ANTHROPOLOGY OF THE CONTEMPORARY GLOBAL WORLD

N.B. This class is organised by the Ca' Foscari School for International Education (SIE). Students cannot attend classes or take exams if they are not officially enrolled in the course. For information on how to apply for the SIE English-taught courses for exchange students, please visit this webpage: https://www.unive.it/courses-exchange

Students will gain familiarity with anthropological terminology and learn about anthropological theories applied to the study of various social phenomena. They will practice thinking about the “cultural other” in a non-ethnocentric way, questioning their own point of view on global contemporary phenomena and recognizing bias and prejudice, with a particular focus on issues of kinship, gender and sexuality. They will learn to look at culture as dynamic and evolving, and to question the taken-for-grantedness of “tradition”, as conventionally understood. Students will also acquire knowledge of ethnographic methods, including remote ones, and epistemological tools to analyse data anthropologically.

There are no prerequisites for this class. This course will be accessible to all international undergraduate and graduate students, from various disciplinary backgrounds. Therefore, it will include a thorough introduction to the discipline.

This class will introduce students to the core methods and key principles of cultural anthropology (Part 1), to then proceed to guide them through an analysis of selected topics and encourage them to engage in critical discussion (Part 2). The chosen topics are relevant to the lecturer’s research areas and will include gender and sexuality in anthropological perspective, socio-cultural notions of relatedness, gender discrimination, body autonomy and reproduction, and elements of queer anthropology. All these topics will be examined with a focus on research offering a global perspective.

For the final exam students who have attended at least 70% of classes will be required to study the slides and the manual "Cultural Anthropology: A perspective on the human condition" by Lavenda, Robert H. and Schultz, Emily A. (Eighth edition, 2012).

Students who have not attended at least 70% of classes will also have to prepare the following texts:
- Dervin, Fred. 2011. “The repression of us- and we-hoods in European exchange students’ narratives about their experiences in Finland”. Journal of Comparative Research in Anthropology and Sociology 2(1), 71-84.
- Chapter 2 of "Takarazuka: sexual politics and popular culture in modern Japan" by Jennifer Robertson.
- Chapter 4 of "Cultures of Relatedness: New Approaches to the Study of Kinship" edited by Janet Carsten.
To better understand the slides used in class they are also recommended (but not required) this further reading: chapter 3, 10 and 12 of "Perspectives: An Open Introduction to Cultural Anthropology, 2nd edition."

The final exam will be in written form, consisting of open-ended, long-form questions on both topics covered in class and the required reading. Duration: 2 hours.

written

The instructor is responsible for ensuring the authenticity and originality of all examinations and coursework. In cases of suspected academic misconduct, an additional on-site assessment may be required during the exams, which may differ from the standard format.

Evaluation criteria will include precision and clarity of language, understanding of the core notions learned during the class, the ability to use these notions to critically reflect on the case studies examined, the ability to use relevant examples, and originality of thought.

Lectures using slides, interactive exercises, and discussion of texts or audiovisual materials. Active participation of students is required.

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Poverty and inequalities" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development