Pre-requisites

None.

Co-requisites

None.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, the student will be able to:

• Demonstrate advanced knowledge and understanding of, and the research underlying, cultural anthropology as a missiological discipline.

• Critically assess recent scholarship on cultural anthropology and ethnography as a missiological discipline.

• Present research-aware evidence-based perspectives and findings on ethnography as a missiological discipline to specialist and non-specialist audiences.

• Demonstrate skill in utilising diverse scholarship in the application of anthropological and ethnographic approaches to real world case studies.

• Explicate awareness of the researcher as a research tool, and the role of reflexivity in fieldwork and research.

• Apply advanced perspectives and skills to cross-cultural ministry practice and Christian living as a reflective practitioner.

Unit Description

Ethnography is a research methodology used in the discipline of anthropology to document social and cultural systems through fieldwork, particularly, participant observation, interviews, and thematic analysis. Consideration of etic and emic perspectives is key to engaging with people from other cultures through their writings, words, and daily practices. This unit covers key topics such as cross-cultural interpretation, insider/outsider positioning and dynamics, power differentials, and the character of an ethical and reflexive practitioner. By designing and conducting ethnographic fieldwork students will explore how the process of a firsthand, detailed account of a specific aspect of a community’s communication and life can provide insights into their way of life and enhance their own ways of seeing the world.

Teaching in the unit is typically delivered in a 5-day intensive of 27 hours. Assessments are due across the semester.

Topics

Anthropology Theory
§ History of Anthropology
§ The tense relationship between anthropology and missiology
§ Functionalism
§ Structural-functionalism
§ French Structuralism
§ Post-Structuralism
§ Cultural Materialism
§ Constructivism
§ Postmodernism
§ Post-Structuralism
§ Globalisation, power, and agency

Anthropology in the Real World
§ Reflections on wanbel among the Sam people
§ Wanbel and relationships
§ Sam networks and connections
§ Wanbel and money
§ Sam spirit realm
§ Culture change/Modernity/Globalisation

Missiology
§ Cultural sub-systems: Kinship
§ Cultural sub-systems: Social Structure
§ SIL and anthropology
§ Cultural sub-systems model: Economics
§ Christ and Culture Debate
§ Cultural sub-systems model: Religion
§ Relevance theory and ‘Dirty Bibles’
§ Localisation

Ethnographic Methods
§ Overview of ethnography
§ Phenomenology
§ Guiding concepts in ethnography
§ Specific data collection methods
§ Analysis
§ Writing up

Assessment and Indicative Load

Assessment types include Other, Journal, and Major Essay. Indicative study load is 160 hours.

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Unit offerings

Face to face: (Demand based)

Please note

The Unit Offerings listed above are a guide only and the timetable for any year is the final authority. The College may vary offerings based on demand, regulatory requirements, continual improvement processes or other conditions.

This unit may be available in different modes of delivery i.e. online and face-to-face as listed above. The unit content will not differ between these modes of delivery. There will possibly be a difference in the schedule and/or the prescribed assessment tasks, however both will cover and assess the same content.