Anthropology

This course introduces an anthropological study of nature-culture relations, illustrating its potentials and problems with reference to diverse topics in contemporary environmental politics. During the first half, it introduces prevalent and alternative approaches to understand nature-culture relations, covering key concepts and theories. The second half is dedicated to investigations of seven key environmental issues, including: climate change and energy politics, geoengineering, biodiversity conservation, animals, food, waste, and environmental health. 

The course offers an orientation of Afro-Swedish relations in the past and the present. The module analyses racism and Afrophobia, culture and cultural creativity, collaborations (research, associations, development cooperation), African role models and stereotypes, migration, and diaspora.

This course is part of the LM degree program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrollment is by consent of the instructor. The course is subdivided into two parts. Part one discusses topics including an introduction to the study of the history and culture of the ancient Mesopotamian civilizations (Sumerians, Akkadians, Babylonians, Assyrians); and introduction to the cuneiform writing; elements of the Sumerian language; a guide to the electronic resources for the study of Sumerian; and reading, translation, and grammatical analysis of elementary Sumerian texts in cuneiform writing. Part two of the course discusses topics including Sumerian royal inscriptions: typology, structure, and contents; and reading, translation and historical-philological comment of Sumerian royal inscriptions in cuneiform writing.

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale program and is intended for advanced levels students only. Enrollment is by consent of the instructor. The course considers the Indian Ocean as an interregional arena created by the intersection between maritime trade and cultural connections. It focuses on the circulation of people, goods and ideas across the oceanic space as a way to understand the connections and disconnections that created a unified system of cultural and economic exchange. The course adopts a longue durée perspective, in order to unravel the rise and development of an Indian Ocean regional identity. It considers the Indian Ocean as the first global economy produced by the decoding of the monsoon wind system and then explores the rise of Islam and the consequent development of the Swahili civilization along the East African coast. It analyses the indigenous responses to the European commercial intrusions that started in the 16th century and explores the impact of the development of formal colonial rule in the 19th century. Elements like port cities, littoral societies, trade diasporas, religion networks, long-distance trade routes, and different forms of slavery will be used as analytical tools to unravel the elements of unity and disunity in the Indian Ocean space. Particular attention is given to East African societies and their role in the Indian Ocean world. During the course, the students analyze travel accounts, novels, historical sources, and scholarly works and critically engage with the historiographical debates that characterize the Indian Ocean Studies field. At the end of the course, students reach an understanding of the Indian Ocean cultures, economies, and societies that transcends national histories and be able to engage with a non-Eurocentric approach to processes of globalization.