University of West Bohemia in Pilsen
Study programmes & Course catalogue
for academic year 2025/2026
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Course: Anthropology of The House

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Course title Anthropology of The House
Course code KSA/ADO
Organizational form of instruction Lecture + Seminar
Level of course Master
Year of study not specified
Semester Summer
Number of ECTS credits 4
Language of instruction Czech
Status of course unspecified
Form of instruction Face-to-face
Work placements This is not an internship
Recommended optional programme components None
Lecturer(s)
  • Vránová Lava, doc. PhDr. CSc.
  • Zajícová Naďa, Mgr. Ph.D.
Course content
1. House as a topic of anthropological analysis, presentation of approaches (R. Wilk) 2. House in the Research of British Social Anthropology (A. R. Radcliffe-Brown, E. Evans-Pritchard, M. Fortes) 3. Structuralist analysis of the house - Claude Lévi-Strauss and Pierre Bourdieu (societes a maison, Berber House) 4. House and spatial analysis (Baumanová, Šmejda) 5. "Private" x "public" sphere in the Mediterranean area, the symbolism of furniture (R. Hirschon) 6. House and Material Studies (D. Miller) 7. The house as an image of the world and man (M. Eliade, M. Bloch) 8. House and kinship (J. Carsten) 9. House and social stratification (R. R. Gräf) 10. House in the urban environment of large cities (B. B. Olesen) 11. House and migration, transnational households (I. Cieraad)

Learning activities and teaching methods
Lecture supplemented with a discussion, One-to-One tutorial, Skills demonstration, Seminar classes, Self-study of literature, Textual studies
  • Contact hours - 39 hours per semester
  • Graduate study programme term essay (40-50) - 40 hours per semester
  • Preparation for comprehensive test (10-40) - 25 hours per semester
prerequisite
Knowledge
to read and understand texts in English
Skills
to interpret professional text
to think in basic socio-anthropological concepts.
to use electronic information sources
to write a cultivated professional text
Competences
N/A
N/A
N/A
learning outcomes
Knowledge
to describe and explain the various meanings contained in the social and physical existence of housing from an anthropological perspective
to characterize and describe key theories, methodologies, and classical studies of house anthropology
to distinguish between different disciplinary and discursive positions of conceptualization of the house
Skills
to interpret the system of relations through the concept of the house in the intentions of C. Lévi-Strauss
to link the field of material culture with the concepts of kinship, exchange, religion and others
to apply the analysis of material culture and interpretation of the house as a symbolic system in their own research
to analyze the architecture and structure of the dwelling as a system of characters that are important in context
Competences
N/A
N/A
N/A
teaching methods
Knowledge
Lecture supplemented with a discussion
One-to-One tutorial
Self-study of literature
Skills
Discussion
Skills demonstration
Individual study
Seminar
One-to-One tutorial
Self-study of literature
Competences
Lecture supplemented with a discussion
Skills demonstration
Discussion
One-to-One tutorial
assessment methods
Knowledge
Written exam
Test
Seminar work
Skills
Skills demonstration during practicum
Written exam
Test
Seminar work
Competences
Skills demonstration during practicum
Project
Individual presentation at a seminar
Written exam
Test
Recommended literature
  • Appadurai, A. (ed.). The Social Life of Things: Commodities in Cultural Perspective.. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986.
  • Balážová, Ivana. Spomienky a veci v rodine: prípadová štúdia, Speculum (1), s. 6-20.. 2010.
  • Baumanová, Monika; Šmejda, Ladislav. Space as material culture: Residential stone buildings on the precolonial swahili coast in a comparative perspective. South African Archaeological Bulletin ISSN 0038-19. 2018.
  • Baumanová, Monika; Šmejda, Ladislav. Structural dynamics of spatial complexity at the ?Palace of Gede?, Kenya. Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa ISSN 194. 2017.
  • Birdwell-Pheasant, D.; Lawrence-Zúňiga, D. (ed.). House life: space, place and family in Europe. Berg, 1999.
  • Bloch, Maurice. The resurrection of the house amongst the Zafimaniry of Madagascar, In Carsten, J. & Hugh-Jones, S. (ed.), About the House : Lévi-Strauss and Beyond, Cambridge University Press, s. 69-83.. Cambridge University Press, 1995.
  • Blunt, A.; Dowling, R. Home. Routledge, 2006.
  • Bourdieu, Pierre. The Berber House, In Douglas, M. (ed) Rules and Meanings. London: Penguin, s. 98 - 110.. London: Penguin, 1972.
  • Carsten, Janet & Hugh-Jones, Stephen. About the House : Lévi-Strauss and Beyond. Cambridge University Press, 1995.
  • Carsten, Janet et. al. After kinship. Cambridge University Press, London, 2004.
  • Carsten, Janet. The heat of the heart. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1997.
  • Cieraad, Irene. At home : an anthropology of domestic space. Syracuse : Syracuse University Press, 2006. ISBN 978-0-8156-2903-0.
  • Cieraad, Irene. Homes from home: Memories and projections. Home cultures (7), 1, s. 85-102.. 2010.
  • Daniels, I. The Japanese House: Material Culture in the Modern Home. Oxford: Berg, 2010.
  • Fatková, Gabriela. Lévi-Straussův koncept "společností založených na domech" a jeho aplikace ve výzkumu společností v jihovýchodní Evropě. Porta Balkanica ISSN 1804-2449 Roč. 6, č. 2 (2014). 2014.
  • Gräf, Rudolf R. Zigeunerpaläste. Die Architektur der Roma in Rumänien.. 2007.
  • Hirschon, R. Bourdieu in Olymbos: Symbolic Character of the Karpathiko House (manuscript), [online]. <https://www.anthro.ox.ac.uk/ileadmin/images/staf/Associates/30--Bourdieu.pdf>.. 2008.
  • Hirschon, René. Open body/closed space: the transformation of female sexuality. In Ardener, S. (ed). Defining females: The nature of women in society. New York: Wiley, s. 66-88., 1978.
  • Jelínek, Jan. Střecha nad hlavou: kořeny nejstarší architektury a bydlení. Brno: Vutium, 2006.
  • Joyce, R. A. - Gillespie, S. D. (eds.). Beyond Kinship. Social and Material Reproduction in House Societies.. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2000.
  • Lévi-strauss, C. Anthropology and Myth: Lectures 1951-1982. Basil Blackwell, 1987.
  • Lévi-Strauss, Claude. The way of the masks. London: Jonathan Cape, 1983.
  • Milller, Dan (ed.). Home Possessions: Material culture behind closed doors. Oxford: Berg, 2001.
  • Olesen, Bodil Birkebek. Ethnic objects in domestic interiors: space, atmosphere and the making of home. Home cultures (7) 1, s. 25-42.. 2010.
  • Pauknerová, K. Co říká dům: možnosti symetrického přístupu k materialitě domova.. Český lid, 439-458., 2014.
  • Pine, Frances. Naming the House and Naming the Land: Kinship and Social Groups in Highland Poland. The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 2 (3). s. 443-459.. 1996.
  • Vařeka Pavel. Archeologie středověkého domu. Proměny vesnického obydlí v Evropě v průběhu staletí. 6.-15. století.. Plzeň, 2004.
  • Wilk, Richard, R. Conclusions: Complex economic human beings. In Economies and cultures: foundations of economic anthropology, Westview press, s. 135-154.. 1996.


Study plans that include the course
Faculty Study plan (Version) Category of Branch/Specialization Recommended year of study Recommended semester
University of West Bohemia in Pilsen, date of update: 23.04.2025 23:52. Data created for academic year 2025/2026