The course provides the basic knowledge and conceptual tools essential to address the specific issues of Asian ethnographic contexts.
Through active participation in lessons and individual study of the program texts, students develop the ability to critically read contemporary socio-cultural contexts. This ability will be built through learning anthropological theories and methods by examining an introduction to the main tools, the methodology of the anthropological discipline and the different theoretical currents.
The general part of the course will address: field research, participant observation, verbal and non-verbal data collection methods, transcription, production of anthropological knowledge, insertion and positioning of the anthropologist, systematization and interpretation of data.
In the second part of the course, the main themes concerning the anthropological study of the area will be illustrated with particular reference to: caste, kinship, gender, religion, ethnic conflict, diaspora.
These tools are presented with the aim of promoting critical analysis skills. In particular, at the end of the course students have the conceptual tools to address the
specific issues of Asian ethnographic contexts, connect and critically summarize the themes learned during the lessons and organize the study materials for the purpose of preparing for the exam.
The course aims to provide students with the technical vocabulary and discursive analysis tools through which they can construct short, detailed accounts of contemporary problems, in particular in relation to the challenges posed by socio-religious plurality.
Knowledge of modern and contemporary history. Basic knowledge of world political geography. Ability to understand the texts read, articulating a summary of the concepts acquired.
Frontal lessons, with the support of slides and videos. Participatory discussion of the main themes of the course.
Interview on the course program. For attending students: during the lessons, two optional intermediate exercises will be proposed (in the middle and at the end of the course) on the topics covered and appropriately introduced by the texts of this year's program. The positive outcome of both intermediate tests contributes to the grade of the oral exam. Group presentations, on a voluntary basis, on specific topics covered by the texts in the program will also contribute to the final grade.
The course introduces the general aspects of the discipline by providing the basic theoretical and methodological tools of cultural anthropology. The concept of culture will be defined and discussed through the peculiar investigation methodology of cultural anthropology. We will retrace the historical genesis of the concept of culture in anthropological thought, its articulation in classical monographs, the thematic and methodological connections with related disciplines. The course aims to analyze the concept of culture in its dynamism and its creative dimension; the processes of differentiation and the stratified dimension of cultural acquisitions. Cultural relativism and critical ethnocentrism will be explored in depth from a historical perspective; the phenomena and social relations of numerous typical societies will be read in the light of these categories, delving into the notions of religion, magic and rationality. A part of the course will be dedicated to political anthropology, redefining the concepts of gift and goods, as political and power systems change. Kinship and relational relationships in classical societies will be discussed, as will the overcoming of the scientific category of race and the definitions of racism, ethnicity and ethnicity will be discussed. Particular emphasis will be given to the perception of the landscape and its changes, and to local indigenous knowledge relating to natural knowledge. To this end, case studies taken from the current debate in the anthropology of the environment and sustainability will be discussed.
