93246 - Anthropology of Material Culture (1)

Learning outcomes

The course purports to investigate, within the Italian and international debate, the notion of material and immaterial culture, with the aim of singling out its characteristics and the various research approaches. Students will be formed to carry out fieldwork research in its applied aspects in the domain of collecting, producing and using objects, and their forms of consumption and enhancement in the communities, organizations, institutions and museums. The course will provide a basis to continue relevant training at higher educational levels.

Course contents

Beginning of classes: 18th September 2024

We 13-15 Aula Pascoli, Via Zamboni 32; Th 9.00-11.00 Aula VI, Via Zamboni 38; Fr 11-13 Aula 1, Via Zamboni 33

The course is centred around the study of material culture, an interdisciplinary field of analysis and research which investigates the relationship between people and things in order to understand how people produce, exchange and consume objects, also with the goal of creating societies and human relationships.

The course will therefore investigate the main research, theories and methods that support the study of material culture in contemporary society. It will highlight that objects have their own "biography" or life cycle, go through different "value regimes", constitute "socio-technical and symbolic devices”, and play their own role as active social agents in the processes of building societies and relationships between "human" and "non-human" subjects. The aim of the course is thus to explore the nature and centrality of the experience of materiality in the processes of signification in specific social contexts and in the constitution of what it means to be human.

The following themes will be presented and addressed in the course:

- Material culture through the twentieth century, exotic and popular cultures;

- Anthropology of art and museums, its ethnography and significance in museums;

- Material culture and everyday worlds – industry, mass production and the ethnography of design.

Readings/Bibliography

3 mandatory readings: for both students attending classes and non-attending classes.

1. Dei F. e Meloni P. 2015, Antropologia della cultura materiale. Carocci.

2. A text chosen from the following:

Miller D. 2021, The Global Smartphone. Beyond a youth technology, UCL Press: London. Scaricabile gratuitamente al sito:

https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10126930/1/The-Global-Smartphone.pdf

Miller D. 2013, Per un'antropologia delle cose, Ledizioni: Milano.

3. A text chosen from the following:

Ciabarri, L., (a cura di), 2018, Cultura Materiale, Oggetti, immaginari, desideri in viaggio tra mondi, Milano: Raffaello Cortina Editore

Ingold, T., 2019, Making. Antropologia, archeologia, arte e architettura, Milano: Raffaello Cortina Editore.

Paini A., Aria M.2014. La densità delle cose. Oggetti ambasciatori tra Oceania eEuropa, Pisa: Pacini.

 

Further suggested readings (not mandatory):

Appadurai A. (a cura di9 La vita sociale delle cose. Una prospettiva culturale sulle merci di scambio, Meltemi: Milano.

Bonetti R. e Simonicca A. (a cura di) 2016, Etngografia e processi di patrimonializzazione. CISU: ROMA.

Broccolini A. E V. Padiglione (a cura di) 2017, Ripensare i margini. L'Ecomuseo Casilino per la periferia di Roma, Aracne: Roma.

Dei F. 2003, Beethoven e le mondine. Ripensare la cultura popolare. Meltemi: Milano (REPERIBILE IN PDF IN QUANTO ESAURITO. SCRIVERE ALLA DOCENTE).

Edwards E., Gosden C., Phillips R.B., 2006 Sensible Objects. Colonialism, Museums and Material Culture, Oxford-New York, Berg.

Gell A., 2021, Arte e Agency, Raffaello Cortina Editore

Luniddi M., 2019, Etnografia dei tombaroli della Tuscia, Europa Edizioni.

Myers F. R., 2002 Painting Culture: The Making of an Aboriginal High Art. Duke University Press.

Satta G. 2013, "Patrimonio Culturale", Parole Chiave, 49, numero monografico, pp. 1-18.

Schneider A. and Wright C. (ed.) 2010. Between Art and Anthropology: Contemporary Ethnographic Practice. Bloomsbury Academic.

Stocking G.W. jr, 2000 Gli oggetti e gli altri, saggi sui musei e sulla cultura materiale, Roma, Ei Editori.

Thomas N. 1991. ‪Entangled Objects: ‪Exchange, Material Culture, and Colonialism in the Pacific . Harvard University Press.

Tilley C. 2006, Handbook of Material Culture. London: SAGE

Teaching methods

A wide range of methodologies of teaching will be used to meet a varied set of needs and requests from students. The course will be conducted in a seminar-like fashion, and there will be group activities, with readings, presentations of ethnographic cases and film watchings. An active participation of students is requested, together with their willingness to contribute to the discussion of texts to be studied for the final exam.

Students who attend the course will agree with the teacher, individually or in groups, an essay on anthropology of material culture. The essay will be presented and discussed orally in a final meeting, possibly with the help of digital media.

Assessment methods

Students who attend at least 75% of the lessons are considered to be attending.

The student will have to hold an individual oral exam on the basis of the suggested bibliography, of the notes from the lectures and of the contributions made by their fellow classmates in class. The final evaluation is cumulative and will keep into account the students' involvement in any phase of the formative process. Active participation in class and in the lab activities is integral part of the final evaluation.

In particular, the following items will be tested:

command of theoretical and methodological basic knowledge as taught in lectures and seminars; command of elements of theoretical knowledge as provided by the bibliographical leads; capacity to critically scrutinize, observe, describe and analyze the various topics debated in the course; the student's ability to critically integrate any topics debated in class, their critical use and the command of the scientific language will award them notes of excellence.

Teaching tools

For the schedule of the lab activities, please consult the instructor's website.

Attending students, from September 2024, are kindly invited to subscribe to the following mailing list in order to receive information about possible variations in lecture timetable and rooms:

roberta.bonetti3.culturamateriale

Students who require specific services and adaptations to teaching activities due to a disability or specific learning disorders (SLD), must first contact the appropriate office: https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en/for-students.

Office hours

See the website of Roberta Bonetti