28304 - Applied Anthropology (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, the students will have familiarized with the main theoretical tools of the discipline and the methods of application of anthropology to various contexts of contemporary society. They will be able to use them in an autonomous field research, and to conduct research on social models and communication modes of various cultural groups.

Course contents

Course start date: November 11, 2025
Course end date: December 12, 2025

Class schedule:
Tuesday, 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM – Room 2, Via Zamboni 33
Wednesday, 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM – Aula Grande, San Giovanni in Monte
Thursday, 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM – Aula Grande, San Giovanni in Monte

Applied Anthropology: Theories, Methods, and Fields of Practice

Applied anthropology has a long and often contested history within the discipline. Broadly speaking, it refers to the use of anthropological methods and theories to analyze and address real-world issues.

Currently, even in Italy, applied anthropology is no longer associated only with analysis and research projects regarding government programs, but also with other professional fields such as, for example, socio-educational and healthcare, cultural heritage, international cooperation, and business.

An increasing number of anthropology graduates are pursuing careers in applied research and professional practice outside traditional academic pathways. However, students are often unaware of the opportunities the job market offers and typically discover - often informally or by chance - how to bring anthropological insights and skills into unfamiliar settings.

For this reason, developing transversal skills during academic training is essential. It enables students to work collaboratively and to apply anthropological perspectives and methods in both research contexts and real-world communities.

This course explores the factors driving the growth of applied anthropology, presenting experiences and case studies from both national and international contexts. It examines the professional paths of researchers, educators, and practitioners active outside academia and fosters shared reflection on how to redesign educational programs to better prepare graduates for contemporary professional challenges.

Topics covered include:

• Applied, public, and professional anthropology

• History of the discipline

• Theories and methodologies

• Tools for intervention and collaboration

• Fieldwork relationships

• Ethical dimensions

• Case studies

 

 

October 3–5 2025: Creativity at Work

All students are invited to attend Creativity at Work (October 3–5), an important opportunity to explore the role of creativity in professional settings and applied research. Participation is strongly encouraged.

 

 

 

 

Readings/Bibliography

Program for attending and non-attending students

Students, whether attending or not, are required to prepare for the exam based on three mandatory books and one article of their choice.

Mandatory readings:

1. Severi, I. (2019), Quick and Dirty. Antropologia pubblica, applicata e professionale, Ed.it, Florence.

2. Malighetti, R. (2020), Antropologia applicata. Problemi e prospettive, Scholé – Editrice Morcelliana, Brescia.

3. Podjed, D., Gorup, M., Borecký, P. & Montero, C.G. (2021), Why the World Needs Anthropologists, Routledge, New York.

  

One elective article among those published online by the journal Antropologia Pubblica or, alternatively Journal of Business Anthropology

 

Elective book:

Business Anthropology

Bonetti Roberta 2020 (seconda edizione), Apprendimento a KM ZERO. Cisu, Roma.

Bougleux Elena 2017, Antropologia nella corporation. CISU: Roma

D’Aloisio F, Ghezzi S. (a cura di) 2016 Antropologia della crisi. Prospettive etnografiche sulla trasformazione del lavoro e dell’impresa in Italia, Harmattan Italia, Torino.

Ngai Pun, Lu Huilin, Guo Yuhua e Shen Yuan 2015, Nella fabbrica globale. Vite al lavoro e resistenze operarie nei laboratori della Foxconn. Ombre Corte: Verona.

Mollona Massimiliano, Papa Cristina, Redini Veronica, Siniscalchi Valeria 2021, Antropologia delle imprese. Lavoro, reti, merci.

Papa Cristina, Antropologia dell’Impresa. Guerini: Milano.

Rimoldi Luca 2017, Lavorare alla Pirelli-Bicocca. Antropologia delle memorie operaie. Clueb: Bologna.

 

anthropology, profession, tools and methods

Alliegro E. V. 2020, OUT OF PLACE OUT OF CONTROL, CISU: Roma.

Bonetti R. (2024), "Forme di apprendimento cooperativo: la ricerca-azione", in R. Bonetti e C. Natali (eds) La pratica della ricerca antropologica. Strumenti e metodologie, Roma, Carocci.

Castaldo M., Segneri M.C., 2022, Antropologhe in cors(i)a, la professione dell'antropologo medico nella sanità pubblica italiana, Licosia Edizioni

Declich Francesca 2012, Il mestiere dell’antropologo: esperienze di consulenza tra istituzioni e cooperazione allo sviluppo, Carocci.

Lenzi Grillini F. 2019, L'antropologia in azione. Esperienze etnografiche in America Latina e Italia fra riflessioni metodologiche e prospettive applicative. CISU.

Porcellana Valentina 2019, Costruire bellezza, Meltemi, Milano.

Pozzi G. 2020, Fuori casa. Antropologia degli sfratti a Milano, Ledizioni, Milano.

Raffaetà Roberta 2020, Antropologia dei microbi. CISU: Roma.

Severi Ivan 2019, Quick and dirty. Antropologia pubblica, applicata e professionale. Ed.it, Firenze.

Severi Ivan e Tarabusi Federica (a cura di) 2019, I metodi puri impazziscono. Licosia: Ogliastro Cilento.

Anthropology and Development

Colajanni A. e Mancuso A. 2008, Un futuro incerto. Processi di sviluppo e popoli indigeni in America Latina, CISU: Roma.

Lenzi Grillini F. 2010, I confini delle terre indigene in Brasile. Roma: Cisu.

Malighetti R. 2020, Antropologia Applicata. Problemi e prospettive. Brescia: Scholé, Editrice Morcelliana.

Olivier de Sardan J-P. 2008, Antropologia e sviluppo. Raffaello Cortina Editore: Milano.

Zanotelli F, Lenzi Grillini F. 2012, Subire la cooperazione? Gli aspetti critici dello sviluppo nell'esperienza di antropologi e cooperanti, ED.IT: Firenze.

 

Anthropology and welfare

Porcellana V., 2022, Antropologia del welfare, Licosia edizioni.

Rimoldi L., Pozzi G., 2022, Pensare un'antropologia del welfare, etnografie dello stato sociale in Italia, Milano, Meltemi

 

Applied Anthropology and Heritage

Higgins V., Douglas D. 2021, Communities and Cultural Heritage: Global Issues and Local Values, Routledge: NY.

Graham H. and Vergunst J. (ed.) 2019, Heritage as Community Research: Legacies of Co-production, Policy Press: Bristol.

Mortensen L. and Hollowell J, 2009, Ethnographies and Archaeologies: Iterations of the Past, University Press of Florida.

Roued-Cunliffe M. and Copeland A. 2017, Participatory Heritage, Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.

Schmidt P.R. 2019. Partciipatory Archaeology and Heritage Studies, Rutledge: NY.

 

Further readings (not mandatory)

Appadurai Arjun 2015, Banking on Words:The Failure of Language in the Age of Derivative Finance. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Versione italiana: 2016, Scommettere sulle parole. Il cedimento del linguaggio nell’epoca della finanza derivata. Raffaello Cortina editore: Milano.

Baba Marietta L., 2000, “Theories of practice in anthropology: a critical appraisal”, NAPA Bulletin, 18, pp. 17-44.

Baba Marietta L. 2012, “Anthropology and Business: Influence and Interests”, Journal of Business Anthropology, V. 1, N. 1, pp. 1-52.

Blomberg Jeanette & Darrah Chuck 2015, An Anthropology of Services: Toward a Practice Approach to Designing Services. Morgan & Claypool Publishers.

Borofsky Robert (a cura di), L’antropologia Culturale oggi (Sixth section only: “L’antropologia applicata”, pp. 500-591); otherwise, two essays among them suggested and distributed by the instructor during classes).

Borofsky R. (Ed.) (2023) Revitalizing Anthropology. Let's focus the Field on Benefiting Others. Center for a Public Anthropology. For the exam, select three essays of your choice from the volume. To download the volume for free, select the following link:

https://books.publicanthropology.org/revitalizing-anthropology.pdf

Carrier J. and L Peter Luetchford L. P. 2012, Ethical Consumption: Social Value and Economic Practice. Bergham: New York.

Clarke Alison J., 2011, Design Anthropology, Wien/New York, Springer (5 essays chosen by the student within the volume that will be made available during the course)

de Waal Malefyt Timothy and Morais Robert J. (ed.) 2017, Ethics-in-the Anthropology of Business: Explorations in Theory, Practice and Pedagogy. Routledge: London.

Ladner Sam 2016, [http://amzn.com/1611323908] . Routledge: New York.

Madsbjerg Christian 2017, Sensemaking: The Power of the Humanities in the Age of the Algorithm. Hachette Book Group: New York.

Blomberg Jeanette & Darrah Chuck 2015, An Anthropology of Services: Toward a Practice Approach to Designing Services. Morgan & Claypool Publishers.

Malighetti Roberto, 2001, Antropologia Applicata, dal nativo che cambia al mondo ibrido.Unicopli, Milano.

Pink S. and Abram S., 2017, Media, Anthropology and Public Engagement,Berghahn, New York, Oxford.

Pink S. 2016 (seconda edizione), Doing Sensory Ethnography. SAGE.

Pink S. (Ed) 2007, Applications of Anthropology, Professional Anthropology in the Twenty-first Century. Berghahn, New York, Oxford.

 

Teaching methods

A wide range of methodologies of teaching will be used to meet a varied set of needs and requests of students. The course will be conducted in a seminar-like fashion, with readings, presentations of ethnographic cases and film watchings. An active participation of students is requested, together with their willingness to contribute to the discussion of texts to be studied for the final exam.

Students, either individually or in groups, will agree with the instructor a specific essay of applied anthropology (heritage, design, healthcare, education) to be presented and discussed in a seminar session, to be held in the later part of the semester, and possibly with the aid of digital supports.

Assessment methods

Students who attend at least 75% of the lessons are considered to be attending.

The student will have to hold an individual oral exam on the basis of the suggested bibliography, of the notes from the lectures and of the contributions made by their fellow classmates in class. The final evaluation is cumulative and will keep into account the students' involvement in any phase of the formative process. Active participation in class is integral part of the final evaluation.

In particular, the following items will be tested:

command of theoretical and methodological basic knowledge as taught in lectures and seminars;

command of elements of theoretical knowledge as provided by the bibliographical leads;

capacity to critically scrutinize, observe, describe and analyze the various topics debated in the course;

the student's ability to critically integrate any topics debated in class, their critical use and the command of the scientific language will award them notes of excellence.

The oral exam, with open-ended questions, is aimed at verifying the students’ ability to read critically the documentary sources dealt with over the course. Students are expected to be articulate and to be able to communicate their thoughts and contents with an appropriate language.

In order to pass the exam, the students must get a grade not below 18/30.  

In order to hit a score of 30/30 cum laude, students must demonstrate excellent knowledge of all course topics, and to be able to connect them in a logical and consistent way.

Important to note: No special prior knowledge is required; however, familiarity with demo-ethno-anthropological sciences in general and basic anthropological lexicon is desirable.

Teaching tools

For the schedule of the lab activities, please consult the instructor's website.

Attending students, from September 2025, are kindly invited to subscribe to the following mailing list in order to receive information about possible variations in lecture timetable and rooms and to recevice useful material for the course:

roberta.bonetti3.antropologia-applicata

Students with learning disorders and\or temporary or permanent disabilities: please, contact the office responsible (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en/for-students) as soon as possible so that they can propose acceptable adjustments. The request for adaptation must be submitted in advance (15 days before the exam date) to the lecturer, who will assess the appropriateness of the adjustments, taking into account the teaching objectives.

Office hours

See the website of Roberta Bonetti