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School of Social Sciences and International Development

SSA323 – Visual Anthropology
Level: / Three / Credits: / 20
Co-ordinator: / Dr Felicia Hughes-Freeland / Pre-requisite(s): / SSA101; SSA217 is recommended
When taught: / Teaching Block 2 / Co-requisite(s): / None
Contact hours: / 55 (20 seminars, 35 hours of video training, viewing and discussion) / Incompatible(s): / None
Availability: / Level 3 anthropology students (maximum of 15).
Compulsory for:
Teaching staff: / Dr Felicia Hughes-Freeland, an editing assistant, and support from Media Resources
Assessment: / Essay (50%) and Project (50%)
Details: / Essay: a 2,000 word essay to be submitted by the May deadline
Project: 10 min film with 1000 word report
Obligations of students: / Attendance at all teaching events.
Aims of module: / A practical module taught by seminar and technical methods to give students a hands-on introduction to the principles and practices of visual anthropology. The assessment will be a written report about the practical work.
Module content: / Weekly seminars will begin with a balance between theoretical and practical training; the final weeks will be taken up with filming and editing the projects. See over for detailed outline of activities.
Personal Transferable Skills: / Apart from standard skills or reading comprehension, analysis, writing, and time management, the module would provide intensive team working skills, the ability to film using digital video cameras and edit using digital editing suites. There is also the option to learn to use digital photography in the essay and report.
Learning outcomes: / Students will acquire substantive knowledge about current theoretical approaches and issues in Visual Anthropology. They will also acquire basic skills in documentary video making.
Course Structure: / The 170 hours for this practical module break down as follows:
55 formal contact hours, made up of 34 hours of timetabled seminars and 21 editing hours to be scheduled during weeks 4-5 and 10-11.
70 hours of personal study, to be divided between reading, practical training, project work, and film viewing.
45 hours for preparing assessment, to be divided between the essay and the project.
SSA323 – Visual Anthropology
Course Structure: / The 170 hours for this practical module break down as follows:
55 formal contact hours, made up of 34 hours of timetabled seminars and 21 editing hours to be scheduled during weeks 4-5 and 10-11.
70 hours of personal study, to be divided between reading, practical training, project work, and film viewing.
45 hours for preparing assessment, to be divided between the essay and the project.

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School of Social Sciences and International Development

SSA323 Visual Anthropology - 2002/2003

Course Outline:

Week 1

27 Jan. 2 hour seminar: issues in visual anthropology

31 Jan. 2 hour practical: introduction to digital cameras and observational filming exercise 1

Week 2

3 Feb. 2 hour seminar: debrief of observational filming exercise 1, and issues arising

7 Feb. 2 hour practical: observational film exercise 2

Week 3

10 Feb 2 hour seminar: debrief of observational film exercise 2, and issues arising

14 Feb 2 hour seminar: learning to look, with film examples

Week 4

17 Feb 2 hour practical: general introduction: 1 hour each for group A and group B

21 Feb 2 hour seminar: project planning: discuss ideas and feasibility

Alan Williams will be available for extra editing support this week

Week 5

24 Feb 2 hours seminar: privacy and ethics in filming

28 Feb 2 hours seminar: project planning continued

FORMATIVE COURSEWORK DUE: 750-1000 word project proposal

Week 6

3 Mar 2 hour seminar: photography in anthropology

7 Mar 2 hour seminar: evaluation and development of projects

Weeks 7 and 8 Project filming, logging rushes, paper edits

There will be no formal seminars except on 21 Mar, but students can see FHF in her room at the seminar times.

21 Mar 2 hour seminar: progress reports, discussion of key questions

Weeks 9 (9a) and 10

There will be no formal seminars, but groups can book editing time once they have a paper edit. Week 9a is the final week of the holidays and special arrangements could be made.

Alan Williams will be available for extra editing support these weeks.

1 MAY is the deadline for submitting assessed work.

Week 11

9 May 2 hour seminar: view completed films

READING LIST

These readings are listed alphabetically in three sections divided into 'key' and 'further’: Visual Anthropology; Ethnographic Film; Photography'.’ FR indicates more advanced readings. You can also find articles on specific issues and practitioners and film reviews in the journal Visual Anthropology [HN1 V37]. There are a number of resources on the www, such the online edition of Visual Anthropology Review (etext.virginia.edu/VAR/), and experimental work, such as K. Alley’s Environmental project ( which you should consider investigating.

VISUAL ANTHROPOLOGY IN GENERAL

main readings: read 2 or 3 introductions and then chapters that interest you

Banks, M. 2001 Visual methods in social research [H62 BAN]

Banks, M. and Morphy, H. (eds.) 1997 Rethinking Visual Anthropology: chapters by Morphy and Banks, and MacDougall [HM747 RET]

Collier, J. 1967 Visual Anthropology [HM 433 COL]; see also his article in Hockings (1975/95)

Hockings, P. (ed.) 1975/1995 Principles of visual anthropology: chapters by Mead and Hockings; 'Visual Anthropology and the past' [HM 433 PRI]

Pink, S. 2002 DoingVisual Ethnography [GN347 PIN]

Ruby, J. 2000 Picturing Culture [HM747 RUB]

further readings

Boonzajer-Flaes, R. (ed.) 1989 Eyes across the water: the Amsterdam conference on visual anthropology and sociology [HM433 AMS]

Crawfurd, P.I. and Hafsteinsson. S.B. (eds.) 1996 Construction of the Viewer [HM747 CON]

Finnegan, R. 2002. Communicating [HM258 FIN]

Ginsburg, F. 1998 'Instituting the unruly: charting the future for visual anthropology' Ethnos 63:2, pp 173-201

Marazzi, A. 1999 'Visual anthropology in a world of images' Visual Anthropology 12,4: 391-403 [HN1 V37]

Taylor, L. 1994 Visualizing Theory: chs by MacDougall (also in MacDougall 1998), Marcus, Wiener, Nichols, Stoller, and Moore [HM347 VIS]

SPECIFICALLYETHNOGRAPHIC FILM

key readings

MacDougall, D 1998 Transcultural Cinema [HM747 MAC] (collected essays ed. by L. Taylor)

MacDougall, D 2001 ‘Renewing ethnographic film’ Anthropology Today 17,3: 15-21. See response by S. Pink in Anthropology Today 17, 5.

Crawfurd, P I and Turton, D (eds.) 1992 Film as Ethnography: especially introduction. and chapters by Loizos, MacDougall, Vaughan and Wright [HM747 FIL]

Crawfurd, P.I. (ed.) 1993 The Nordic Eye: chapter by P. Henley [HM747 NOR]

Grimshaw, A. 2001 The Ethnographer’s Eye, second part [HM747 GRI]

Henley, P. 2001 ‘Ethnographic film technology, practice and anthropological theory’ Visual Anthropology 13,3: 207-226

Loizos, P. 1993 Innovation in Ethnographic Film [HM747 LOI]

Nichols, B. (ed.) 1985 Movies and Methods: Vol I: chapter by MacDougall; Vol II: chapters by Waugh, Nichols, MacDougall and Vaughan [PN1994 MOV]

further readings

Aldridge, M. 1995 'Ethnographic film and hypermedia: an analysis of the debates' Visual Anthropology 7,3:233-35 [HN1 V37]

Barbash, I and Taylor, L. (eds.) 1997 Cross-cultural filmmaking, chapter 1 22-31 and chapter 2; Part II is technical: use only in consultation with your lecturers [HM747 BAR]

Barnouw, E. [1974]1993 Documentary [PN1995 9D5 BAR]

Bromhead, T. de 1996 Looking Two Ways: Documentary Film’s Relationship with Reality and Cinema [PN1995 9 D6 DEM]

Corner, J. (ed.) 1986 Documentary and the Mass Media: chapters by Nichols and Collins [HM258 DOC]

Corner, J. 1996 The Art of Record: chapters 1 and 2 [PN1995 9 D6 COR]

Crawfurd ,P.I. (ed.) 1992 Ethnographic Film Aesthetics and Narrative Traditions: chapters by MacDougall and Nichols [HM747 ETH]

De Sardan, J-P. O. 1999 'The ethnographic pact and documentary film' Visual Anthropology 12,1: 12-25

FR Devereaux, L. and Hillman, R. 1995 Fields of Vision: chapters 1-4 and 15 [PN1994 FIE]

Grimshaw, A. Papastergiades, N. 1995 Conversations with Anthropological Film-makers: David MacDougall [HM747 GRI]

Grimshaw, A. 1995 Conversations with Anthropological Film-makers: Melissa Llewelyn-Davies [HM747 GRI]

Heider, K. 1997 Seeing Anthropology [HM747 HEI]; videos also available

Loizos, P. 1993 ‘Inadmissable evidence: film in anthropology’ [Library photocopy 910]

Loizos, P. 1995 ‘Robert Gardner’s ‘Rivers of Sand’’ in (eds.) Devereaux and Hillman Fields of Vision [PN1994 FIE]

FR Mirzoeff, N. (ed.) 1999 An Introduction to Visual Culture, chapters 2,4 & 7 [HM39 MIR] (theoretical)

FR Nichols, B. 1991 Representing Reality: chapter 7 [PN1995 9 D5 NIC]

FR Rony, F.T. 1996 The Third Eye: intro and chapter 4 on Nanook [HM747 RON]

FR Russell, C 1999 Experimental Ethnography: especially chapters 1, 5, 8 and 10 [HM747 RUS]

Scott, C. 1994 Lesotho Herders Video Project [HM747 SCO]

FR Tomaselli, K. 1999 Appropriating Images: the Semiotics of Visual Representation: especially introduction and chapters 6 and 7 [HM747 TOM]

FR Trinh T. Minh Ha. 1991 When the Moon Waxes Red [PN1995 TRI](famous feminist work)

Vaughan, D. 1999 For Documentary [by one of the best editors] [PN1995 9 D6 VAU]

Winston, B. 1995 Claiming the Real : parts 2 and 4 on ethics [PN1995 9 D5 WIN]

B Winston 2000 Lies, Damn Lies and Documentary [PN11992.8 R43 WIN)

Worth, S. and Adair, J. 1972 Through Navajo Eyes; also new 1997 edition with foreword and afterword by R. Chalfen)[HN81 N18]

SPECIFICALLY PHOTOGRAPHY

key readings

Collier J. and Collier, M. 1986 Visual Anthropology: Photography as a Research Method

[HM433 COL]

Edwards, E. 1997 'Beyond the boundary' in (eds.) M Banks and H Morphy 1997 Rethinking Visual Anthropology [HM747 RET]

Emmison, M. and Smith, P. 2000 Researching the Visual: chapters 1 and 2 [H62 EMM] (the exercises might give you ideas for your project)

Harper, D. 1987 'The visual ethnographic narrative' Visual Anthropology 1,1:1-19 [HN1 V37]

Larson, H. 1987 'Photography that listens' Visual Anthropology 1,4: 415-432 [HN1 V37]

Wright, T. 1999 The Photography Handbook [HM264 WRI]

further readings

Berger, J. 1972 Ways of Seeing: last section [N7430 BER]

FR Berger, J. 1981 Another Way of Telling [NE2902 BER] (original and stimulating)

Boonzajer-Flaes, R. (ed. 1989 Eyes across the water: the Amsterdam conference on visual anthropology and sociology: chapters by Chiozzi and Suchar [HM433 AMS]

Chaplin, E. 1994 Sociology and Visual Representation: Ch 5 [N72 S6 CHA]

Edwards, E. (ed.) 1992 Anthropology and Photography: chapters by Wright, Scherer, Pognant, Pinney, Spencer, Mydin and Faris [HM417 ANT Folios]

Evans, J. (ed.) 1999 The Camerawork Essays: intro, chapters by Berger, Tagg, Burgin, Slater, Green and Mellor [HM39 CAM]

Harper, D. 1986 'Meaning and work: a study in photo elicitation' pp 24-46 in 'Trend Report: Theory and practice of visual sociology' Current Sociology 34,3 [HM1 C79]

Lyman, C.M. 1982 The Vanishing Race and Other Illusions: Photographs of Indians by Edward S. Curtis [E77 5LYM]

Pink, S 1999 'A woman, a camera and the world of bullfighting' Visual Anthropology 13,1: 71-86 [HN1 V37]

FR Pinney, C. 1998 Camera Indica [HM1035 I4 PIN]

Price, D. 1997 'Surveyors and surveyed' in (ed.) Wells, L. Photography [HM39 PHO]

Sullivan, G. Margaret Mead, Gregory Bateson and Highland Bali [HN710 B2 SUL]

Young, M. 1998 Malinowski's Kiriwina [HN937 T7 YOU]

RECOMMENDED ETHNOGRAPHIC FILMS

You should aim to view at least one film you haven’t seen before. You should make notes for each film you see on the forms provided. General viewing is part of learning about visual anthropology and also as part of your preparation for your own practice and your essay.

Dor, Low is Better. Robert Boonzajer. 1988.

Good woman of Bangkok. Dennis O'Rourke. 1990. HN743 GOO

1700 Metres from the Future. Ulla Rasmussen. 1990. HN550 F1 RAS

Herdsmen of the sun. Werner Herzog. 1991. HM427 SLO

Memories and dreams. Melissa LlewellynDavies. 1993 HM427 MEM

Conversations with Dundiwuy Wanambi. Ian Dunlop. 1995

Disappearing World television series (Granada)

The Meo. Brian Moser and Jaques Lemoine. 1972. HN743 MEO

Kataragama: a god for all seasons. Charlie Nairn and Gayanath Obsekere . 1973

The Mursi. Leslie Woodhead and David Turton. 1974. HN771 MAS

The Umbanda. Stephen Cross and Peter Fry. 1977

In search of cool ground: The Mursi; The Kwegu. The Migrants. David Turton and Leslie Woodhead.1985

The Wodaabe. Leslie Woodhead and Mette Bovin. 1988

Under The Sun series (BBC2)

Olongapo Rose. 1989 . HM427Olo

Lefthanded man of Madagascar./ Jeremy Marre. 1990. HM427 LEF

Women who smile. Jean Lydall and Joanna Head. 1990 (50 mins.) HM427 LEF

Last pit in the Rhondda. Joanna Head and Sarah Tibbetts. 1991.HM427 YEE

Our way of loving./ Jean Lydall and Joanna Head. 1994. HM427 GUA

Royal Anthropological Institute and/or National Film and Television School

Amir. John Baily. 1985. ML3798 AMI

Cuyagua: the Devil Dancers. Paul Henley. 1987

Cuyagua: the Saint with two faces. Paul Henley. 1987

The Dancer and the Dance. Felicia Hughes-Freeland. 1988

Raju and his Friends. Marcus Banks. 1988

Dream Girls. K. Longinotto, J. Williams, S. Noguchi. 1993

Tayuban: dancing the spirit in Java. Felicia HughesFreeland. 1996. HN710 J2 TAY

Films by David and Judith MacDougall

To Live with Herds. 1971

The Wedding Camels (Turkana Conversations III). 1976. HN825 T76 WED

Lorang’s Way (Turkana Conversations I). 1977. HN825 T76 LOR

To Get that Country. 1978

A Wife among Wives (Turkana Conversations (II). 1981. HN825 T76 WIF

Photo Wallahs. 1991

Tempus de Baristas 1997

SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT FOR VISUAL ANTHROPOLOGY

The assessment for SSA323 has two parts:

  1. A 2000-word assessed essay which will count for 50% of the mark.

2.a)a 10 minute video, normally made in teams of two; details of the project will be circulated closer to the time. The time schedule for the projects is outlined on the module handout.

b)a 1000-word discussion about the making of the project by each team member; no joint reports will be accepted. The discussion will include reference to how the student came to his or her decision about shooting (how, what); editing (selection, construction of narrative through the ordering of shots, etc.); the nature of the contract between the student(s) and the subject(s) and any other relevant ethical issues; the way the team worked.

N.B. Attendance at all seminars and training sessions is compulsory. Students who fail to attend will run the risk of not completing their video, and losing 50% of the marks for the module.

ASSESSED ESSAY TITLES

Write a 2000-word essay. This will count for 50% of your assessment.

  1. What defence can be made against the view that visual anthropology will always come second to anthropology which is based on verbal language.
  1. “Since the 1970s, ethnographic film might be said to be in a state of crisis, not because no one is making films…. but because the status of ‘visible evidence’ has faltered radically” (Russell 1999: 11). Discuss with reference to theories about ethnographic film and your practical experience in this module.
  1. ‘ … filmmakers have a marked tendency to ask people to talk about their experiences rather than film them actually having them’ (David MacDougall 2001: 18). Compare and contrast the work of David MacDougall and one other filmmaker in the light of this statement.
  1. Evaluate the usefulness of anthropologists learning practical skills in photography or video. You should support your case with reference to particular projects which have used film or photography.
  1. Evaluate the pros and cons of communicating research findings through visual media, with reference to arguments and examples of visual projects.

The work should be submitted by 1st May. A screening of the projects will take place on 9th May.

crslit2002 TB2 modules/SSA323 Visual Anthropology

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