ASS205 - Anthropology of Poverty and Development

Unit details

Note: You are seeing the 2023 view of this unit information. These details may no longer be current. [Go to the current version]
Year:

2023 unit information

Enrolment modes:

Trimester 1: Burwood (Melbourne), Online, CBD*

From 2024: 

Trimester 1: Burwood (Melbourne), Waurn Ponds (Geelong), Online, CBD*

Credit point(s):1
EFTSL value:0.125
Unit Chair:Trimester 1: Victoria Stead
Prerequisite:

Nil

Corequisite:Nil
Incompatible with: ASS305, ASS331
Typical study commitment:

Students will on average spend 150-hours over the teaching period undertaking the teaching, learning and assessment activities for this unit.

Scheduled learning activities - campus:

 1 x 1-hour class per week, 1 x 1-hour seminar per week

Scheduled learning activities - online:

1 x 1-hour class per week (recordings provided), 1 x 1-hour online seminar per week

Note:

*CBD refers to the National Indigenous Knowledges, Education, Research and Innovation (NIKERI) Institute; Community Based Delivery

Content

According to the World Health Organisation, poverty is the most powerful and dangerous disease in the world today. Its presence cannot be dissociated from global epidemics such as HIV/AIDS or from violence including ethnic and racial as well as gender violence. The alleviation of poverty remains the key problem for global action and human development. In this unit, students learn about how anthropologists analyse poverty and apply their knowledge to remedial action in the global environment.

Topics include the culture of poverty, the history of the concept of poverty, the causes of poverty and also its effects. Students learn how anthropologists engage with global organisations such as the WHO, the UN and other non-government organisations committed to development and the eradication of poverty. The global development industry is examined critically as an aspect of contemporary capitalism and world trade that has generated certain discourses such as relative deprivation, sustainable development and the Human Development Index in its attempts to understand poverty as a global phenomenon consisting of local and varied instances.

ULO These are the Learning Outcomes (ULO) for this unit. At the completion of this unit, successful students can: Deakin Graduate Learning Outcomes
ULO1

Debate, interpret and synthesize issues in the anthropology of poverty and development

GLO1: Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities

GLO5: Problem solving

ULO2

Evaluate normative frameworks to poverty and generate critique of current approaches

GLO4: Critical thinking

ULO3

Design and defend a group proposal for real-life development intervention to industry experts

GLO2: Communication

GLO7: Team work

GLO8: Global citizenship

Assessment

Assessment Description Student output Grading and weighting
(% total mark for unit)
Indicative due week
Assessment 1 - Seminar/Online exercises 800 words
or equivalent
20% Information not yet available
Assessment 2 - Quizzes 800 words
or equivalent
20% Information not yet available
Assessment 3 - Essay 1400 words
or equivalent
35% Information not yet available
Assessment 4 (Group) - Assignment 1000 words
or equivalent
25% Information not yet available

The assessment due weeks provided may change. The Unit Chair will clarify the exact assessment requirements, including the due date, at the start of the teaching period.

Learning Resource

The texts and reading list for the unit can be found on the University Library via the link ASS205
Note: Select the relevant trimester reading list. Please note that a future teaching period's reading list may not be available until a month prior to the start of that teaching period so you may wish to use the relevant trimester's prior year reading list as a guide only.

Unit Fee Information

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