Anthropological Perspectives on Kinship - YBLS003

• Title: Anthropological Perspectives on Kinship
• Form of teaching: lecture
• Guaranteed by: Programme Liberal Arts and Humanities (24-SHVAJ)
• Faculty: Faculty of Humanities
• Actual: from 2025
• Duration in semesters: 1
• Semester: summer
• E-Credits: 4
• Examination process: summer s.:
• Hours per week, examination: summer s.:2/0, MC [HT]
• Capacity: unknown / unknown (30)
• Maximum number of enrolled students: 30
• Min. number of students: 5
• 4EU+: no
• Virtual mobility / capacity: no
• State of the course: taught
• Language: English
• Teaching methods: full-time
• Old code: YBAJ245
• Repeated enrollment: 1 (2) / 1 / 1 / 1
• Note: course can be enrolled in outside the study plan; enabled for web enrollment
• Guarantor: doc. Mgr. Lenka Jakoubková Budilová, Ph.D.
• Class: Courses available to incoming students
• Pre-requisite : {Group of prerequisites for LAH and Exchange students - ANTR}
• Incompatibility : YBAJ245

Annotation

English

This course introduces students to key anthropological approaches to kinship and relatedness across cultures. It examines how kinship has been conceptualized in social anthropology, from classic debates on descent, alliance, marriage, family and household organization to more recent discussions of relatedness, personhood, kinning, and reproductive technologies. Particular attention is paid to the cultural variability of kinship beyond Western biogenetic models, including such forms as milk kinship, godparenthood, blood brotherhood, and chosen kinship. Through the reading of foundational and contemporary texts, students will become familiar with major concepts, methods, and theoretical debates in kinship studies and will learn to analyse kinship systems in comparative ethnographic perspective.

Last update: Horáčková Karolína, Mgr. (01.09.2026)

Czech

This course introduces students to key anthropological approaches to kinship and relatedness across cultures. It examines how kinship has been conceptualized in social anthropology, from classic debates on descent, alliance, marriage, family and household organization to more recent discussions of relatedness, personhood, kinning, and reproductive technologies. Particular attention is paid to the cultural variability of kinship beyond Western biogenetic models, including such forms as milk kinship, godparenthood, blood brotherhood, and chosen kinship. Through the reading of foundational and contemporary texts, students will become familiar with major concepts, methods, and theoretical debates in kinship studies and will learn to analyse kinship systems in comparative ethnographic perspective

Last update: Horáčková Karolína, Mgr. (17.08.2026)

Course completion requirements

Regular attendance: students are expected to attend classes regularly. Regular attendance will be a part of the final grading (two absences during the term will be tolerated).

Active participation: Students are expected to actively participate in classes, read the assigned texts in advance, and engage in class discussions.

Mini tests: Starting in Week 2, we will have a 10–15-minute mini test at the end of each class (except for the guest lectures), based on the assigned reading for particular weeks and on the ideas from the classes.

Reflexive essay (600 – 1500 words): on the current kinship debates. Essay should be submitted at least one week before the exam. Detailed instructions will be provided at the beginning of the term. – 20 points (20%)

Final exam: The final oral exam (during the exam period) will be based on the discussion of the previously submitted essay.

Evaluation and grading

The final grade for the course is based on 100 points (100%), distributed across the following components:

1. Regular attendance and active participation – 20 points (20%)

2. Mini tests – 30 points (30%). There will be a total of 10 mini tests during the term.

3. Reflexive essay – 20 points (20%)

4. Final oral exam will be based on the discussion of the submitted reflexive essay – 30 points (30%)

Grading scale (points)

100 – 88 (1)

87 – 76 (2)

75 – 64 (3)

63 and less (4)

Use of AI (generative tools)

You may use generative AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT) to support your personal learning process, especially for brainstorming, testing ideas, clarifying terminology, or searching for relevant academic literature. AI outputs can be incorrect or biased; you are responsible for verifying claims and sources. Overreliance will negatively affect performance in mini tests, discussions, and the oral exam.

Not permitted:

• Submitting AI-generated text (or AI-rewritten text) as your own in the reflexive essay.
• Using AI to produce summaries/arguments instead of reading the assigned texts.
• Using AI during mini tests.
• Inventing, fabricating, or citing sources that you have not verified.

Required disclosure (for the essay):

If you used AI in any way beyond spelling/grammar checks (e.g., outlining, idea generation, literature suggestions), include an “AI use note” at the end of your essay (3–6 sentences): what tool you used, for what purpose, what prompts/inputs were used in general terms, and what you accepted/rejected.

Data privacy:
Do not upload sensitive or personal data into public AI tools (e.g., interview transcripts, identifiable information about classmates/participants).

Last update: Horáčková Karolína, Mgr. (01.09.2026)

Teaching methods

Course is taught in the form of lectures and discussions of the texts. Students are expected to read the assigned texts and actively participate in discussions in the classes. A part of the course is also an essay and the final oral exam based on the discussion of the essay.

Last update: Horáčková Karolína, Mgr. (01.09.2026)

Syllabus

1) Kinship in anthropology.

2) Kinship: consanguine, affine, fictive kinship. Relatedness.

3) Genealogy, genealogical method, genealogical grid.

4) Kinship and relationship terminologies.

5) Family and household: structure, typologies, developmental cycles.

6) From rules to strategies. The choice of a marriage partner.

7) Marriage: types of marriage, marriage prestations, postmarital residence.

8) Kinship and descent. Unilineal descent and segmentary systems.

9) Cognatic and matrilineal kinship.

10) Marriage as alliance. Reciprocity and exchange.

11) Kinship and the concept of personality. Created kinship, chosen kinship. Kinning of foreigners.

12) Kinship and new reproductive technologies. Kinship with non-human. 

Last update: Horáčková Karolína, Mgr. (05.09.2026)

Learning resources

Moodle: https://dl1.cuni.cz/course/view.php?id=16097

Last update: Horáčková Karolína, Mgr. (01.09.2026)

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course, students will be able to: 

• Critically assess culturally diverse notions of relatedness (e.g., milk kinship, godparenthood, chosen kin) and recognize Western/biological biases in classic kinship approaches. 

• Discuss and evaluate contemporary debates in kinship (personhood, kinning, non-human relatedness, assisted reproduction/new reproductive technologies) and formulate a coherent argument. 

• Define and correctly use key concepts in anthropological kinship studies (e.g., relatedness, consanguinity/affinity, descent, alliance, household). 

• Analyse marriage, household, descent and alliance models (including “rules vs. strategies”) using ethnographic cases discussed in class.

Last update: Horáčková Karolína, Mgr. (01.09.2026)