93246 - Anthropology of Material Culture (1)

Learning outcomes

The course purports to investigate, within the Italian and international debate, the notion of material and immaterial culture, with the aim of singling out its characteristics and the various research approaches. Students will be formed to carry out fieldwork research in its applied aspects in the domain of collecting, producing and using objects, and their forms of consumption and enhancement in the communities, organizations, institutions and museums. The course will provide a basis to continue relevant training at higher educational levels.

Course contents

Course start date: September 17, 2025

Class schedule:
Wednesday, 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM – Aula Pascoli, Via Zamboni 32
Thursday, 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM – Room VI, Via Zamboni 38
Friday, 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM – Room 1, Via Zamboni 33

The study of material culture is an interdisciplinary field of analysis and research that explores the relationship between people and objects, with the aim of understanding how human beings produce, exchange, and consume material goods—ultimately contributing to the construction of societies and human relationships.

This course offers an in-depth look at the main research, theories, and methods that support the study of material culture in contemporary societies. It highlights how objects follow a specific “career” or life cycle, pass through different regimes of value, function as socio-technical and symbolic devices, and play an active role in the social construction of reality and in defining relationships between “human” and “non-human” subjects. The course thus seeks to explore the nature and centrality of materiality in processes of meaning-making within specific social contexts, and in shaping what it means to be human.

The course will cover the following topics:

– Material culture in the 20th century: exotic and popular cultures
– Anthropology of art and museums: ethnography of and within museums
– Material culture and everyday worlds: industry, mass production, and ethnography of design

Readings/Bibliography

Attending and non-attending students – 3 required books:

1. Appadurai, A. (ed.) (2021), La vita sociale delle cose. Una prospettiva culturale sulle merci di scambio, Milano: Meltemi.

2. Miller, D., Lo smartphone globale. Non solo una tecnologia per giovani, UCL Press.
   (Available online: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10139782/1/Lo_Smartphone_Globale.pdf )

3. Kohn, E. (2021), Come pensano le foreste. Antropologia oltre l'umano, Milano: Nottetempo.

Recommended (optional) readings:

• Bonetti, R. and Simonicca, A. (eds.) (2016), Etnografia e processi di patrimonializzazione, Roma: CISU.

• Broccolini, A. and Padiglione, V. (eds.) (2017), Ripensare i margini. L'Ecomuseo Casilino per la periferia di Roma, Roma: Aracne.

• Ciabarri, L. (ed.) (2018), Cultura Materiale. Oggetti, immaginari, desideri in viaggio tra mondi, Milano: Raffaello Cortina Editore.

• Dei, F. (2003), Beethoven e le mondine. Ripensare la cultura popolare, Milano: Meltemi. (Available in PDF format; contact the instructor.)

• Dei, F. and Meloni, P. (2015), Antropologia della cultura materiale, Roma: Carocci.

• Edwards, E., Gosden, C., Phillips, R.B. (2006), Sensible Objects. Colonialism, Museums and Material Culture, Oxford-New York: Berg.

• Gell, A. (2021), Arte e Agency, Milano: Raffaello Cortina Editore.

• Ingold, T. (2019), Making. Antropologia, archeologia, arte e architettura, Milano: Raffaello Cortina Editore.

• Luniddi, M. (2019), Etnografia dei tombaroli della Tuscia, Roma: Europa Edizioni.

• Miller, D. (2013), Per un'antropologia delle cose, Milano: Ledizioni.

• Myers, F.R. (2002), Painting Culture: The Making of an Aboriginal High Art, Duke University Press.

• Paini, A. and Aria, M. (2014), La densità delle cose. Oggetti ambasciatori tra Oceania e Europa, Pisa: Pacini.

• Satta, G. (2013), “Patrimonio Culturale”, Parole Chiave, 49, monographic issue, pp. 1–18.

• Schneider, A. and Wright, C. (eds.) (2010), Between Art and Anthropology: Contemporary Ethnographic Practice, Bloomsbury Academic.

• Stocking, G.W. Jr. (2000), Gli oggetti e gli altri. Saggi sui musei e sulla cultura materiale, Roma: Ei Editori.

• Thomas, N. (1991), Entangled Objects: Exchange, Material Culture, and Colonialism in the Pacific, Harvard University Press.

• Tilley, C. (2006), Handbook of Material Culture, London: SAGE.

Teaching methods

Various teaching methods will be adopted in order to meet the range of educational needs and the diverse expectations of students attending the course. The course will be organized in a seminar format and will include readings, film screenings, and discussion sessions. Active student participation is required, particularly in the discussion of selected parts of the texts assigned for the exam.

Attending students, individually or in groups, will agree with the instructor on a paper in the field of the anthropology of material culture. The paper will be presented and discussed orally in a final session, possibly with the support of digital media.

Assessment methods

A student is considered an attending student if they participate in at least 75% of the classes.

Based on the assigned bibliography, the theoretical and methodological lectures, and the contributions that emerge through participatory and seminar-style activities, the student will take an individual oral exam to assess their learning. The evaluation will take into account the student's consistent engagement throughout all phases of the learning process. Active participation in class sessions and activities will also be considered and will contribute to the final grade.

The following aspects will be specifically evaluated:
– theoretical and methodological understanding of the core concepts provided through participatory and/or frontal teaching;
– acquisition of the theoretical content presented in the assigned readings;
– development of critical thinking and the ability to observe, describe, and analyze the topics covered;
– achievement of an integrated understanding of the course content, combined with its critical application and interpretation.

A strong command of expression and appropriate use of disciplinary language will be evaluated with the highest marks.

Teaching tools

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:

roberta.bonetti3.culturamateriale

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