course-details-portlet

SANT1024

Perspectives: how to think like an anthropologist

New from the academic year 2025/2026

Credits 15
Level Foundation courses, level I
Course start Autumn 2025
Duration 1 semester
Language of instruction Norwegian
Location Trondheim
Examination arrangement School exam

About

About the course

Course content

Through this course you will get an understanding of what characterizes anthropological ways of thinking and seeing the world. The course will demonstrate some ways of thinking as an anthropologist as well as some concepts to think with.

Anthropological analysis is often characterized by an attempt to understand people’s lives on their own terms, often by suspending ones own cultural biases and assumptions and seeing practices within their own social and cultural context. Additionally, anthropologists will often study locally specific cases and practices in order to shed light on larger questions concerning humans and society. We often use comparison to highlight how things we might take for granted are different elsewhere and therefore not natural and inevitable. A common form of anthropological critique aims to uncover how something people think about as natural is in fact historically and culturally constructed and that its seeming naturalness can contribute to maintaining relations of inequality. Anthropologists are also often concerned with highlighting the worldviews and experiences of people who live on the fringes of global structures and people who are not in positions of power.

This course will also challenge you to take actively use the anthropological ways of thinking in practical observation and writing assignments.

Learning outcome

A student who has completed this course should have the following learning outcomes defined in terms of knowledge, skills and general competence:

Knowledge

Knowledge about what characterized anthropological perspectives

Knowledge of a selection of central concepts

Skills

Ability to use anthropological perspectives to look at concrete real world examples

Ability to use anthropological concepts and terms

Ability to discuss different perspectives in relation to each other and in terms of what each can highlight or miss

General competence

Ability to make observations and discuss them in light of academic literature

Ability to communicate academic material through presentations and in writing

Learning methods and activities

Lectures and seminars. Some of the lectures may be given in English.

Please note that mandatory activities and lectures may start prior to the registration deadline.

Compulsory assignments

  • Excursion and Report

Further on evaluation

Further information about compulsory assignments will be available on Blackboard at the beginning of the semester. The compulsory assignments must be completed and approved in order to be eligible to take the exam. The examination is a 6 hour written exam (worth 100% of the final grade). Same form of examination is given when re-sitting for the exam or improving the grade. The written exam is offered both in the autumn and spring semester.

Please note that compulsory assignments and lectures may begin before the registration deadline.

Course materials

The reading list will be available at the beginning of the semester.

Credit reductions

Course code Reduction From
SANT1021 5 sp Autumn 2025
This course has academic overlap with the course in the table above. If you take overlapping courses, you will receive a credit reduction in the course where you have the lowest grade. If the grades are the same, the reduction will be applied to the course completed most recently.

Subject areas

  • Social Sciences
  • Social Anthropology

Contact information

Course coordinator

Department with academic responsibility

Department of Geography and Social Anthropology

Examination

Examination

Examination arrangement: School exam
Grade: Letter grades

Ordinary examination - Autumn 2025

School exam
Weighting 100/100 Date 2025-11-21 Time 09:00 Duration 6 hours Exam system Inspera Assessment
Place and room for school exam

The specified room can be changed and the final location will be ready no later than 3 days before the exam. You can find your room location on Studentweb.

Sluppenvegen 14
Room SL311 brun sone
24 candidates
Room SL311 lyseblå sone
96 candidates

Ordinary examination - Spring 2026

School exam
Weighting 100/100 Duration 6 hours Exam system Inspera Assessment Place and room Not specified yet.