Anthropology

The years from the founding of the republic in 1919 to the National Socialists' seizure of power in 1933 are among the most politically and artistically eventful in German history. While the young Weimar Republic initially struggled with start-up and legitimization problems, culture experienced a period of prosperity that has lost none of its fascination to this day. Expressionist film, Bauhaus, New Objectivity, and epic theater are just some of the cultural achievements of the Weimar Republic. However, the Golden Twenties came to an abrupt end due to the world economic crisis, which led to the collapse of the republic, which was to bring the National Socialists to power in 1933 and meant the end of all diversity. Using historical sources, various art forms, and scientific presentations, the seminar provides an overview of central aspects of the politics and culture of the Weimar Republic. Starting with an examination of the political background of the founding of the republic, the course deals with the above-mentioned aspects and social phenomena such as the "new woman" type.

This course re-presents indigenous South and North American voices in a global ecological debate by discussing specific study cases of these groups' negotiations with environmental entities in light of key cosmological, ecological, political, and social categories prevalent among these groups. Using insights drawn from anthropological research, the course deconstructs Western commonplaces pervading the ecological debate, such as collective ownership and co-existence with Nature in non-modern societies, and problematizes the Nature/Culture dichotomy that stands at the core of our environmental imagination. Considering these groups’ economic situation and development aspirations, the course discusses the equation of cultural preservation with ecological conservation. The course questions the possibility and implications of granting indigenous ecological knowledge scientific validity and, taking into account the colonialist reverberations of a global ecological perspective, considers if it can be embraced without violating indigenous sovereignty and rights to territorial integrity and self-determination.

Objects can be viewed from many different perspectives to reveal multiple, and sometimes contested, meanings. Students may start with object-focused questions such as: What is it made of? How was it made? Where is it from? When was it made? How was it used? Answers to these questions open up further research areas about how objects connect people and express knowledge and cultural values. Using UCL’s unique collections, which include the Grant Museum of Zoology, the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, and Art Collections, students build their own virtual exhibition. By using objects as the primary focus, the course draws on interdisciplinary approaches to their study from fields as diverse as zoology, art history, anthropology, and medical science.