SA3071 Anthropology of the City: From Ur to Urban Hip Hop

Academic year

2023 to 2024 Semester 2

Further information on which modules are specific to your programme.

Key module information

SCOTCAT credits

30

The Scottish Credit Accumulation and Transfer (SCOTCAT) system allows credits gained in Scotland to be transferred between institutions. The number of credits associated with a module gives an indication of the amount of learning effort required by the learner. European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) credits are half the value of SCOTCAT credits.

SCQF level

SCQF level 9

The Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) provides an indication of the complexity of award qualifications and associated learning and operates on an ascending numeric scale from Levels 1-12 with SCQF Level 10 equating to a Scottish undergraduate Honours degree.

Planned timetable

To be confirmed

This information is given as indicative. Timetable may change at short notice depending on room availability.

Module coordinator

Dr K L Lane

This information is given as indicative. Staff involved in a module may change at short notice depending on availability and circumstances.

Module Staff

Dr Karen Lane

This information is given as indicative. Staff involved in a module may change at short notice depending on availability and circumstances.

Module description

This module explores the diverse ways that people inhabit, engage with, experience, and imagine urban environments. Over half the world’s population live in cities and this is expected to rise to two-thirds in the next 50 years. What does it mean to be a human being in the city? We begin with the history of the city followed by a review of classic and modern urban theories, drawing on a variety of ethnographic examples. The middle section of the module focuses on three city case studies to see how life as experienced contributes to theoretical analyses. The final section of the module considers how the city is imagined in film, literature, music, and in the future. To what extent do theoretical analyses, metaphorical constructs and imagination explain and contribute to how we live in cities and towns? Urban anthropology sits within, and draws upon, a range of disciplinary analyses of urban life and we will address explicitly the benefits and challenges of an interdisciplinary approach.

Relationship to other modules

Pre-requisites

BEFORE TAKING THIS MODULE YOU MUST PASS SA2001 AND PASS SA2002

Assessment pattern

Coursework = 100%

Re-assessment

Coursework = 100%

Learning and teaching methods and delivery

Weekly contact

1 lecture x 11 weeks, 1 tutorials x 9 weeks, 2 activity x 2 weeks

Scheduled learning hours

45

The number of compulsory student:staff contact hours over the period of the module.

Guided independent study hours

240

The number of hours that students are expected to invest in independent study over the period of the module.

Intended learning outcomes

  • Analyse the concepts of divided, contested, global, modernist and postmodern cities
  • Critically read academic literature and evidence understanding through academic writing
  • Apply urban theory to urban ethnographic studies
  • Explain how representations of the city in the arts add to an understanding of the urban environment
  • Evaluate the merits of an interdisciplinary approach to urban studies