ETHNOGRAPHY FOR ENVIRONMENTAL HUMANITIES-1

The course is primarily addressed to students of the Master Degree in Environmental Humanities who have already passed 'Environmental Anthropology 1', mod.1 . The participation of students of other programmes can be authorised upon agreement with the instructors.

The course will provide students with theoretical knowledge, basic skills and practical tools to plan and carry out anthropological research through ethnography. The course will also provide information about the difference between anthropological/ethnographic research and other types of research, clarifying to students the complementarity of the various methodological and theoretical approaches offered by the entire interdisciplinary master's degree course. This, in turn, will equip them at best for their future professional's path thanks to the acquired ability to discern and choose the most appropriate methodology, in relation to their needs, interests and sensitivities.

Environmental Anthropology 1, mod.1.

The course has a mixed format: lectures, participatory discussions, and workshop-based sessions. The first part will provide an introduction to selected aspects of anthropological theory and its key concepts, chosen to support an understanding of the epistemological and political dimensions of ethnography. The second part will focus on specific topics related to the ethnographic approach and practice, addressing issues such as the ethnographic encounter, participant observation, interviews, the ethics and politics of ethnography, and how to design and write an ethnography.

Compulsory:
Graeber, D., 2004, Fragments of an Anarchist Anthropology, Prickly Paradigm Press, Chicago [up to p.64]
Hylland Eriksen, T., 1995, Small Places, Large Issues. An Introduction to Social and Cultural Anthropology, Pluto Press, London [ch. 1, 4, 6]
Dumit, J., 2014, 'Writing the Implosion: Teaching the World One Thing at a Time.' Cultural Anthropology 29(2): 344-362.
Peterson, K and Olson, V., 2024, 'The Ethnographer's Way. A Handbook for Multidimensional Research Design', Duke University Press, Durham and London [Introduction]
Ortner, S. (2016). "Dark anthropology and its others. Theory since the eighties." HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory 6(1): 47-73.
Cornwall, Andrea. 2019. ‘Acting Anthropologically. Notes on Anthropology as Practice’. Antropologia Pubblica 4 (2): 3–20. https://doi.org/10.1473/anpub.v4i2.134 .
Hale, Charles R. 2006. ‘Activist Research v. Cultural Critique: Indigenous Land Rights and the Contradictions of Politically Engaged Anthropology’. Cultural Anthropology 21 (1): 96–120. https://doi.org/10.1525/can.2006.21.1.96 .
Mosse, David. 2015. ‘Misunderstood, Misrepresented, Contested? Anthropological Knowledge Production in Question’. Focaal—Journal of Global and Historical Anthropology 72:28–137.
Ron Iphofen, EU, Research Ethics in Ethnography/Anthropology
Punch, S.. 2012. "Hidden struggles of fieldwork: Exploring the role and use of field diaries." Emotion, Space and Society 5(2): 86-93.
Campbell E. and Lassiter L.E. 2015. “Interviews and Conversations”, in: Doing Ethnography Today Theories, Methods, Exercises, Wiley, pp. 84-112.
Tamisari, F. 2006, 2006. Personal acquaintance: essential individuality and the possibility of encounters. In Moving anthropology: critical Indigenous studies. Tess Lea, Emma Kowal, and Gillian Cowlishaw, eds. Pp. 17–36. Darwin, Australia: Charles Darwin University Press

Evaluation of a proposal of an ethnographic research project (between 3,000 and 5,000 words, including bibliography) on a topic of your choice related to environmental issues. More information on how to set up the writing will be available on Moodle.

written

The evaluation will take into consideration the accuracy of the final essay according to the guidelines that will be made available on Moodle. In particular, the ability to ethnographically articulate a project idea, in dialogue with anthropological literature, will be evaluated.

The course includes lectures, practical assignments and supervised class discussions.

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Human capital, health, education" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development