¹û¶³Ó°Ôº

XClose

¹û¶³Ó°Ôº Module Catalogue

Home
Menu

The Anthropology of Fashion (ANTH0118)

Key information

Faculty
Faculty of Social and Historical Sciences
Teaching department
Anthropology
Credit value
15
Restrictions
For undergraduates (level 6), this module is open to students from all departments, including affiliates. Important note:BSc Anthropology and BSc Anthropology with a Year Abroad may only take this module in Year 3/4 of their programme and must have taken ANTH0013 as a pre-requisite. For postgraduates (level 7), this module is open to students on MA Material and Visual Culture and students from other departments.
Timetable

Alternative credit options

There are no alternative credit options available for this module.

Description

Undergraduate

Module Content

Ìý

Fashion and textiles operate at the intersection of persons and society, and are the primary cultural signifiers of what sorts of people, individuals consider themselves to be. Fashion goods are the primary points of debates about unfolding values, aspirations, hierarchies, objections, new technologies, and ways of socialising. Fashion goods are essentially points of social friction and lubrication where persons and cultural contexts meet, confront, mingle, engage, and mutually create one another.

Ìý

The Module in Fashion Anthropology will equip students to understand the societal impact of emerging new technologies and new materials in the production and retailing of textile and fashion with an emphasis on modelling societal take-up via the unique method of anthropology, which provides a depth of focus on the human life cycle and unfolding biographical relations across many cultures.

Ìý

The module aims to build the capacity to think critically about the implications of the materials revolution in the textile industry, develop a particular methodology for providing insights into fashion, and develop the skills to act in anthropological, social and cultural roles within this area.

Ìý

Learning Outcomes

Students enrolled in this module will

  • Know and critically understand the well-established principles of the field of the anthropology of fashion, including the areas of clothing and cloth, and of the way in which those principles have developed.
  • Develop an ability to apply underlying concepts and principles in the interconnection between the places where clothing is worn, the sites where it is imagined and developed, and the sites of social commentary (eg. Blogging).
  • Know of main methods of enquiry in the field of the anthropology of fashion. They will build an in-depth knowledge and experience of one approach, and be able to locate the uses and disadvantages of a range of comparable empirical approaches in relation to that one.
  • Be able to evaluate critically the appropriateness of different approaches to solving problems in the field of fashion anthropology.
  • Understand the limits of contemporary cultural knowledge of fashion, and how this influences analyses and interpretations which might be based on that knowledge. In this field, they will gain an appreciation both of the problematic space between the fashion industry and consumption, and also the problematic temporal conditions of fashion existing on the cusp of pasts and futures.

Ìý

Ìý

Delivery Method

Ìý

One 2 hour lecture and one 1 hour tutorial per week

Please note the assessment titles may be subject to change.

Ìý

Postgraduate

Module Content

Fashion and textiles operate at the intersection of persons and society, and are the primary cultural signifiers of what sorts of people, individuals consider themselves to be. Fashion goods are the primary points of debates about unfolding values, aspirations, hierarchies, objections, new technologies, and ways of socialising. Fashion goods are essentially points of social friction and lubrication where persons and cultural contexts meet, confront, mingle, engage, and mutually create one another.

Ìý

The Module in Fashion Anthropology will equip students to understand the societal impact of emerging new technologies and new materials in the production and retailing of textile and fashion with an emphasis on modelling societal take-up via the unique method of anthropology, which provides a depth of focus on the human life cycle and unfolding biographical relations across many cultures.

Ìý

The module aims to build the capacity to think critically about the implications of the materials revolution in the textile industry, develop a particular methodology for providing insights into fashion, and develop the skills to act in anthropological, social and cultural roles within this area.

Ìý

Ìý

Learning Outcomes

Students successfully completing this module will have demonstrated:

  • That they know and systematically understand the problems, issues and insights within the contemporary field of the anthropology of fashion, including the areas of clothing and cloth, and of the way in which those critical issues have developed and are developing.
  • Develop an ability to apply underlying concepts and principles in the interconnection between the places where clothing is worn, the sites where it is imagined and developed, and the sites of social commentary (eg. Blogging).
  • Know of main techniques of enquiry into the field of the anthropology of fashion. They will be able to locate the uses and disadvantages of a range of comparable critical and empirical approaches for thinking about contemporary fashion.
  • Be able to evaluate critically the appropriateness of different approaches to solving problems in the field of fashion anthropology.
  • Understand the limits of contemporary cultural knowledge of fashion, and how this influences analyses and interpretations which might be based on that knowledge. In this field, they will gain an appreciation both of the problematic space between the fashion industry and consumption, and also the problematic temporal conditions of fashion existing on the cusp of pasts and futures.
  • Where appropriate, students will be able to develop new original cultural hypotheses about cultures of fashion based on the knowledge and understanding they develop.

Ìý

Indicative Delivery Method

One 2 hour seminar per week.

Ìý

Please note the assessment titles may be subject to change.Ìý

Module deliveries for 2024/25 academic year

Intended teaching term: Term 1 ÌýÌýÌý Postgraduate (FHEQ Level 7)

Teaching and assessment

Mode of study
In person
Methods of assessment
100% Coursework
Mark scheme
Numeric Marks

Other information

Number of students on module in previous year
21
Module leader
Professor Susanne Kuechler-fogden
Who to contact for more information
s.kuechler@ucl.ac.uk

Intended teaching term: Term 1 ÌýÌýÌý Undergraduate (FHEQ Level 6)

Teaching and assessment

Mode of study
In person
Methods of assessment
100% Coursework
Mark scheme
Numeric Marks

Other information

Number of students on module in previous year
0
Module leader
Professor Susanne Kuechler-fogden
Who to contact for more information
s.kuechler@ucl.ac.uk

Last updated

This module description was last updated on 8th April 2024.

Ìý