Teaching code

4S01217

Credits

6

Coordinator

Anna Maria Paini

Language

Italian

Scientific Disciplinary Sector (SSD)

M-DEA/01 - DEMOLOGY, ETHNOLOGY AND ANTHROPOLOGY

Moodle Seminars 0

The teaching is organized as follows:

Learning objectives

Through various teaching methods (lectures, discussions, case studies, meetings with experts), the course aims to introduce students to a critical knowledge of some key concepts of the discipline and to its methodology; it also introduces them to some open debates within contemporary theoretical and ethnographic contexts with reference to ethnographic material and immaterial cultural heritage, highlighting the sensibilities and potentialities of an anthropological perspective. By the end of the course the student is expected to: a. have acquired knowledge of the main categories used within anthropology and become acquainted with anthropological research practices 2. be capable of distinguishing and connecting the concepts of tangible and of intangible ethnographic cultural heritage; 3. be capable of making use of the acquired tools to approach contemporary cultural and intercultural processes and of addressing cultural differences.

Prerequisites and basic notions

For those who are on their firts course in Cultural Anthropology, it is strongly recommende to read 'Prima lezione di antropologia' di Francesco Remotti (2000, Laterza) before classes start.

Program

The Ethnocentric Gaze
In this second part of the course (12h), we will address the issue of the ethnocentric gaze through the analysis of some literary texts by Italian and foreigner authors and try to understand what it means to argue that 'race' is a 'naturalistic metaphor' (A. Rivera). In order to experience (to practice) the perspective of a decentralized gaze, we will be discussing some female author’s texts (Sally Morgan, Gladys Milroy and Jill Milroy, Chimamanda Adichie, Nadeesha Uyangoda).
Readings (for the manual see Part 1)
Barbujani, Guido (2007) L'invenzione delle razze, Bompiani, Milano.
Uyangoda, Nadeesha (2021) L’unica persona nera nella stanza 66THAND2ND, Roma.
Ngozi Adicihie, Chimamanda (2020) Il pericolo di un'unica storia, Einaudi. Torino. [2009, The Danger of a Single Story]

Bibliography

Didactic methods

Various teaching methods:
a. lectures
b. case studies
c. discussions

Learning assessment procedures

For those attending classes : class participation, in-class presentation and final paper .
For those NOT attending classes: Final oral exam. The student is asked questions about the course readings and about the thematic aspects dealt with. The student should bring with her/him the texts which s/he has studied. T

Erasmus and international students may study alternative texts and take the final exam in English or French. If interested, they need to discuss the choice of the new reading materials with me during Office hours.

Evaluation criteria

The oral test seeks to verify:
- the breadth of knowledge gained;
- the use of a correct language;
- the ability to make connections.

Criteria for the composition of the final grade

he final evaluation is based on 30/30.

Exam language

Italiano