2000

The purpose of this course is to present the status of ethnological research in Colombia, particularly the historic, linguistic and socio-cultural situation, and the tendencies of contemporaneous indigenous populations. The first stage reviews the ethnological studies in Colombia and the situation of American Indians from the second half of the 19th Century, when the free trade reforms, slave manumission and the division of reservations took place, up to the institutionalization of anthropology as a university program in the 70s of the 20th Century. The second part offers a current panorama of the American Indian ethnic groups in Colombia: location, demography, inter-ethnic situation, state policies and native responses thereto, as well as the situation of armed conflict and how it affects them today. After that, the course discusses socio-cultural adaptations of three major regions, indicating their complexity as well as the sub-regional and ethnic specialization, as applicable. These regions are: Andean, Lowlands and Desert. The adaptations include cultural aspects, such as economy, social and political organization and their systems of representation. In addition, it discusses new indigenous identities and their formation processes, where deterritorialization, emergency and the invention of tradition are very common in the contemporaneous world and in Colombia in particular.  

This course introduces students to the process of university academic work in the social sciences, through the incorporation and integration of the methodological tools necessary for their educational process. The course will give students a chance to explore the different methods for critical analysis of issues, for presenting reports and monographs, and for organizing knowledge. In addition to educational actions, which tend to be the mediator for the construction of knowledge, this course will facilitate and multiply other subjects. This will situate the students in the time and space required to develop all types of academic work.

The purpose of this course is to familiarize students with the most important anthropological tendencies that developed from the end of the 19th Century to the mid 50s in the 20th Century. We are particularly interested in the process by means of which "anthropological thought" developed during these years and how the different tendencies of the discipline were conceptualized. The course will be focused on the historical context in which said tendencies took place as well as the ideas that they put forward. We will emphasize the different schools, particular English social anthropology and North American cultural anthropology, as well as the creation of an anthropological method and ethnographic writing as one of the discipline´s key elements.  

The objective of this course is to make a critical presentation of recent theoretical debates in the social sciences focused on development. Special emphasis will be made on questions raised by both "anthropology OF development", and "anthropology FOR development". The course will deal, on the one hand, with anthropology’s potential for the analysis and qualification of starting up programs, projects, and development policies. In this context the most relevant aspects of anthropology as an applied social science will be presented. On the other hand, it will focus on the critical reflection anthropology has proposed since the beginning on development and its notable forerunners: civilization and progress. The participants will gain the capacity to analyze development as a social and cultural process and to be able to locate development and modernization as cultural categories. We will study the history of the expansion of the modern project on the planet and its central characteristics, normally invisible since its premises and beliefs are considered universal and "natural". We will study, then, both the genesis of the group of notions associated with development, and the different lines of criticism that have been proposed, in order to identify the social and cultural implications of putting it in motion.

This course provides an overall panorama of anthropological work dedicated to the study of the organization of human social life. It analyzes the theoretical and methodological tools that have served to develop them. It reflects on everything from the time the field of study began in the nineteenth century to the recognition of the diverse forms of social organization in existence. It will thus cover notions such as family, marriage, blood relationships, race, class, caste, and gender, demonstrating their importance within the history of anthropology and their relevance to an understanding of the social world. Simultaneously, we will explore the relationships that the different forms of social organization have with aspects such as spatial organization, productive practices, political organization, cultural change, and ideological systems.

The objective of this course is to familiarize students with the discussions that have evolved over the last few years regarding the different theoretic and methodological positions in Archaeology. It attempts to reflect on some of them and develop the basic criteria to evaluate and analyze these positions. In order to do so, books and articles that highlight said positions are discussed. It is not about covering all the modern theories, but rather studying the main ones by means of the most recurrent topics of today.

The purpose of this course is to provide students with a general panorama and a critical view of archeological research in Colombia. The course covers the topic from two different perspectives that have characterized past attempts of synthesis in what is now Colombia. The first part focuses attention on distinguishing major patterns of change on the level of the entire northern region of South America, emphasizing the archeological similarities, contacts and possible influences between regions and cultures. The second part follows a perspective that focuses on comparing smaller regions, with a certain cultural homogeneity, which the course attempts to understand as particular, different cases of socio-cultural development.

The course attempts to play a role in the theoretic training of anthropologists and raise awareness as regards symbolic and linguistic phenomena. It also aims at presenting the main concepts of linguistics, which make up the internal organization, and those that define the field in relation with other sciences. It is important to help students rank the methods and techniques taught among the theoretic questioning with the greatest relevance. Theoretic training will be associated with exercises in listening and transcription of American Indian languages. The practical work attempts to train students in perception, reproduction and phonetic notation of the sounds of human language based on a sound corpus provided by the professor.