Unit name | Plants and People |
---|---|
Unit code | ARCHM0085 |
Credit points | 20 |
Level of study | M/7 |
Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
Unit director | Dr. Carrier |
Open unit status | Not open |
Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
none |
Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
none |
Units you may not take alongside this one |
none |
School/department | Department of Anthropology and Archaeology |
Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
Plants are central to human existence in everyday life: for food, shelter, medicine, clothing, art and aesthetics. What do anthropological perspectives tell us about the relationship of plants and people? This unit takes a 4-field anthropological perspective to demonstrate the socio-cultural, economic and political significance of plants, using a multi-perspective approach that takes in archaeobotany, linguistic and cognitive approaches, as well as social anthropological and material culture ones.
Weekly topics will include such themes as: researching the material remains of plants; plants, agriculture and ‘civilisation’; the cultural division of the natural world; the naming of plants: local names, scientific names; plant collections and archives; the cultural transmission of plant knowledge: how we learn about plants; plants as pets: the cultural history of houseplants; plants for healing: traditional medicinal uses and gardening as resilience; evil plants: poisons, drugs, and weeds; foraging livelihoods and lifeways; plants as ‘companion species’.
The unit will be taught through weekly lecture and discussion sessions, as well as a laboratory session, and excursions to such sites as the Bristol Botanic Gardens and Leigh Woods. Assessments will include a ‘plant diary’ where students reflect on their everyday interactions with plants, as well as an essay based on a plant-focused project using one or more of the approaches used in the unit.
The unit’s aims are:
By the end of this unit successful students will be able to:
Weekly lectures and seminar discussions and activities, as well as field trips, practical sessions and film screenings.
Formative assessment:1 x 1000 word ‘plant diary’ addressing how plants feature in the everyday life of the student (ILOs 1, 3 and 5)
Summative assessment: 1 x 4000 word essay reflecting on a project exploring the social and material biography of a particular plant (100%, ILOs 1-5)
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. ARCHM0085).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.