| CODE | SPI2771 | ||||||
| TITLE | Housing and Home | ||||||
| UM LEVEL | 02 - Years 2, 3 in Modular Undergraduate Course | ||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 5 | ||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 4 | ||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Spatial Planning and Infrastructure | ||||||
| DESCRIPTION | This study-unit approaches the study of housing and home from an anthropological lens and positions everyday contexts in a holistic perspective. It will also shed light on how to use ‘applied anthropology’ and its ethnographic methods in order to enable the implementation of culturally-sensitive spatial plans. Here, research becomes key to the implementation of realistic and proactive measures, strategies and designs. By taking an anthropological approach to the issues of housing and home, this course will enable students to broadly understand how contemporary societies recognise and manage social change. Moreover, it will be possible to explore how the domestic realm and its design are at the core of social transformations. We will explore the local scenario in how policies have changed since joining the European Union, as well as other contemporary societies such as Britain and other European countries. Study-Unit Aims: - To provide an overview of key concepts and theoretical perspectives relevant to the anthropological and sociological study of housing and home - To consider the significance of material, temporal and spatial factors in exploring the links between housing, policy, design and identity - To demonstrate the usefulness of studying housing and home from a lifecourse perspective and its impact on design - To critically examine different forms of household-based domestic living arrangements and the implications of these different arrangements for the conduct of everyday life; and how design solutions can address different domestic realities (e.g. co-housing) Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Recognise different contemporary anthropological approaches to studying housing and home; - Describe the significance of material, temporal and spatial factors in exploring the links between housing and identity across the lifecourse; - Identify links between own experiences of housing and home in a theoretically- informed manner; - Discuss relevant themes within an assessed coursework on a topic of their choice, after synthesizing information from a range of sources, including independent research; - Discuss theoretical concepts within group work. 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Seek solutions to social problems and individual needs; - Design domestic spaces that are culturally sensitive to the needs of a specific group; - Apply appropriate empirical data used in research on housing and home in practice; - Dissect and discuss different academic perspectives on home and housing in practice. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Main Texts: - Atkinson, Rowland and Jacobs, Keith (2016) House, Home and Society, Basingstoke; Palgrave Macmillan. - Blunt, Alison and Dowling, Robyn (2006) Home, London Routledge. - Birdwell-Pheasant, Donna and Lawrence-Zúñiga, Denise. (1999). HouseLife: Space, Place and Family in Europe. Oxford and New York: Berg Publishers. - Buchli, Victor. 2013. An Anthropology of Architecture. London, Oxford: Bloomsbury. - Cieraad, Irene. 1999. (ed) At Home: An Anthropology of Domestic Space. New York: Syracuse University Press. - Heath, S, K. Davies, G. Edwards, R. M. Scicluna. 2017. Shared Housing, Shared Lives: Everyday Experiences across the Life Course. London: Routledge. - Pilkey, B, R.M. Scicluna, B. Campkin, and B. Penner. 2017. Gender and Sexuality at Home: Experience, Politics, Transgression. London: Bloomsbury. - Scicluna, R.M. 2017. Home and Sexuality: The ‘Other’ Side of the Kitchen. UK and USA: Palgrave Macmillan. Supplementary Readings: - Desmond, Matthew (2016) Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City, Penguin Books (339.0973 D15). - Walker, R and Jeraj, S (2016) The Rent Trap: How we Fell into It and How we Get out of It, London: Pluto Press. - Stephens, M and Stephenson, A (2016) ‘Housing policy in the austerity age and beyond’, in M.Fenger, J. Hudson and C.Needham (eds) Analysis and Debate in Social Policy, 2016: Social Policy Review 28, Bristol: Policy Press. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture and Seminar | ||||||
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2025/6. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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