Overview
An introduction to the social and cultural management of human reproduction. Features local and international anthropological studies of family formation, population control, trafficking, commoditised fertility, adoption, surrogacy, and other reproductive technologies.
This is an introduction to the anthropology of reproduction. Taking nothing about our knowledge of the so called 'natural' and the 'normal' in this field for granted, we use a critical and feminist anthropological approach to explore several of the key contemporary issues in reproduction. Our focus is both global and local.
About this paper
| Paper title | Conceiving Reproduction |
|---|---|
| Subject | Anthropology |
| EFTS | 0.15 |
| Points | 18 points |
| Teaching period | Semester 1 (On campus) |
| Domestic Tuition Fees ( NZD ) | $981.75 |
| International Tuition Fees | Tuition Fees for international students are elsewhere on this website. |
- Prerequisite
- ANTH 103 or ANTH 105 or 54 points
- Restriction
- ANTH 322
- Schedule C
- Arts and Music
- Eligibility
- This paper is suitable for students both with and without strong backgrounds in anthropology. Students need to have successfully passed at least one semester of full-time university studies to enrol in this paper. Assignments have been carefully designed to suit a multidisciplinary student audience.
- Contact
- More information link
Please visit the Programme of Social Anthropology
- Teaching staff
Professor Ruth Fitzgerald is your lecturer and also takes some or all of your tutorials.
- Paper Structure
This course is 100% internally assessed based on:
- A critical reading report
- A book review
- A weekly key lecture point question (open-book) and answered digitally in class
- A reflective assignment based on a lecture topic and a related example of this found in popular culture
- Teaching Arrangements
We meet together for a 2-hour lecture once a week with a break in the middle of the session. We work with a 'flipped classroom', so there is plenty of opportunity for you to talk as well as listen in these sessions. In addition, we have one hour a week of tutorials where we get to discuss ideas in small groups.
- Textbooks
Course readings are provided through eReserve on Blackboard.
- Course outline
Will be available on Blackboard at the beginning of the course.
- Graduate Attributes Emphasised
- Global Perspective, Interdisciplinary Perspective, Lifelong Learning, Scholarship, Communication, Critical Thinking, Cultural Understanding, Ethics, Research, Self-Motivation, Teamwork.
View more information about Otago's graduate attributes. - Learning Outcomes
Students who successfully complete this paper will:
- Emerge from this course of study sensitised to the ethical and cultural ambiguities of living and working with reproductive technologies in local settings within a globalising world
- Understand reproductive processes as being multi-dimensional, historically variable and shaped by specific political economies
- Be able to critically evaluate the ideologies implicit within various contemporary accounts of reproduction
- Be familiar with the work of one contemporary anthropologist's research into the broad field of reproduction and the 'new' kinship studies
Timetable
Overview
An introduction to the social and cultural management of human reproduction. Features local and international anthropological studies of family formation, population control, trafficking, commoditised fertility, adoption, surrogacy, and other reproductive technologies.
This is an introduction to the anthropology of reproduction. Taking nothing about our knowledge of the so called 'natural' and the 'normal' in this field for granted, we use a critical and feminist anthropological approach to explore several of the key contemporary issues in reproduction. Our focus is both global and local.
About this paper
| Paper title | Conceiving Reproduction |
|---|---|
| Subject | Anthropology |
| EFTS | 0.15 |
| Points | 18 points |
| Teaching period | Not offered in 2025, expected to be offered in 2026 (On campus) |
| Domestic Tuition Fees | Tuition Fees for 2025 have not yet been set |
| International Tuition Fees | Tuition Fees for international students are elsewhere on this website. |
- Prerequisite
- ANTH 103 or ANTH 105 or 54 points
- Restriction
- ANTH 322
- Schedule C
- Arts and Music
- Eligibility
- This paper is suitable for students both with and without strong backgrounds in anthropology. Students need to have successfully passed at least one semester of full-time university studies to enrol in this paper. Assignments have been carefully designed to suit a multidisciplinary student audience.
- Contact
- More information link
Please visit the Programme of Social Anthropology
- Teaching staff
Professor Ruth Fitzgerald is your lecturer and also takes some or all of your tutorials.
- Teaching Arrangements
We meet together for a 2-hour lecture once a week with a break in the middle of the session. We work with a 'flipped classroom', so there is plenty of opportunity for you to talk as well as listen in these sessions. In addition, we have one hour a week of tutorials where we get to discuss ideas in small groups.
- Textbooks
Course readings are provided through eReserve on Blackboard.
- Course outline
Will be available on Blackboard at the beginning of the course.
- Graduate Attributes Emphasised
- Global Perspective, Interdisciplinary Perspective, Lifelong Learning, Scholarship, Communication, Critical Thinking, Cultural Understanding, Ethics, Research, Self-Motivation, Teamwork.
View more information about Otago's graduate attributes. - Learning Outcomes
Students who successfully complete this paper will:
- Emerge from this course of study sensitised to the ethical and cultural ambiguities of living and working with reproductive technologies in local settings within a globalising world
- Understand reproductive processes as being multi-dimensional, historically variable and shaped by specific political economies
- Be able to critically evaluate the ideologies implicit within various contemporary accounts of reproduction
- Be familiar with the work of one contemporary anthropologist's research into the broad field of reproduction and the 'new' kinship studies
- Assessment details
This course is 100% internally assessed based on:
- A critical reading report
- A book review
- A weekly key lecture point question (open-book) and answered digitally in class
- A reflective assignment based on a lecture topic and a related example of this found in popular culture