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Ethnographic Texts and Media

Code: 107235
Credits: 6
2026/2027
Degree programme Type Course
Social and Cultural Anthropology FB 1

Contact lecturer

Name :
Jorge Grau Rebollo
Email :
jordi.grau@uab.cat

Group languages

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

Prerequisites

No specific requirements are needed to follow the course.

Objectives

First-year course designed to provide the foundational training considered essential for pursuing studies in Anthropology.

This course introduces students to Social and Cultural Anthropology through the critical reading of ethnographic texts and audiovisual materials, as well as the analysis of contemporary social and cultural situations. The course presents key concepts and fundamental questions of the discipline, situating them within the historical and epistemological context of anthropology and fostering an interpretive, reflexive, and non-ethnocentric approach to cultural diversity.

Upon completion of the course, students will be able to:

  • Recognise cultural variability and analyse social practices, discourses, and representations through classical and contemporary ethnographic texts, audiovisual sources, and real-world contemporary situations, avoiding ethnocentric interpretations.
  • Recognise the role of ethnography and fieldwork in the construction of anthropological knowledge, including the limitations, tensions, and implications of cultural representation.
  • Critically interpret classical and contemporary ethnographic texts, as well as audiovisual sources, identifying their descriptive, interpretive, and narrative strategies.
  • Communicate orally and in writing well-founded interpretations of ethnographic materials and cultural issues, articulating theoretical concepts and empirical evidence.


Learning outcomes

  • CM07 (Apply knowledge of cultural variability and its genesis to overcome ethnocentric projections in the understanding of social and cultural phenomena.) Apply knowledge of cultural variability and its genesis to overcome ethnocentric projections in the understanding of social and cultural phenomena.
  • CM10 (Use an appropriate specific vocabulary in the transmission of basic anthropological information.) Use an appropriate specific vocabulary in the transmission of basic anthropological information.
  • KM08 (Recognise social and cultural diversity theoretically and on the basis of specific cases.) Recognise social and cultural diversity theoretically and on the basis of specific cases.
  • SM11 (Interpret cultural diversity through ethnography and audiovisual sources.) Interpret cultural diversity through ethnography and audiovisual sources.
  • SM12 (Analyse ethnographical examples of cultural diversity.) Analyse ethnographical examples of cultural diversity.

Contents

Module 1. Culture, Alterity, and the Anthropological Gaze

Module 2. Cultural Production, Representation, and Ethnography in the Contemporary World: Ethnographic Texts, Audiovisual Documents, Digital Cultures, and Generative Artificial Intelligence

Module 3. Ways of Life, Social Organisation, and Cultural Diversity: Ethnographic Approaches in Global and Local Contexts

Learning activities and methodology

Title Hours ECTS Learning outcomes
Tutorials 3.5 0.14
Readings and viewings 20 0.8
Personal study and preparation of work 45 1.8
Masterclass and analysis of textual, audiovisual, and archival ethnographic documents 40 1.6
Information search (archives, repositories, etc.) 20 0.8

Classroom sessions will combine:

  • Lectures and presentations by the lecturer.
  • Guided discussion of the assigned materials
  • Applied activities and the resolution of practical situations
  • Small-group work
  • Case study analysis

Required readings will serve as the starting point for the development of a range of learning activities, including:

  • Debates aimed at fostering critical reflection and the comparison of arguments
  • Activities focused on the interpretation and analysis of content
  • The resolution of practical situations related to the concepts addressed in the course


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
Individual applied assessment 40 2 0.08 CM07, CM10, KM08, SM11, SM12
Individual assessment of conceptual integration and readings 40 2 0.08 CM07, CM10, KM08
Active learning activities in small groups 20 17.5 0.7 CM07, SM11, SM12

CONTINUOUS ASSESSMENT

The course will be assessed through three modules:

  1. Individual applied assessment: Resolution of a case or concrete social situation through the application of the concepts and perspectives covered in the course. Students must analyse the proposed situation, identify relevant issues from an anthropological perspective, and construct an interpretation grounded in the course materials. (40%)
  2. Active classroom-based group work activities: Micro-activities, debates, applied tasks, and brief pieces of evidence developed during in-person sessions (20%). This module is not reassessable.
  3. Individual conceptual integration and readings assessment: Written exam aimed at understanding and integrating the content covered in class and the compulsory readings of the course. Students must articulate concepts, theoretical debates, and contributions from different authors, demonstrating analytical capacity, relational thinking, and critical synthesis of the programme materials. (40%)

Grades and review

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

Reassessment

No assessment task can be retaken unless it has been previously completed and assessed (i.e. students cannot go directly to resit). Note that in-class activities are not recoverable.

To participate in the resit process, students must have obtained a minimum grade of 3,5/10 and have been assessed in at least 2/3 parts of the subject.

Any assessment activity in which irregularities (plagiarism, misuse of AI, etc.) have been detected is not recoverable.

Conditions for the grade “Not assessable”

Students will be considered “Not assessable” if they have not submitted more than 30% of the assessment activities.

Plagiarism or academic misconduct

If a student engages in any irregularity that could lead to a significant alteration of the grade for an assessment task, that task will be graded with a 0, regardless of any disciplinary procedure that may be initiated. If multiple irregularities occur in assessment tasks within the same course, the final course grade will be 0.

Note that any assessment tasks involving irregularities (copying, misuse of AI, etc.) are not recoverable.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools

This course allows the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies exclusively for bibliographic or information search tasks (excluding the use of eHRAF), text translation, and the generation of images or graphical outputs duly identified as relevant for assessment activities. Students must (i) identify the parts generated with AI; (ii) specify the tools used; and (iii) include a critical reflection on how these tools have influenced the process and the final outcome of the activity. Failure to transparently declare the use of AI in assessable activities will be considered academic dishonesty and will result in a grade of 0 for the activity with no possibility of resit, or more severe sanctions in serious cases.

ERASMUS and Exchange Students:

Erasmus and exchange students who request to advance an exam must present a document from their home university justifying their request.


SINGLE ASSESSMENT:

This subject does not allow a single assessment


Bibliography

On-line database (ethnographic archive) (for full access you must connect through the UAB Campus or through the procedure to access the UAB electronic resources explained here):

  • Electronic Human Relation Area Files: http://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/ehrafe/
  • Human Relation Area Files: http://www.yale.edu/hraf/userguides.html

Required readings:

  • BARLEY, Nigel & UDINA, Dolors [traductora]. (1989). El Antropólogo inocente: notas desde una choza de barro. Barcelona: Anagrama. https://bibcercador.uab.cat/permalink/34CSUC_UAB/1fbc57r/alma991002788339706709.
  • BOHANNAN, Laura (1998 [1996]). Shakespeare en la Selva, in Boivin, Mauricio, Rosato, Ana y Arribas, Victoria (eds.) (1998). Constructores de otredad. Una introducción a la Antropología Social y Cultural. Buenos Aires: Eudeba; pp: 75-80. [Original: Bohannan, Laura (1966) "Shakespeare in the bush" Natural History, 75: 28-33.
  • CHIO, Jenny. (2021) 2023. Visual anthropology, in Felix Stein (ed) The Open Encyclopedia of Anthropology. The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Anthropology. Available online.
  • GRAEBER, David (2104 [2011]). En deuda. Una historia alternativa de la economía. Ariel: Barcelona. [Chapter 1: “De la experiencia de la confusión moral”, pp: 7-31; Available online].
  • GEERTZ, Clifford (1983) Descripción densa: hacia una teoría interpretativa de la cultura, a La interpretación de las culturas. Barcelona: Gedisa. https://bibcercador.uab.cat/permalink/34CSUC_UAB/tidafd/alma991005750199706709.
  • KROTZ, Esteban. (1994). Alteridad y pregunta antropológica. Alteridades 4 (8): 5-11. Available online.
  • MALINOWSKI, Bronislaw (1986 [1922]) Introducción: objeto, método y finalidad de esta investigación, en Los Argonautas del Pacífico Occidental, Vol.1. Barcelona: Planeta. pp. 19-42. Available online.
  • MINER, Horace (1956) Body rituals among the Nacirema. American Anthropologist, 8(3): 503-507. Available online.

General bibliography:

It is recommended to have a general anthropology manual on hand for the follow-up of the course. You can use, for example, any of the following:

  • ANTA FÉLEZ, José Luis; LAGUNAS ÁRIAS, David. (2002) Introducción a la Antropología Social. Pachuca (México): Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo.
  • BEATTIE, John. (1978) Otras culturas. México D.F.: F.C.E.
  • BOHANNAN, Paul. (1992) Para raros, nosotros. Introducción a la antropología cultural. Madrid: Akal.
  • EMBER, Carol; EMBER,Melvin. (1997) Antropología cultural. Madrid: Prentice Hall.
  • FRIGOLÉ, Joan. [et al.] (1995) Antropologia Social. Barcelona : Proa.
  • HARRIS, Marvin. (2004 [1981]) Introducción a la antropología general. Madrid: Alianza.
  • KOTTAK, Conrad. Ph. (2007) Espejo para la humanidad. Introducción a la antropología cultural. Madrid: McGraw-Hill. Tercera edición.
  • LLOBERA, Josep Ramon. (1999) Manual d’antropologia social. Barcelona: Àgora, Edicions de la Universitat Oberta de Catalunya.

As for Anthropology dictionaries, you can use, among others, the following:

  • AGUIRRE, Ángel. (Ed). (2018) Diccionario temático de antropología social. Madrid: Delta Publicaciones.
  • BONTE, Pierre; IZARD, Michael; ABÉLÈS, Marion [et al] (1996) Diccionario de Etnología y Anrtopología. Madrid: Akal.
  • GRESLE, François [et al] (1994)Dictionnaire des sciences humaines : sociologie, anthropologie. Paris : Fernand Nathan.
  • ORTÍZ GARCÍA, Carmen; SÁNCHEZ GÓMEZ, Luis Ángel (Eds.) (1994) Diccionario histórico de la Antropología Española. Madrid: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Departamento de Antropología de España y América.

The filmography that we will work on in the subject will be posted on Moodle at the beginning of the course.

Any news in this regard will be communicated promptly through the Moodle of the subject.

Thematic bibliography on Audiovisual Anthropology for general consultation:

  • ARDÉVOL, Elisenda. (2006). La búsqueda de una mirada: Antropología visual y cine etnográfico. Editorial UOC.
  • GRAU, JORGE (2002). Antropología audiovisual. Bellaterra.
  • GRAU, Jorge (2020). Posverdad y ficción. Barcelona: Bellaterra.
  • HEUSCH, Luc de. (2006). Jean Rouch et la naissance de l’anthropologie visuelle. L’Homme. Revue française d’anthropologie, 180, 180.
  • LEVINSON, David (Ed.), (1991) Encyclopedia of world cultures (1–10). Human Relation Area Files Inc.; G.K. Hall & Co; MacMillan Inc,.
  • MALINOWSKI, Bronislaw. (1989). Diario de campo en Melanesia.Ediciones Júcar.
  • MALLART, Lluís. (2021). Sóc fill dels evuzok: La vida d’un antropòleg al Camerun (Primera edició a Debutxaca). Debutxaca.
  • MARGOLIS, Eric i PAUWELS, LUC. (Eds) (2011). The SAGE handbook of visual research methods. SAGE.
  • PINK, Sarah (2024).Etnografía visual. Madrid: Ediciones Morata. Cuarta edicion

Software

Office Suite: Microsoft Office, LibreOffice, Iwork, etc.
Bibliographic Manager: Zotero or similar.
The use of a free video and audio editing program (it can be Microsoft PowerPoint itself or equivalent) is recommended.

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 first semester morning-mixed
(PAUL) Classroom practices 1 Catalan first semester morning-mixed