This module focuses on selected ethnographic regions of the world, and investigates the central themes in the anthropological studies of their peoples and cultures. This time around, the focus is on the Pacific.
Social and cultural anthropology have been distinctively reshaped as fields of disciplinary enquiry by connections and encounters across the Pacific islands. From the early days of Haddon and Malinowski through to generations of Pacific scholars, how anthropology thinks about itself and about the region has profoundly changed. The aim of this course is to offer students a comprehensive introduction to key themes and issues emerging from the anthropology of the Pacific region. The module explores and unpacks the cultural forms and anthropological studies produced in the Pacific region, and considers how regional ethnography is possible in such a diverse context. With a particular focus on Melanesia, the module uses different topics as venues to engage wider social and academic issues in order to consider both specificity and commonalities in the distinctive ways in which peoples of the Pacific region are negotiating change.