Anthropology

This course introduces aspects related to Scandinavian culture and society, with a particular focus on the emergence of modern society–not least the welfare state. This is done by reading novels, watching movies, listening to music and discussing architecture, politics, health issues and the impact of democracy on societal changes. Emphasis is placed on certain key periods in order to provide students with an understanding of the common features in the development of the cultural and social systems found in Scandinavia (Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Finland). The course begins by examining Scandinavia in the Middle Ages. Influences from, in particular, France, Germany, England and the USA are discussed, as is the development of the national characteristics particular to the various countries of Scandinavia. There is a special focus on the development of democracy from the late nineteenth century to the present day. Examples are given of this historical process with literature, art, music, theatre, film, and the history of ideas. The course is of an interdisciplinary nature.

This is a graduate level course that is part of the Laurea Magistrale program in Cultural Anthropology and Ethnology. Enrollment is by consent of the instructor. The course is intended for students who have a strong background in the theory of anthropology. The course focuses on the history and the core themes of the scientific debate concerning historical anthropology and ethnohistory, underscoring the importance of a diachronic dimension in anthropological thinking. The course centers on basic knowledge of methods and theory of historical anthropology and prepares students for anthropological readings of various types of historical sources. The topic for the Spring 2018 semester is: writing, history, and memory in Mesoamerica The first part of the course is devoted to the discussion of the debates concerning the theoretical and methodological statutes of historical anthropology, especially those that have tackled the topic of non-Western historicity's and their relationships with various memory-recording modes. The lectures then focus on the pre-colonial Mesoamerican writing systems and the main indigenous historiographic genres, highlighting their forms as well as their political and ideological functions. Subsequently the course analyzes the main changes introduced by European colonization and its historiographic genres – Indigenous, Mestizos, and European – produced in early colonial times, with texts that have recorded the memory of the Conquest. In the final part of the course the topic of European perception of the indigenous past is analyzed and in particular with regard to its inclusion in the universal histories written during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Lectures include discussion of new findings and publications aimed at keeping students up to date regarding ongoing field research. Required reading includes INTRODUZIONE ALL'ANTROPOLOGIA STORICA by Pier Paolo Viazzo. Assessment is based on a final oral exam aimed at verifying the student's knowledge of the materials presented and discussed in lecture as well as those treated in the assigned texts. Students who elect to write a term paper on a topic approved by the instructor are awarded one extra unit for the course. Maximum units for the course is 6.

This course explores social theory including functionalist models; Marxism; structuralist approaches to social structure/kinship and to conceptual organization/communication; phenomenological theory in anthropology; agency and structure; post-modernism and post-structuralism; post-colonialism, globalization; and cognitive approaches within the discipline.

This course introduces the central concepts, themes, debates, and methods of medical anthropology. The course encourages thinking critically about medicine, health, and the body by examining them as systems of knowledge and practice. Topics include: cross-cultural understandings of illness and health, health inequalities, gender, sexuality, biomedical technologies, migration, and aging populations.

This course compares core themes in the ethnography of forest peoples. With a focus on forest-dwelling people in regions including Amazonia, Melanesia, and the Congo Basin, the course assesses a number of anthropological approaches to understanding human-environmental interactions. It evaluates some of the diverse ways that societies in forested regions construct and understand the relations between nature and society, myth and history, cosmology and ritual, person-hood and the body, and cultural tradition and transformation..

Students who complete a term paper are awarded one extra unit for each part. Total units possible for both parts is 12. The course focuses on traditional oral music from the point of view of both the language and the context of the sound event itself. Special attention is paid to the theoretical and methodological perspectives employed by experts in the field in their analyses and research on traditional oral music. The course has 2 parts: A and B. Students must take both parts. No partial credit is possible. Part A covers methodological and historical questions related to the discipline of ethnomusicology. Special attention is placed on the Italian tradition and the relationship between oral tradition and the tradition of written music. In Part B students choose between 3 different in-depth monographs on different aspects of Italian and Balkan musical traditions. Topics covered include: Carnival, order and disorder; Gypsies and others, Romania and Kosovo; narrative singing. The course includes lectures and the use of audiovisual materials. Assessment is based on a final oral exam. Students are evaluated on knowledge of course material, required readings, and the ability to present a critical perspective.