BERGAMO
Overview
Date/time interval
Syllabus
Course Objectives
The course aims to provide students with a foundational understanding of the anthropological approach. Through active participation (lectures, critical reading and discussion) and independent study of the required course materials, students will develop the ability to critically analyse contemporary social contexts and their historical transformations.
This critical perspective will be developed through the study of the fundamental theories and methods of anthropology, applied to the analysis of a wide range of social phenomena, with particular attention to climate conflicts.
The first part of the course introduces the principal methodological tools of anthropology, including ethnographic fieldwork, participant observation, the collection of verbal and non-verbal data, transcription, the production of anthropological knowledge, the anthropologist's positionality, and the organisation and interpretation of ethnographic data.
The course then examines the anthropological concept of culture and explores the major domains through which culture is expressed, including religion, subsistence strategies, forms of social organisation, kinship, and social inequalities.
In the second part of the course, these theoretical and methodological tools will be applied to encourage students to develop an independent and critical perspective on contemporary environmental conflicts. Particular attention will be devoted to examining how lived experience and locally grounded knowledge interact with—and often challenge—the logics of large-scale capital investment and the technical-scientific expertise promoted by institutions, policy makers, and political actors.
By the end of the course, students will be able to establish connections between anthropological concepts, critically synthesise the themes discussed during lectures and in the assigned case studies, and apply anthropological perspectives to the analysis of contemporary environmental issues.
The course also aims to provide students with the technical vocabulary and conceptual terminology of anthropology, together with the analytical skills necessary to produce well-structured critical accounts of contemporary social challenges, with particular reference to the urgent issues posed by global climate change.
Course Prerequisites
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.
Teaching Methods
Teaching Methods
The course will be delivered through in-person lectures, combining lectures, guided class discussions, and interactive learning activities supported by PowerPoint presentations, audiovisual materials, and ethnographic case studies.
The course is divided into two parts. The first part introduces the principal theoretical and methodological foundations of cultural anthropology, with particular attention to ethnographic fieldwork, the core concepts of the discipline, and its main theoretical approaches.
The second part focuses on the anthropology of environmental change and climate conflicts through the discussion of ethnographic case studies from both Italian and international contexts. Particular attention will be devoted to the relationships between local communities, environments, infrastructure, environmental governance, and competing forms of knowledge production. Whenever possible, guest lectures by invited scholars and practitioners will complement the course.
During the semester, students will complete two individual or group exercises designed to develop their critical analysis of ethnographic case studies and the key themes discussed throughout the course.
Scientific articles, book chapters, and other teaching materials discussed during the lectures will be made available through the Moodle platform, together with additional recommended readings for further study.
Assessment Methods
Student learning will be assessed through an oral examination designed to evaluate students' understanding of the topics covered during the course and in the required readings, as well as their ability to critically relate theoretical concepts to the ethnographic case studies discussed in class.
For attending students, the final assessment will take into account active participation in class discussions and the satisfactory completion of the course exercises. These activities will contribute significantly to the overall evaluation.
During the semester, students will be offered two optional formative assessments, one midway through the course and one at the end, focusing on the main topics covered in the lectures and required readings. In addition, voluntary group presentations on selected course themes and ethnographic case studies may be organized.
Successful completion of the formative assessments and, where applicable, the group presentations will contribute positively to the final oral examination.
For non-attending students, assessment will consist of an oral examination based on the required course readings. The reading list is the same as that assigned to attending students.
Contents
The first part of the course introduces students to the general foundations of the discipline by providing the core theoretical and methodological tools of cultural anthropology. The opening lectures also include an overview of the history of anthropology and the development of its principal theoretical approaches.
Building on the anthropological concept of culture, the course explores some of the discipline's key themes, including the dynamic and creative dimensions of culture, the plurality and stratification of knowledge, cultural relativism and critical ethnocentrism, forms of social organisation, kinship, subsistence strategies, gift exchange and reciprocity, as well as the different processes through which social inequalities are produced and reproduced.
In the second part of the course, these theoretical and methodological perspectives will be applied to the anthropological study of environmental change and climate conflicts. Drawing on ethnographic case studies from different geographical contexts, the course examines the relationships between local communities, environments, and territories, with particular attention to the tensions generated by ecological transformations, large-scale infrastructural projects, environmental governance, and competing forms of knowledge production. The course will also explore the role of local knowledge, lived experience, and practices of adaptation and resistance, examining how these interact with technical and scientific expertise, public institutions, and political actors.
Additional seminars, guest lectures, student presentations, workshops, and other learning activities may complement the course and will be announced during the semester.