AANA18128U Multimodal Anthropology: Audio-visual and digital experimentation

Volume 2024/2025
Education

From spring 2025 the course is also offered to students at the

- Master Programme in Social Data Science

- Master Programme in Political Science

 -Master Programme in Psychology

Enrolled students register the course through the Selfservice. Please contact the study administration at each programme for questions regarding registration.
 

The course is open to:

  • Exchange and Guest students from abroad
  • Credit students from Danish Universities

 

Please note that this course is identical to AANA18136U Multimodal Anthropology: Audio-visual and digital experimentation 7,5 ECTS.This means that if you have passed the Multimodal course worth 7,5 ECTS,  you cannot sign up for this Multimodal course worth 15 ECTS.

Content

This multimodal anthropology-course is for students interested in working audio-visually in combination with digital ethnography and sensory ethnography. It integrates lectures, workshops, hands-on group work, and exercises - and analytical work is part of this. The exam is portfolio-based, and feedback is an integral part of the course. Students will be introduced to the history of ethnographic film and newer work within multimodal anthropology. The weight is on collaborative and experimental approaches, and we draw on the many technological possibilities available to ethnographically do research, perform analysis, and share knowledge in various modalities. Students will learn to formulate questions and research them through audio-visual and digital ethnographic means in short field exercises. During this course, students will be briefly introduced to making and editing video, stills, podcasts, elements for websites, (analogue or digital) visualizations or mappings, and do short exercises focused on one or more of these modalities. It is an integral part of the course to practice arguing (orally and in writing) for the modalities and formats you choose to work in. Questions pertaining to knowledge-sharing, dissemination, and publishing of results in various formats, is part of this, as students will learn to critically engage with questions of audiences and public(s): who can access this knowledge and whom does it benefit?

 

This course may prepare interested students for MA research, and thesis in the form of ‘visual communication thesis’.

Learning Outcome

Knowledge:

At the end of the course students are expected to:

  • Research, perform analysis, and share knowledge in various modalities
  • Critically engage with questions of audiences, public(s), and access

 

Skills:

At the end of the course students are expected to:

  • Have familiarized themselves with the history and practice of audio-visual and multimodal anthropology
  • Have experimented with either still photography, video, podcast, (analogue or digital) visualizations or mappings as an anthropological approach
  • Have practiced giving and receiving (peer) feedback

 

Competences:

At the end of the course students must be able to:

  • Relate their own practice to the history and theory of (visual) anthropology and current/newer multimodal work
  • Arguing (orally and in writing) for the modalities and formats they choose to work in and implications/​constraints/​complementarities of these
Literature

See Absalon

The home arena for the course is Ethnographic Exploratory 4.1.12. The form of teaching is underpinned by the belief that learning occurs in communities of practice, where you move in-between lectures, exercises, instruction, discussion of literature, experiments in co-research and feedback sessions. Through these iterative movements, an embodied understanding of working ethnographically in different formats and across the physical and digital dimensions emerge.
  • Category
  • Hours
  • Lectures
  • 42
  • Preparation
  • 100
  • Exam
  • 64
  • Total
  • 206
Continuous feedback during the course of the semester
Peer feedback (Students give each other feedback)
Credit
15 ECTS
Type of assessment
Portfolio
Type of assessment details
Length: Portfolio exam can be written individually or in groups of max. 4 students. Portfolio exams consist of 2-7 submissions. For MA students, there is a submission more than for BA students, i.e. if the BA student has to submit five submissions, the MA students must submit six submissions. The number of submissions is set by the lecturer. The total length of all of the submissions must be max. 30,000 keystrokes for one BA student and max. 37,500 keystrokes for one MA student. For groups of two students, max. 40,000 keystrokes BA students and max. 47,500 for MA students. For groups of three students, max. 45,000 keystrokes for BA students and max. 52,500 for MA students. For groups of four students, max. 50,000 keystrokes for BA students and 57,500 for MA students. In the case of group assignments, the contribution of each individual student must be clearly marked in the assignment. For groups with both BA and MA students, the same number of submissions is required as for MA students. The assignments are assessed jointly with a single grade.
Aid
All aids allowed

Policy on the Use of Generative AI Software and Large Language Models in Exams

The Department of Anthropology allows the use of generative AI software and large language models (AI/LLMs), such as ChatGPT, in written exams, provided that the use of AI/LLMs is disclosed and specified (i.e., how it was used and for what purpose) in an appendix that does not count towards the page limit of the exam.

 

If AI/LLMs are used as source, the same requirements apply for using quotation marks and source referencing as with all other sources. Otherwise, it will be a case of plagiarism.

Marking scale
7-point grading scale
Censorship form
No external censorship
Re-exam

1st re-exam: An essay must be submitted. The new assignment must be submitted by the deadline for the re-exam.

2nd re-exam: A new essay must be submitted. The new assignment must be submitted by the deadline for the re-exam.

One BA student: 21.600-26.400 keystrokes. For group responses, Min. 6,750 and Max. 8,250 extra keystrokes per extra group member.

One MA student: 27,000-33,000 keystrokes. For group responses, Min. 8,450 and Max. 10,300 extra keystrokes per extra group member.

For groups with both BA and MA students:
A MA and a BA student: 31,900-38,975 (BA: 14.175-17.325 KA: 17.725-21.650)
A MA and two BA students: 38,050 – 46,475 (BA: 11,700-14.300 KA: 14.650-17.875)
A MA and three BA students: 44,525-54,375 (BA: 10.475-12,800 MA: 13.100-15.975)
Two MA and one BA student: 41,000-50,050 (BA: 11,700-14.300 KA: 14.650-17.875)
Two MA and two BA students: 47,150-57,550 (BA: 10.475-12,800 MA: 13.100-15.975)
Three MA and one BA student: 49,775-60,725 (BA: 10.475-12,800 MA: 13.100-15.975)

For groups writing together it must be clearly indicated which parts of the assignment each of the students has written.

 

Criteria for exam assesment

See description of learning outcome. Formalities for Written Works must be fulfilled, read more: MSc Students/ BA students (in Danish)/ exchange and credit students