Department of Anthropology opened a new class with the title “Reflecting your Life – a turn towards Social Theory!”
Reflecting Your Life – A Turn Towards Social Theory is a practice-based class designed to prepare undergraduate and postgraduate students for academic discussions and thesis writing by linking social theory to everyday experiences. The course uses the Participatory Approach (PRA)—Participation, Reflection, and Action—as a foundation for exploring how personal life, relationships, and daily routines reflect broader social and societal transformations.
The class focuses on understanding what “theory” means and why it matters: theory helps explain social phenomena, organize knowledge, and interpret how power, ideology, and social structures shape human life. Students will examine key themes such as unequal power relations, social institutions, belief systems as regulation, communication flows in media, and globalization connecting local and global realities.
Fieldwork activities will take place mainly in Yogyakarta (Jogja) through short excursions to theory-oriented locations and social agents. Students will engage in observation-based practice such as walking or biking through the city, taking photos or videos, and interacting with selected people, then reflecting on these experiences using social theory. The course also draws references to prior village contexts like Ngeposari and Petir (Gunungkidul) as examples of social change and connectivity.
The course runs from February to June 2026 and includes 12 meetings over 6 weeks, with each session lasting 3 hours. The final class time will be confirmed during an initial coordination meeting in the first week of the semester (9–13 February 2026). Students will complete a PPT presentation, a field activity report, and a final theory-reflective conclusion—and this class will be taught in English.
Students may enroll in this course during the KRS registration period by selecting the course titled “Framing Sustainable Tourism on the Ground – perspectives and imaginations of residents and actors in Watu Kodok, Gunungkidul.”
For more information: http://ugm.id/SocialTheory2026
