University of Essex

CS112-4-AU-CO:
Ways of Knowing

The details

Year: 2024/25

Department: Philosophical, Historical, and Interdisciplinary Studies (School of)

Campus: Colchester Campus

Term: Autumn

Level: Undergraduate: Level 4

Status: Future

Start date: Thursday 03 October 2024

End date: Friday 13 December 2024

Credits: 15

Last updated: 05 March 2025

Requisites for this module

Pre-requisites: (none)

Co-requisites: (none)

Pre and / or co-requisites: (none)

Prohibited modules: CS101

Key module (requisite for): (none)

Key module for

(none)

Module description

This interdisciplinary module explores the rich diversity of ways of knowing the world. We examine different frameworks of knowing that have characterised and shaped human societies historically and today.

Module aims

The aims of this module are:

To introduce students to diverse ways of knowing from around the world to help them cultivate a truly global perspective on their education.

To provide students with a framework and background knowledge to navigate successfully their studies in future years.

Module learning outcomes

By the end of this module the students will be expected to be able to:

Develop an understanding of the diverse ways of knowing from around the world.

Analyse the constructed and contested nature of different systems of knowledge.

Explore how various perspectives and ways of knowing have shaped human understanding across different temporal and geographical contexts.

Cultivate critical thinking skills through discussions, reflective exercises, and in-depth analyses.

Read, assess and summarise the arguments of challenging texts.

Learn the conventions of academic writing including structure, quotation, reference, and bibliography.

Show the ability to work from particular questions on a specific text, and to write a coherent essay in response.

Assess and evaluate specific arguments and texts and write a critical analysis.

Compare and contrast two or more selected texts in one particular aspect and express their similarities and differences.

Module information

No additional information available.

Learning and teaching methods

This module will be delivered via:

a mixture of lectures, seminars and workshops across the term
Taught sessions will be between 1 and 3 hours per week

There will be a Reading Week as part of this module.

Bibliography

Pasnau, R. and Dyke, C. van (2010) The Cambridge history of medieval philosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Available at: https://doi-org.uniessexlib.idm.oclc.org/10.1017/CHO9781107446953.
Collins, R. (1998) The sociology of philosophies: a global theory of intellectual change. Cambridge, Mass: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. Available at: https://app.kortext.com/Shibboleth.sso/Login?entityID=https://idp0.essex.ac.uk/shibboleth&target=https://app.kortext.com/borrow/1860328.
Krenak, A. (2020) Ideas to Postpone the End of the World. Edited by A. Doyle. Concord: House of Anansi Press Ltd ,Canada. Available at: https://essexuni.overdrive.com/media/5540874.
‘Mariana Dam Disaster’ (no date). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ce4UikC2aI.
Qureshi, S. (2004) ‘Displaying Sara Baartman, the “Hottentot Venus”’, History of Science, 42(2), pp. 233–257. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/007327530404200204.
Viveiros de Castro, E. (2013) ‘The relative native’, HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory, 3(3), pp. 473–502. Available at: https://doi.org/10.14318/hau3.3.032.
de Castro, E.V. (1998) ‘Cosmological Deixis and Amerindian Perspectivism’, The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 4(3). Available at: https://doi.org/10.2307/3034157.
Eduardo Viveiros de Castro (2004) ‘Perspectival Anthropology and the Method of Controlled Equivocation’, Tipití, 2(1). Available at: https://digitalcommons.trinity.edu/tipiti/vol2/iss1/1/.
Philippa Levine (2008) ‘States of Undress: Nakedness and the Colonial Imagination’, Victorian Studies, 50(2), pp. 189–219. Available at: https://www-jstor-org.uniessexlib.idm.oclc.org/stable/40060320?searchText=’States+of+Undress+Nakedness+and+the+Colonial+Imagination’&searchUri=/action/doBasicSearch?Query=%E2%80%98States+of+Undress%3A+Nakedness+and+the+Colonial+Imagination%E2%80%99&so=rel&ab_segments=0/basic_search_gsv2/control&refreqid=fastly-default:3e99df77734019503b10963767ffd945.
Laura Dudley Jenkins (1170) ‘Another “People of India” Project: Colonial and National Anthropology’, The Journal of Asian Studies, 62(4), pp. 1143–1170. Available at: https://www-jstor-org.uniessexlib.idm.oclc.org/stable/3591762.
Kharkhordin, O. (1999) The collective and the individual in Russia: a study of practices. Berkeley, Calif: University of California Press. Available at: https://app.kortext.com/Shibboleth.sso/Login?entityID=https://idp0.essex.ac.uk/shibboleth&target=https://app.kortext.com/borrow/2347519.
Henrich, J., Heine, S.J. and Norenzayan, A. (2010a) ‘Most people are not WEIRD’, Nature, 466(7302), pp. 29–29. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1038/466029a.
Henrich, J., Heine, S.J. and Norenzayan, A. (2010b) ‘The weirdest people in the world?’, Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 33(2–3), pp. 61–83. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X0999152X.
Vallor, S. (2024) The AI Mirror How to Reclaim Our Humanity in an Age of Machine Thinking. Oxford University PressNew York. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780197759066.001.0001.

The above list is indicative of the essential reading for the course.
The library makes provision for all reading list items, with digital provision where possible, and these resources are shared between students.
Further reading can be obtained from this module's reading list.

Assessment items, weightings and deadlines

Coursework / exam	Description	Deadline	Coursework weighting
Exam	Main exam: Remote, Open Book, 24hr during January
Exam	Reassessment Main exam: Remote, Open Book, 24hr during September (Reassessment Period)

Exam format definitions

Remote, open book: Your exam will take place remotely via an online learning platform. You may refer to any physical or electronic materials during the exam.
In-person, open book: Your exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer to any physical materials such as paper study notes or a textbook during the exam. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
In-person, open book (restricted): The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer only to specific physical materials such as a named textbook during the exam. Permitted materials will be specified by your department. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
In-person, closed book: The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may not refer to any physical materials or electronic devices during the exam. There may be times when a paper dictionary, for example, may be permitted in an otherwise closed book exam. Any exceptions will be specified by your department.

Your department will provide further guidance before your exams.

Overall assessment

Coursework	Exam
50%	50%

Reassessment

Coursework	Exam
50%	50%

Module supervisor and teaching staff

Supervisor:

Teaching staff:

Contact details:

Availability

Available to incoming Essex Abroad / Exchange students: Yes

Available to Outside Option: Yes

Available to Audit: Yes

External examiner

No external examiner information available for this module.

Resources

Teaching materials: Available via Moodle

Lecture recording: No lecture recording information available for this module.

Further information

Department website: Philosophical, Historical, and Interdisciplinary Studies (School of)

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Module Directory

CS112-4-AU-CO:Ways of Knowing