Programma

The course aims to provide students with methods and concepts of social and cultural anthropology. In the contemporary world, the anthropological perspective is set up as a critical study aiming at understanding cultural diversity and similarities, processes building belonging, inequalities, differences, hierarchies, and forms of power. The course wants to offer concepts and methods of social and cultural anthropology to develop knowledge and analysis tools to develop a critical perspective on contemporary forms of vulnerability and discrimination.
The course will first put classical and constitutive notions of this discipline at the centre, such as society, gender, culture, power, body, and institutions, to build a debate on cultural transmission processes. The latter will be analysed by looking at the relations between generations and growth and learning experiences, mainly when these same processes and construction of the subject occur in social marginality and political vulnerability conditions. On this basis, the course will explore the nexus between violence and generations, and its reverberations on the construction of the subject will be explored. Specifically, issues related to violence and violability will be examined in their anthropological declinations, which consider their gender, symbolic, social, cultural, and structural dimensions; the long-lasting reverberations of exposure to violence and violability on generations; their effects on the construction of the subject; the effects on social and educational relationships; the role of institutions, schooling cultures and educational relationships in the processes of repairing wounds, long-term suffering and the structural conditions of social vulnerabilities.
Starting with notions explored, the course aims to provide a) a knowledge of anthropological perspectives and their main concepts to develop an ability to understand currents of thought in their historical and social dimensions. They are helpful b) in applying such knowledge, theories, and concepts to develop a reflexive, autonomous, and critical gaze on the main topics of contemporary life. The ethnographic method and ethnographic examples will encourage a participatory method to understand the 'otherness', becoming a helpful means to develop a comparative and non-ethnocentric perspective, together with micro-macro levels of analysis.

Testi Adottati

1)
Palumbo Berardino, Pizza Giovanni, Schirripa Pino (2023). Antropologia culturale e sociale. Concetti, storia, prospettive. Hoepli.
Parte Prima. L’antropologia e i suoi campi (pp. 1-38).
Parte Seconda. Panoramica storica degli studi di antropologia culturale e sociale (pp. 39-114).
Parte terza. Parole chiave per un’antropologia contemporanea: Corpo (pp. 134-149); Femminismo e antropologia (pp.165-177); Genere (pp. 178-188); Mobilità (pp. 256-270); Resistenze (pp. 271-285)

2) A text of your choice (the books can be read in their original version - where available) - Further details and suggestions will be given during the courses depending on the specific classes

Fusaschi, Michela. (2011). Quando il corpo è delle altre. Retoriche della pietà e umanitarismo-spettacolo. Bollati Boringhieri.
Holmes, Seth M., (2023). Frutta fresca, corpi spezzati. Braccianti migranti negli Stati Uniti d’America. Meltemi.
Khosravi, Shahram (2019). Io sono confine. Eléuthera.
Mattalucci, Claudia (a cura) (2017). Antropologia e riproduzione. Attese, fratture e ricomposizioni della procreazione e della genitorialità in Italia. Edizioni Cortina, Milano.
Pinelli, Barbara (a cura) (2013). Migrazioni e asilo politico. “Antropologia”, 15, https://www.ledijournals.com/ojs/index.php/antropologia/issue/view/20.
Quagliariello Chiara, 2021, L’isola dove non si nasce. Lampedusa tra esperienze procreative, genere e migrazioni, Milano, Unicopli.

3) A text of your choice (the books can be read in their original version - where available) - Further details and suggestions will be given during the courses depending on the specific classes

Susan Sontag, Davanti al dolore degli altri. Nottetempo.
Albahari Maurizio. Tra la guerra e il mare. Democrazia migrante e crimini di pace. Manifestolibri.
John Berger, Jean Mohr, Il settimo uomo. Contrasto.
Arendt Hannah. Noi rifugiati. Einaudi.
Adichie Ngozi Chimamande, Metà di un sole giallo. Einaudi.
Saidiya Hartman, Perdi la madre. Un viaggio lungo la rotta atlantica degli schiavi. Tamu.
Marco Omizzolo, Per motivi di giustizia. People.
Toni Morrison, L’importanza di ogni parola. Sperling & Kupfer.
Toni Morrison, Prima i bambini. Sperling & Kupfer.
Behrouz Boochani, Nessun amico se non le montagne. Add editore

Modalità Erogazione

Lectures will be supported by Power Point and audio-visual materials, as well as by the reading and analyzing ethnographic examples. These support tools intend to encourage the active participation of the students, dialogues, and discussions on the course topics.

Modalità Frequenza

Attendance is not mandatory. However, participation in the course is recommended for a greater understanding of the disciplinary debate, the bibliography, and active participation in classroom discussions.

Modalità Valutazione

Oral interview, about 15/20 minutes. Through questions/answers, it will be verified that: 1) the students have read the materials assigned 2) the students are able to interpret and reflect on concepts and perspectives illustrated; and 3) the students have developed the capacity of autonomous thought and to apply concepts to different contexts. The written examination, i.e. a multiple-choice or short-answer questionnaire, is optional: it can be requested or proposed according to the number of students.