MSc Courses

The relationship between life style, cosmology and disease has been recognized in traditional medical systems. The development of allopathic medicine in the first half of the twentieth century tended to downplay this connection. Medical anthropology aims at looking into health and medicine as products of a given society.

This course opens with discussion on the nature of peasant communities and proceeds to more specific considerations of relevant economic, social, kinship and politico-legal institutions. Religious and ideological systems prevalent in peasant society are discussed. For concrete analysis, emphasis is said on the historical development and contemporary manifestations of peasant life in South Asia in general and in Pakistan in particular.

The course covers a wide ranging introduction to the study of human population; nature and collection of demographic data; analysis of nuptiality, fertility and mortality, population structure inbreeding and micro-evolution. Theories of population change and resources, population policy and ideology inform the discussion.

The focus of this course is on geography, language, and distribution of culture areas and regional history of Middle East. It analyses selected societies, their kinship systems, political organization, economy and religion social development and cultural changes focusing on historical roots and contemporary actors.

What is the nature of relationship between science and society? How various technologies affect society and, in turn are socially shaped? These questions are the majore concern of this course.

Artistic productions and there social context are the main focus of this course. Paintings, sculpture and other artistic expressions like body decoration; music, dance, architecture and folk literature constitute the basis of anthropology of Art. A comparative comment is offered on the art of primitive and contemporary.

The course offers theoretical considerations on ethnicity, formation of ethnic identity and its expression and issues related to ethnic conflict and ethnic policies. Also covered are the topics such as stratification, pluralism and interaction of different ethnic groups in Pakistan. An in depth discussion of ethnic minorities in other parts of the world is a necessary element of this course.

The course is intended to look into the history of urban anthropology and theories about urbanism starting with origins and development of towns and cities in pre-industrial societies, it also discusses theories regarding relations between urban and rural societies particularly peasants and cities and cities and their major differences. Attention is paid to the history of urban revolution, impact of industrial revolution on urbanism and technology. Specially emphasized are the problems of third world cities such as rural
urban migration, the process of adaptation to urban life, and the nature of poverty, urban education and urban health. Besides, the role of anthropologists in urban studies and their research methodology are discussed.

Change is an inherent tendency in all societies. Its causes, internal and external, and emergent and enduring patterns have attracted the attention of both anthropologists and scholars active in other fields. They have theorized change and its dynamics in various ways. This course intends to familiarize students with the nature. Originations, direction and distinctive characteristics of social change across societies and at various institutional levels.

Physical anthropology is one of the most significant branches of anthropology. Human biological evolution is the focus of this course. Biological evolution, its major stages, and attendant evidence are evaluated in the discussion. Related concepts of organic evolution such as natural selection adaptation, genetic drift, human variation and Mendel.s law of inheritance are also dealt with.

All societies posses a body of knowledge passed on to the children and all societies educate their children though not necessarily in schools. In fact educationists, which does not take place in formal institutions like schools and colleges. Main topics include the social theory of knowledge and education indigenous educational and knowledge systems cultural reproduction and economic production education and development. Further more it focuses on inequality of educational attainment by gender, ethnic heritage and class. Issues such as common curriculum or a culturally differentiated curriculum and de-schooling society are also discussed

This course examines theoretical issues relating to anthropological comparison. Ethnographic studies are discussed to illustrate cultural patterns and social institutions cross culturally. The concept of culture as adaptive and symbolic behavior is examined from a historical and comparative perspective. To exemplify these points in discussion ethnographic data focus on societies throughout the world.

Psychological anthropology concerns itself with the individual in his/her cultural settings as well as with the interrelationship between psychology and anthropology. Topics of the subject range from socializations, subsistence patterns, perception and cognition to culture and personality school. Person centered variables receive an added emphasis in this study.

Ethnomusicology studies musical systems cross culturally especially focusing on non Western music. Musical expression and its cultural patterns are the main topics of this course. Included in this study are also the subjects of uses and functions of music in ritual, group cohesion and in political domain.

This sub field within anthropology explores some of the theoretical and ethnographic issues arising out of the entanglements of people and media technologies. How mass media are employed to represent and construct cultures? How people manipulate media technologies to their won ends? What new forms of social interactions have been engendered by media technologies? The course focuses both on the effects of media technologies on people and on the agent.s aesthetics, politics and economics behind the technologies.

The course will be taught keeping the following three broad perspectives in view; I) Theories and concepts related to Gender, 2) Islam and Gender 3) Gender discrepancies and inequalities in Pakistan in the fields of Education health employment at home and at work place. Biological differences, the capitalist mode of production and related various theories will be discussed in reference to the 1st perspective. With respect to the second perspective role and status of men and women keeping in view the discrepancy between the prescribed and the actual and their role and status in Muslim and non-Muslim communities will be studies. As regards the third perspective, and analysis of the prevailing policies and programmes will be done to identify the gray areas in different fields of life. The sensitivity of health, education, employment etc would be reviewed. Moreover the opportunities and limitation in several fields of life will be part of the course.
The course will also take into account the contribution of women in the field of socio-economic development of the community and the country at large. The nature and extent of women.s participation in the filed of agriculture, industry, education health and household economy would be dealt in detail.

The course will comprise a survey of the traditional cultural and social institutions of the peoples of Pakistan. Analysis of kinship system, tribal system, family structure, lineage organization, religion, indigenous social and political institution such as Jirga system, Biraderi system, Panchayat system etc, will be made. The course would also cover a critical study of the existing anthropological literature on Pakistan. The course will also cover the cultural development and their comparisons in Pakistan. It will also look into folklore, mythologies, and belief system of the regions being studied.

Introduction to the methods and theories of prehistoric archaeology and the study of the origin and development of culture beginning with the earliest evidence and including the rise of complex societies known as civilizations in the Old and new in this course worlds human culture form its origins to the rise of ancient civilizations of both the old and new worlds will be studied. The interrelationship of history with present, how history helps to understand present-day life, how Archaeological evidences are interpreted and what is their present usage will be part and parcel of the course.

This course examines the social context of food. It analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of food across human history and among different culture. Topics include the transition from hunting and gathering to farming, food production in ancient states, the effects of European expansion on agricultural systems, and the emergence of modern agribusinesses. The course integrates information form Archaeology, biological and cultural anthropology, and history. The anthropology of Food and Nutrition is essentially an analysis of food in culture. Some important issues may include:
1.Food and nutrition in culture:
2.Dynamics of food ideology in tribal thought and culture.
3.Food and nutrition: cultural patterns of cereal foods interaction
4.Some aspects of ethnicity and food avoidance.
5.Class view of diet, disease and health.
6.Food production vs: population
7.interface between nutrition & poverty (under nourishment, mall nourishment, balanced diet, etc)

After a decade of research on globalization, the time seems ripe for Anthropology to assess past approaches and to define new directions of research on our global futures. The course of Global Anthropology will range from broad synthesizing and programmatic work to collections of case studies that insistently point to the .plural. nature of .global phenomena..
The proposed course with deal with the concept and definition of the globalization from an Anthropological aspect. It will cover methodological conceptual and empirical points of reference relevant to cluster of anthropological approaches related too new spatial articulations of science bureaucracy and technocracy, capitalism and govern mentality.
The course identifies four emerging domains in which the meaning of the human today-as object of knowledge of administration, as subject of action, as ethical subject and subject of dignity is problematized. These includes:
(1)New technologies and technocratic practices, including biotechnology, information technology, industrial quality standards, securities standards, and legal regimes.
(2)Regimes of ethics and affect including human rights, nationalist discourses, ethnic discourses, environmental consciousness and politics, bio-ethics.
(3)Reconfigurations of the social in which the above are being articulated, with questions emerging concerning the roles of national versus sub-national versus supra-national governments, private versus public organizations, and the forms of accountability and governance which exist in these different scales.
(4)Changes in the relationship between these emergent domains and new forms of capitalism. The course will provide a definitive overview of the varied ways that the human is at stake in these emergent domains, as a rational actor, a national subject, an ethical subject, a biological being, a social being, a holding of rights in globalizing modernity.s.

In social sciences, ranges of courses involving traditional as well as highly innovative research techniques are offered. This course deals with the use of microcomputers for the collection, organization, manipulation, analysis, and presentation of Anthropological data. Course will also introduce hardware and software concepts, operating systems and/or interface systems, internet access, basic word processing, and spreadsheet software through hands-on experience.
Course Outline
.Computer Application in Anthropology
.Commuting of the data
.Coding of the data
.Arranging the information
.Basic functions of different software.s for Social Sciences
. Internet surfing
.E-conference etc

This course will mainly deal with the Defining, Measuring, Expanding Human Development and Human Capabilities, Using Human Capabilities, Disparities and Deprivation within Nations, Reversibility of Human Development, De-formation of Human Development, Disrupted Human Development, policy for Human Development, National plan for Human Development, Social Environment for Human Development Implementing Human Development Strategies, Urbanization and Human Development.
It will also cover Human development as located within religious as well as secular in any society.

Regarding comprehensive examination the following two proposals were approved. The procedure for the conduct of comprehensive examination and the adoption of any one proposal may be decided at the Department level.

a)For comprehensive exam the M.Sc students might be evaluated on the basis of 3 hours written test. At least three questions from each compulsory course might be developed making in all 27 questions. These questions may be displaced on the notice board at least one month prior to the comprehensive examination.
b)Another suggestion was that M.C.Qs might be given to the students as a Viva voce exam. It was suggested that from each compulsory course at least 15 M.C.Qs might be developed makin in all 105 M.C.Qs The students may be examined from these M.C.Qs