SC276-5-FY-CO:
Anthropology of Birth, Sex and Death
PLEASE NOTE: This module is inactive. Visit the Module Directory to view modules and variants offered during the current academic year.
2023/24
Sociology and Criminology
Colchester Campus
Full Year
Undergraduate: Level 5
Inactive
Thursday 05 October 2023
Friday 28 June 2024
30
01 August 2019
Requisites for this module
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)
This module looks at some of the basic facts of human existences, birth, sex and death, from a cross-cultural perspective. All humans face these 'facts of life' but they do them in different as well as similar ways. The first part of the module looks at the human body and in particular how different peoples understand the process of procreation. To what extent are the body and bodily processes understood and experienced the same ways around the world? Are things that seem obvious to Westerners equally obvious to other people? How does culture affect how we experience and understand the body?
We will spend several weeks looking at gender and ideologies of gender and ask some broad questions about gender and power, specifically focusing on how these questions relate to issues of the body and birth and sex and death.
We finish the module with looking at death and the experience of death varies across cultures and why.
Aims:
• To give students an appreciation of cultural difference;
• To challenge students’ understandings of key issues relating to sex and gender;
• To explore issues of power and ideology cross culturally.
Objectives:
• To examine issues, experiences, and rituals surrounding birth, sex and death across cultures and through time;
• To develop students critical reading skills;
• To engage in open debate over a range of challenging and sensitive issues.
The module follows a clear path and each week builds on the previous one. Later sessions will refer to previous ones and regular attendance is essential.
The course group meets weekly for two hours at a time. The sessions will be characterised by a mixed format of lecturing, group activity and open discussion. A typical session will consist of a half-hour lecture after which students will read a short piece of text relevant to the lecture. After a period of small group work the discussion is opened to include everyone. The process is repeated with more lecturing for short periods followed by group work and discussion. The final twenty minutes to half hour of the session will normally be devoted to discussion of the key texts set for reading.
This module does not appear to have a published bibliography for this year.
Assessment items, weightings and deadlines
| Coursework / exam |
Description |
Deadline |
Coursework weighting |
| Exam |
Main exam: Remote, Open Book, 120 minutes during Summer (Main Period)
|
| Exam |
Reassessment Main exam: Remote, Open Book, 120 minutes during September (Reassessment Period)
|
Additional coursework information
Please note that assessment information is currently showing for 2018-19 and will be updated in August 2019
Exam format definitions
- Remote, open book: Your exam will take place remotely via an online learning platform. You may refer to any physical or electronic materials during the exam.
- In-person, open book: Your exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer to any physical materials such as paper study notes or a textbook during the exam. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, open book (restricted): The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer only to specific physical materials such as a named textbook during the exam. Permitted materials will be specified by your department. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, closed book: The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may not refer to any physical materials or electronic devices during the exam. There may be times when a paper dictionary,
for example, may be permitted in an otherwise closed book exam. Any exceptions will be specified by your department.
Your department will provide further guidance before your exams.
Overall assessment
Reassessment
Module supervisor and teaching staff
Prof Andrew Canessa, email: canessa@essex.ac.uk.
Professor Andrew Canessa
Jane Harper, Student Administrator, Telephone: 01206 873052
E-mail: socugrad@essex.ac.uk
Yes
Yes
Yes
Dr Aneira Edmunds
School of Law, Politics & Sociology
Senior Lecturer
Available via Moodle
Of 40 hours, 38 (95%) hours available to students:
2 hours not recorded due to service coverage or fault;
0 hours not recorded due to opt-out by lecturer(s).
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