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Seminar on Applications of Anthropology and Analysis of Policies of Social Intervention

Code: 101255
Credits: 6
2026/2027
Degree programme Type Course
Social and Cultural Anthropology OP 4

Contact lecturer

Name :
Maria Julieta Olaso Ruiz
Email :
mariajulieta.olaso@uab.cat

Teaching staff

Maria Julieta Olaso Ruiz

Group languages

You can consult this information at the end of the document.

Prerequisites

There is no prior requirement but enrolling in this seminar is recommended after Anthropological Analysis of the Contemporary World.

Objectives

General Objective


To developan anthropological perspective that enables studentsto understand how social problemsare constructed, critically analyse the role of institutions, and apply tools for diagnosis, design, intervention and evaluation in the fields of public policy and social intervention.


Contextualization:


This course examinessocial intervention within the framework of public policiesfrom the perspective of social and cultural anthropology. It focuses on policies addressing social problems and the groups,communities and sectors of society affected by them at both the local and global levels.


Learning Objectives


  • To analyse social problems from a criticalanthropological perspective.
  • To understand the role of institutions in defining socialneeds, categories and problems.
  • Toapply the knowledge and methods of social and cultural anthropology to the diagnosis, design, implementation and evaluation of public policies and social interventions.
  • Tobecome familiar with the main theoretical and methodological debatesconcerning the relationship between social and cultural anthropology and public policy.
  • Todevelop the abilityto critically analysecases and experiences of social intervention through academic readings, audiovisual materials, case studies and Problem-Based Learning (PBL) methodologies.


Learning outcomes

  1. Applying the knowledge of cultural variability and its genesis to avoid ethnocentric projections.
  2. Summarizing the acquired knowledge about the relationship between nature, culture and society.
  3. Differentiating specific methodological aspects of applied researches.
  4. Knowing and understanding the foundations for the implementation of Anthropology into social and environmental interventions.
  5. Effectively expressing themselves and applying the argumentative and textual processes of formal and scientific texts.
  6. Ability to maintain an appropriate conversation.
  7. Solving problems autonomously.
  8. Recognising the ethical implications of the ethnological relationships established during the fieldwork internship.
  9. Knowing and implementing the professional involvement in interventions into different contexts and areas of implementation of Anthropology within the field between culture and society.
  10. Knowing and distinguishing the intervention design types, their potentiality, limitations and biases.
  11. Reconciling the targeted population's demands and needs.
  12. Assessing the sociocultural adjustment of the survey questionnaires in small and large-scale investigations.
  13. Recognising the importance of the internal inequality systems in the intervention processes.
  14. Express ideas with a specific vocabulary appropriate to the discipline.
  15. Plan work effectively, individually or in groups, in order to fulfil the planned objectives.
  16. Assess the reliability of sources, select important data and cross-check information.
  17. Explain the explicit or implicit code of practice of one's own area of knowledge.
  18. Identify situations that require improvement or change.
  19. Proponer proyectos y acciones que estén de acuerdo con los principios de responsabilidad ética y de respeto por los derechos y deberes fundamentales, la diversidad y los valores democráticos.
  20. Propose projects and actions that incorporate the gender perspective.
  21. Carry out ethical use of the information especially when it is of a personal nature.

Contents

The seminarhas two cross-cutting modules and three thematicmodules:


  1. From the study of social problemsto the application of anthropology to public policies: diversity, inequality and social justice. Theories of practice.


  1. Methodologies of intervention and theory of change: diagnosis, design, implementation and evaluation.


  1. Migration, mobility and integration policies. Challenges for socialcohesion and belongingin plural societies.


  1. Inter-group conflict, mediationand conflict resolution. Challenges and experiences at global and local levels.


  1. Gender regimes and equalitypolicies. General and specific challenges to the struggleagainst discrimination and violence against women in contemporary societies.


Learning activities and methodology

Title Hours ECTS Learning outcomes
Master class and invited talks 30 1.2 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 13
Monitoring preparation of written test, individual and group monitoring 2 0.08 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 13
Viewing of documentaries and other in class activities 20 0.8 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 13
Study materials, preparation of written test 16 0.64 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 13
Study materials, preparation of written test 18 0.72 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 13

The student is the main agent in the teaching-learning process, and based on this principle, a methodology focused on continuous work has been designed. Therefore, attendance is important in this course. Following the course requires active engagement in learning and responsibility throughout the entire process.

The Virtual Campus (VC) is the official communication space for the course. It is the student’s responsibility to access the VC and keep their email profile updated in order to stay informed of news and information posted throughout the course.

The methodology involves continuous work through:

  • Personal study and work: information research, extending the syllabus, comprehensive reading of mandatory texts, creating outlines, concept maps, and summaries of the materials covered inside and outside the classroom.

  • Theoretical and practical classes led by the professor: lectures, flipped classroom format, and use of audiovisual materials.

  • Text discussion seminars: sessions for debating mandatory readings with individual and/or group participation.

  • Preparation and presentation of assignments: documentation search; writing, drafting, and presenting assignments; public presentation of the work.

TUTORIALS: Student support through office (or virtual, in justified and previously agreed cases) tutorials, individually or in groups. The office hours will be communicated by the professor on the first day of class and will also be available on the VC.

Annotation: within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.

Assessment

Continuous assessment activities

Title Weight Hours ECTS Learning outcomes
Classroom exercises, text analysis and discussion forum 20% 14 0.56 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17
Four individual tests 40% 25 1 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 13, 14, 15, 18
Team project: diagnostic assessment and intervention proposal 40% 25 1 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 19, 20, 21

Continuous assessment

The continuous assessment system consists of three types of activities:


Activity 1) Four individual tests (following the same format as the classroom exercises), one for each thematic module. Weight: 40% of the final grade.


Activity 2) A team project involving a diagnostic assessment and an intervention proposal on one of the topics proposed by the lecturer, together with an oral presentation of the project. Assessment will be based on a specific rubric, which will be provided to students to support improvement in the aspects identified as needing further development. Weight: 40% of the final grade.


Activity 3) Five classroom exercises carried out in pairs or small groups, including the reading and analysis of texts related to the thematic blocks and an oral presentation of the results (forum discussion). Weight: 20% of the final grade.

At the time of each assessment activity, the lecturer will inform students (via Moodle) of the assessment review procedure and the date for reviewing grades.


Not assessed

Students will receive a "Not assessed" grade if they have completed or submitted assessment activities representing 30% or less of the final course grade.


Resit assessment

To be eligible for the resit assessment, students must previously have completed assessment activities representing at least two-thirds of the total course grade.

The four individual tests (Activity 1) and the team project (Activity 2) are eligible for resit, provided that students meet the requirements established in the UAB assessment regulations.


Activity 3 (classroom exercises, text analysis and participation in the discussion forum) is not eligible for resit, as it forms part of the continuous assessment process carried out throughout the semester and requires active classroom participation.


Single assessment

This course does not provide a single assessment option.


Plagiarism and academic misconduct

Any irregularity committed by a student that may lead to a significant alteration of the assessment of an activity will result in that activity being graded 0, without prejudice to any disciplinary proceedings that may follow. If several irregularities are detected in the assessment activities of the same course, the final grade for the course will be 0. Assessment activities graded 0 due to academic misconduct are not eligible for resit.


Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Restricted use: Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools may only be used in this course for support tasks such as bibliographic or information searches, language correction or translation. Students must clearly identify any parts generated with AI, specify the tools used, and include a critical reflection on how these tools have influenced both the process and the final outcome of the work.

Failure to disclose the use of AI, or any unauthorised use of AI, will be considered academic misconduct. The affected assessment activity will be graded 0, will not be eligible for resit, and may be subject to the disciplinary measures established in UAB regulations.























































Bibliography

GENERAL REFERENCIES (common to the syllabus of Social Intervention: specific readings will be provided for each section)

Alvermann, Donna E. \"Narrative approaches.\" Handbook of Reading Research. Vol III (2002): 47-64.

Aguilar Villanueva, Luís F. 2007 La implementación de las políticas. Mexico: Miguel Angel Pórrua.

Biglia, Barbara. 2014. Avances, dilemas y retos de las epistemologías feministes en la investigación social. En “Otras formes de (re)concocer: reflexiones, herramientas y aplicacions desde la investigación feminsita”, p. 21-44.

Borofsky, Robert, and Antonio De Lauri. \"Public anthropology in changing times.\" Public Anthropologist 1.1 (2019): 3-19.

Canals Sala, Josep. 1999. La antropología en los estudios de trabajo social: del exótico externo a la alteridad interna, en Antropología más allá de la academia: Aplicaciones, Contribuciones, Prácticas e Intervención Social. Santiago de Compostela: FAAEE.

Checker, Melissa. \"Anthropology in the public sphere, 2008: emerging trends and significant impacts.\" American Anthropologist 111.2 (2009): 162-169.

Cruz, Isabel. 2002. Introducción a La Antropología para la Intervención Social. Valencia: Tirant lo Blanch.

Dattatreyan, E. Gabriel, and Isaac Marrero-Guillamón. 2019.  \"Introduction: Multimodal anthropology and the politics of invention.\" American Anthropologist 121.1 (2019): 220-228.

Shore, Cris, and Susana Durão. \"From a political anthropology to an anthropology of policy: interview with Cris Shore. By Susana Durão.\" Etnográfica. Revista do Centro em Rede de Investigação em Antropologia 14.3) (2010): 595-614.

Ervin, Alexander. \"M. 2000 Applied anthropology: tools and perspectives for contemporary practice.\"

Franzé, Adela 2013. Presentación del monográfico Antropología y Políticas públicas. Revista de Antropología Social, 22, 9-23.

Fraser, Nancy & Lamas, Marta. 1991. La lucha por las necesidades: esbozo de una teoría crítica socialista-feminista de la cultura política del capitalismo tardío. Debate feminista, 3, 3-40.

Martín, Juan Carlos Gimeno. \"Antropología (s) de orientación pública:“asomarse unos centímetros más allá del borde, ahí donde la perspectiva se amplía ligeramente”.\" Antropología de orientación pública: visibilización y compromiso de la antropología (2008): 247-75.

Hamann, Edmund T., et al. \"Educational policy as a matter for anthropologists’ scholarly and applied engagement.\" Unpublished MS, no department, Council of Anthropology and Education (2007).

Hannerz, Ulf. \"Diversity is our business.\" American Anthropologist 112.4(2010): 539-551.

Hannerz, Ulf. \"Studying down, up, sideways, through, backwards, forwards, away and at home: Reflections on the field worries of an expansive discipline.\" Locating the Field. Routledge, 2020. 23-41.

Jabardo, Mercedes. 2008. Introducción: Preguntas y reflexiones en torno a una antropología de orientación pública. In: Jabardo M, Monreal P, and Palenzuela P (eds), Antropología de orientación pública: visibilización y compromiso de la antropología. XI Congreso de Antropología de la FAAEE, Donostia: Ankulegi Antropologia Elkartea.

Lamphere, Louise. \"The convergence of applied, practicing, and public anthropology in the 21st century.\" Human Organization 63.4 (2004): 431-443.

Lassiter, Luke Eric. \"Collaborative ethnography and public anthropology.\" Current anthropology 46.1 (2005): 83-106.

Lassiter, Luke Eric. \"Moving past public anthropology and doing collaborative research.\" napa Bulletin 29.1 (2008): 70-86.

Okongwu, Anne Francis, and Joan P. Mencher. \"The anthropology of public policy: shifting terrains.\" Annual Review of Anthropology 29.1 (2000): 107-124.

Osburn, Joe, Guy Caruso, and Wolf Wolfensberger. \"The Concept of “Best Practice”: A brief overview of its meanings, scope, uses, and shortcomings.\" International Journal of Disability, Development and Education 58.3 (2011): 213-222.

Podjed, Dan, Meta Gorup, and Alenka Bezjak Mlakar. \"Applied anthropology in Europe: Historical obstacles, current situation, future challenges.\" Anthropology in Action 23.2 (2016): 53-63.

Rogers, Patricia. 2004. \"La teoría del cambio.\" Síntesis metodológicas: evaluación de impacto 2 (2014): 1-14.

Pink, Sarah. 2004. \"Guest editor's introduction: Applied visual anthropology social intervention, visual methodologies and anthropology theory.\" Visual Anthropology Review 20.1 (2004): 3-16.

Romaní Alfonso, Oriol. 2006. “Barcelona desde la Academia (o los avatares de una antropología implicada)”, a: Feixa C. (dir.); Porzio L.; RecioC. (coords.). Jóvenes latinos enBarcelona. Espacio público y cultura urbana, Barcelona.

Ruiz Ballesteros, Esteban. 2005. Intervención social: cultura, discursos y poder: aportaciones desde la Antropología. Madrid:Talasa.

Schwegler, Tara, and Michael G. Powell. \"Unruly experts: Methods and forms of collaboration in the anthropology of public policy.\" Anthropology in Action 15.2 (2008): 1-9.

Shore, Cris. 2010. La antropología y el estudio de la política pública: Reflexiones sobre la “formulación” de las políticas. Antípoda, 10(Junio), 21–49.

Stull, Donald D. 2019. Collaborative research and social change: Applied anthropology in action. Routledge.

Tello, Claudia Beatriz. 2017. Antropología e intervención social. Libros de Cátedra.

Van Willigen, John. 1986. Applied Anthropology: An Introduction. Massachusetts: Bergin and Garvey.

Vargas‐Cetina, Gabriela. \"Do Locals Need OurHelp? On Participatory Research in Anthropology.\" Annals of Anthropological Practice 44.2 (2020): 202-207.

Vindrola-Padros, Cecilia, and Ginger A. Johnson. 2020. \"Rapid techniques in qualitative research: a critical review of the literature.\" Qualitative Health Research 30.10 (2020): 1596-1604.

Wedel JR, Shore C, Feldman G, et al. 2005. Towards an Anthropology of Public Policy. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 600(July), 30–51.

Software

No required.

Course groups and languages

The information provided is provisional until November 30. After this date, you will be able to consult the language of each group through this link. To access the information, you will need to enter the course CODE

Type of teaching Group Language Semester Shift
(TE) Theory 1 Catalan/Spanish second semester morning-mixed
(SEM) Seminars 11 Catalan/Spanish second semester morning-mixed
(SEM) Seminars 12 Catalan/Spanish second semester morning-mixed