Entry requirements

successful completion of the module Theories and methods in cultural and historical studies (offered in winter semester)

Qualification aims

Students gain in-depth knowledge of ethnographic perspectives on the study of current and historical sociocultural dynamics in Latin America and its transregional dimensions. This enables students to formulate relevant research questions on selected contemporary debates in the field. Students learn how to elaborate on an academic inquiry by applying the theoretical and methodological approaches of cultural and social anthropology, incorporating gender-theoretical, intersectional, and decolonial perspectives—informed by examining indigenous cultures and especially knowledge. Students learn how to design their own project in cultural and social anthropological Latin American studies. Students build the foundations for carrying out their own ethnographic or theoretical work by presenting the initial results of their research.

Content

his module uses case studies and comparisons to provide an understanding of selected theoretical debates and multi-method approaches in a thematic field of cultural and social anthropology of Latin America. The development of relevant questions, their theoretical foundation, the selection of suitable methods, and the analysis and interpretative evaluation up to the presentation of first results are central to this module. Students learn to apply ethnographic methods to selected cultural and social anthropological research questions and to expand upon these with gender-theoretical, intersectional, and decolonial perspectives. They learn to formulate and discuss questions in the context of indigenous communities, migration, social movements, medialities, urban spaces, cultural heritage, and cultural productions, among others.

Essentials

Teaching and learning methods: Grundkurs (GK) + Hauptseminar (HS)

Module exam: term paper (approx. 15 pages) or oral examination (approx. 20 minutes)

Offer: every summer semester