Anthropology
Cities and Urban Lives
Module code: L6076
Level 5
15 credits in spring semester
Teaching method: Lecture, Seminar
Assessment modes: Coursework, Essay
On this module, you’ll be introduced to literature and debates in urban anthropology and the anthropology of the city.
You'll explore historical processes of urbanisation, focusing on the spatial, cultural, political and social characteristics of the modern cities. You'll also look at the experiences of everyday urban life in cities across the world.
You'll undertake a comparative analysis of the diversity of urban forms and experiences, based on specific case studies. You'll use this to engage with theories that suggest there are universal characteristics to modern urban societies and cultures.
Module learning outcomes
- Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of anthropological approaches to the understanding of cities and urban lives.
- Demonstrate the ability to analyse, evaluate and assess critically the main theoretical debates in the fields of urban anthropology and anthropology of the city, and to have an awareness of the history of these debates and how specific theoretical trends have developed over time.
- Demonstrate the capacity to relate theory to specific ethnographic contexts in the analysis of the spatial, cultural, political and social characteristics of modern cities.
- Demonstrate the ability to evaluate and compare strengths and weaknesses of anthropological theories developed and deployed to understand urban spaces and urban lives.