11292 - Cultural Anthropology (1)

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course students will have learnt the main themes and conceptual framework of the discipline. They will also take part in critical discussions concerning the main intellectual schools of thought and apply these skills to social situations based on cultural variety. They will apply the main models of critical analysis to cultures, ethnic populations, gender and generations, and be able to focus on socio-cultural issues to do with migratory processes, globalization and the knowledge society. They will have learnt to listen, understand and debate respectfully with different viewpoints, and acquired judgment on a professional, human and ethical level.

Course contents

The course aims at presenting an introduction to the main concepts and theories that characterize cultural anthropology. In addressing the classic areas of anthropological analysis, the following topics will be covered: the meaning and evolution of the concept of culture in anthropology; the ethnographic method and fieldwork; forms of power; economic resources and subsistence; reproduction and age, family and kinship; religions; medical anthropology; anthropology of the body. The second part of the course offers an anthropological reading of globalisation and accelerated change in the Anthropocene era, with a focus on the relationship between resources and human groups, energy distribution, forms of mobility, cities, waste production and information.

Readings/Bibliography

1. Emily A. Schultz e Robert H. Lavenda, 2021, Antropologia culturale, Zanichelli, Bologna (Quarta edizione italiana). [Ediz. Orig., Cultural Anthropology. A Perspective on the Human Condition, Ninth/Tenth Edition, 2013/2017, Oxfrod University Press, Oxford].

2. Eriksen Thomas Hylland, Fuori controllo. Un’antropologia del cambiamento accelerato, 2017, Einaudi Torino. [Ediz. Orig., Overheating. An Anthropology of Accelerated Change, 2016, Pluto Press, London].

Teaching methods

Formal lectures with audio-visual support (when appropriate).

In each lecture, students will be engaged in order to verify the proper understanding of the issues discussed.

Assessment methods

Assessment will be done through a test in the IT laboratories of the School of Arts, Humanities and Cultural Heritage.

Students will have to answer open questions for each of the volumes indicated above.

Proper language and the ability to make connections between the books' content will lead to a good/excellent final grade.

Acceptable language and the ability to resume the books' content will lead to a sufficient/fair grade.

The exam is failed if students:

- do not demonstrate to master the "learning outcomes" of the course;

- show insufficient linguistic proficiency and fragmentary knowledge of the books' content;

- do not answer all the exam questions.

Students with special needs are kindly invited to contact the lecturer in order to define together the proper assessment method.

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.

Students can consult Exams dates and register at the following URLhttp://www.unibo.it/Portale/Guida/AlmaEsami.htm

Exam sessions are scheduled for the following months: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, September, October.

Teaching tools

Students are kindly invited to subscribe to the following mailing list in order to receive information about possible variations in lectures timetable and rooms: pietro.cingolani2.Antropologia_Culturale

Students who require specific services and adaptations to teaching activities due to a disability or specific learning disorders (SLD), must first contact the appropriate office: https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en/for-students .

Office hours

See the website of Pietro Cingolani