Cultural Anthropology
A.Y. 2025/2026
Learning objectives
The course is designed to provide students with an introduction to the general notion of cultural dimension on one hand and cultural specificities on the other, the latter meaning the particular human ideas and behaviours as reflected in their practical historical and social manifestations.
Thanks to the acquisition of methods based mainly on observations and direct contacts with people (ethnography), students become skilled in understanding the general mechanisms underlying cultural processes and how cultures and identities are formed and come to differ from one another. They also learn to identify differences and similarities between human communities.
Thanks to the acquisition of methods based mainly on observations and direct contacts with people (ethnography), students become skilled in understanding the general mechanisms underlying cultural processes and how cultures and identities are formed and come to differ from one another. They also learn to identify differences and similarities between human communities.
Expected learning outcomes
By the end of the course, students will be able to define and put into practice the most suitable strategies to facilitate a better understanding, and thus an enhancement, of the various cultural identities that co-exists within complex contexts characterised by a close and potentially hostile contact between different world-views, lifestyles, sustainability models and religious archetypes.
Lesson period: First semester
Assessment methods: Esame
Assessment result: voto verbalizzato in trentesimi
Single course
This course cannot be attended as a single course. Please check our list of single courses to find the ones available for enrolment.
Course syllabus and organization
Single session
Responsible
Lesson period
First semester
Course syllabus
Unit 1.
The concept of culture
1. What is cultural anthropology;
2. The concept of culture;
3. Ethnocentrism and cultural relativism;
4. Ethnography.
Unit 2.
Processes of sociocultural transformation.
5. Anthropologists and ethnographers: interpreting cultures;
6. Cultural identity;
7. Uniformity and diversity of cultures;
8. Cultural "traffic".
Unit 3.
Modernity. Imagination. Subjectivity.
9. Forms of mobility: emigrants, immigrants, foreigners, travelers, tourists;
10. Desires for modernity;
11. Construction of memory and cultural heritage;
12. Global imagination, social media, subjectivity.
The concept of culture
1. What is cultural anthropology;
2. The concept of culture;
3. Ethnocentrism and cultural relativism;
4. Ethnography.
Unit 2.
Processes of sociocultural transformation.
5. Anthropologists and ethnographers: interpreting cultures;
6. Cultural identity;
7. Uniformity and diversity of cultures;
8. Cultural "traffic".
Unit 3.
Modernity. Imagination. Subjectivity.
9. Forms of mobility: emigrants, immigrants, foreigners, travelers, tourists;
10. Desires for modernity;
11. Construction of memory and cultural heritage;
12. Global imagination, social media, subjectivity.
Prerequisites for admission
None
Teaching methods
Lectures, classroom debates and seminars.
Teaching Resources
Unità 1
1. Materiali presentati in aula
2. Fabietti U. Malighetti R., Matera V., Dal tribale al globale, Pearson, 2020.
Unità 2
3. Materiali presentati in aula
4. Matera V., Antropologia contemporanea. La diversità culturale in un mondo globale, Laterza, 2017 (Capp. 1, 2, 3).
Unità 3
5. Materiali presentati in aula
6. Matera V., 2017, Antropologia contemporanea. La diversità culturale in un mondo globale, Laterza, 2017 (Capp. 4, 5, 6).
1. Materiali presentati in aula
2. Fabietti U. Malighetti R., Matera V., Dal tribale al globale, Pearson, 2020.
Unità 2
3. Materiali presentati in aula
4. Matera V., Antropologia contemporanea. La diversità culturale in un mondo globale, Laterza, 2017 (Capp. 1, 2, 3).
Unità 3
5. Materiali presentati in aula
6. Matera V., 2017, Antropologia contemporanea. La diversità culturale in un mondo globale, Laterza, 2017 (Capp. 4, 5, 6).
Assessment methods and Criteria
Oral examination. The examination consists of an oral test. Students are required to prepare the entire program. Students who prepared just a part of the program will not be admitted to the examination.
Students who would like further clarifications may contact the professor by e-mail and/or request a meeting. The teacher will also be available to answer students' questions at the beginning and end of each lesson.
The test requires the full knowledge of the texts in the program and consists of an evaluation of the student's critical and argumentative capacity. Results will be: insufficient in case of a lack of expressive ability, as well as a lack of or incorrect critical analysis of the texts; sufficient in case of correct expression, possession of a basic knowledge and understanding of the specific lines of research and analysis of linguistic anthropology; good in case of expressive ability and knowledge of the texts; very good in case of excellent expressive and critical ability, together with in-depth knowledge of the texts.
Students who would like further clarifications may contact the professor by e-mail and/or request a meeting. The teacher will also be available to answer students' questions at the beginning and end of each lesson.
The test requires the full knowledge of the texts in the program and consists of an evaluation of the student's critical and argumentative capacity. Results will be: insufficient in case of a lack of expressive ability, as well as a lack of or incorrect critical analysis of the texts; sufficient in case of correct expression, possession of a basic knowledge and understanding of the specific lines of research and analysis of linguistic anthropology; good in case of expressive ability and knowledge of the texts; very good in case of excellent expressive and critical ability, together with in-depth knowledge of the texts.
M-DEA/01 - DEMOLOGY, ETHNOLOGY AND ANTHROPOLOGY - University credits: 9
Lessons: 60 hours
Professor:
Matera Vincenzo
Professor(s)