropologists have been approaching not only the cultural phenomena of their times, but also phenomena of the past.
Throughout the semester, two fundamental questions will be returning: (1) To what extent and how can one reproduce the imperative of researchers’ self-awareness that anthropology developed over recent centuries in history and humanities in general? (2) What are the ways in which one can apply to historical research how anthropologists obtain evidence from contemporary cultures?
Course coordinators
Term 2025Z: | Term 2026Z: |
Type of course
Mode
Prerequisites (description)
Learning outcomes
The graduate knows and understands:
- in-depth history and specificity of research on antiquity (from the Late Bronze Age to Late Antiquity), methods and methodologies of studies on culture and religion related to antiquity, including in particular methods of source criticism, historical inference and stages of research;
- in-depth the culture and religion of the ancient civilizations of the Mediterranean basin;
- detailed specialist terminology in the field of culture and religion of the ancient civilizations of the Mediterranean basin;
- the role of various scientific disciplines, in particular, cultural and religious sciences, in the study of antiquity and the importance of an interdisciplinary approach to the reconstruction of the history of ancient civilizations; the specialized terminology of these humanities, as well as the need to use them in scientific communication.
The graduate is able to:
- integrate knowledge from various disciplines (including history, cultural and religious studies and other humanities disciplines) for their own cognitive purposes;
- follow the progress of research in cultural and religious studies (especially regarding the antiquity), independently acquire knowledge and expand skills, develop interests, and support other people in this area.
The graduate is ready to:
- critically assess their knowledge in cultural and religious studies and use expert opinions in the case of problems whose solution is beyond their competence.