Program Overview

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Program Overview

The Anthropology of Global (Dis) Connections is a course offered by the University of Copenhagen, specifically designed for students in their 4th semester of the anthropology program. This course delves into the social, economic, and cultural dynamics of global connections and disconnections, utilizing anthropological theory and ethnographic studies from around the world.

Course Description

Globalization is often perceived as an opportunity for cosmopolitanism and transnationalism, yet it has also exacerbated social and economic inequality and decreased possibilities for human migration and social mobility. The course explores globalization through the lens of assemblages, frictions, and conjunctures, examining how the global is articulated and scaled in different cultural contexts. It interrogates how the study of local encounters with globalization processes has reshaped anthropological concepts of regions and fields and how these processes continue to reorient anthropologists' fieldwork methods and frames of vision.

Learning Outcomes

• Skills:
  • Identify key processes of global connections and disconnections.
  • Examine the impact of uneven economic globalization from an anthropological perspective.
  • Analyze the causes and effects of globalization in the context of wider socio-economic debates, political responses, and social movements.
• Knowledge:
  • Describe anthropological theories of globalization and global flows.
  • Understand how globalization creates new political, social, cultural processes and agendas, institutions, and identities, as well as the relationship between global connections and disconnections.
  • Grasp cross-cultural perspectives on the meaning and manifestation of economic globalization and neoliberalism across space and how communities negotiate and cope with these transformations.
• Competences:
  • Creatively apply theories about the politics of globalization in multiple anthropological contexts.
  • Assess ethnographic data and apply methods and theory in the analysis of processes of global connection and disconnection.
  • Create analytical connections between key regional analytical debates and debates about global connections and disconnections.

Literature

• Textbook: Anna Tsing (2011): Friction-An Ethnography of Global Connections
• Other literature will be available through Absalon.

Teaching and Learning Methods

The course will employ lectures, seminars, films, and rapid-reading exercises to facilitate learning.

Workload

• Category:
  • Class Instruction: 42 hours
  • Preparation: 60 hours
  • Project work: 60 hours
  • Exam: 44 hours
  • Total: 206 hours

Feedback

• Written feedback from tutors on the final portfolio
• Oral feedback from tutors during the course of the semester on short writing exercises
• Peer feedback during peer-group feedback sessions

Exam

• Type of assessment: Written assignment (individual essay)
• Essay length: 21,600–26,400 keystrokes for an individual submission
• Aid: All aids allowed
• Marking scale: 7-point grading scale
• Censorship form: No external censorship

Re-exam

• 1st re-exam: An essay with a revised problem statement must be submitted at the announced date.
• 2nd re-exam: A new essay with a revised problem statement must be submitted at the announced date next semester.

Course Information

• Language: English
• Course code: AANB18009U
• Credit: 7.5 ECTS
• Level: Bachelor
• Duration: 1 semester
• Placement: Spring
• Schedule: See timetable

Study Board

• Department of Anthropology, Study Council

Contracting Department

• Department of Anthropology

Contracting Faculty

• Faculty of Social Sciences

Course Coordinators

• Atreyee Sen

Lecturers

• Anja Simonsen
• Rebecca Solovej
• Malthe Rye Thomsen

This course provides a comprehensive exploration of globalization from an anthropological perspective, equipping students with the skills, knowledge, and competences to analyze and understand the complex dynamics of global connections and disconnections. Through a combination of theoretical insights, ethnographic studies, and interactive learning methods, students will gain a deep understanding of the impact of globalization on local communities and the world at large.