Unit ETHNOGRAPHY
- Course
- Cultural heritage
- Study-unit Code
- GP005273
- Curriculum
- Antropologia
- Teacher
- Massimiliano Minelli
- Teachers
-
- Massimiliano Minelli
- Hours
- 36 ore - Massimiliano Minelli
- CFU
- 6
- Course Regulation
- Coorte 2023
- Offered
- 2024/25
- Learning activities
- Caratterizzante
- Area
- Discipline relative ai beni culturali
- Academic discipline
- M-DEA/01
- Type of study-unit
- Obbligatorio (Required)
- Type of learning activities
- Attività formativa monodisciplinare
- Language of instruction
- Italian
- Contents
- The course will outline a framework of qualitative research methods, focusing on fieldwork research. The methodological process will be outlined, considering the main steps of ethnographic investigation: choosing a problem, writing a project, entering the fieldwork, participating/observing, interviewing, making qualitative data analysis, and writing an ethnographic text. Students will be asked to participate in seminars and exercises concerning ethnographic research on objects and everyday life in urban settings.
- Reference texts
- - Fabietti U., Matera V.(curatori). Etnografia. Scritture e rappresentazioni dell'antropologia, Carocci, Roma, 1997, pp. 1-154 (Introduzione; Parte, prima; Parte seconda; Parte terza).
- Semi G. L’osservazione partecipante. Una guida pratica, Il Mulino, Bologna, 2010.
- Miller D. Cose che parlano di noi. Un antropologo a casa nostra, Il Mulino, Bologna, 2014.
Texts in English as suggested alternatives:
Hammersley M. - Atkinson P., Ethnography. Principles in practices, Routledge, London - New York, 1995.
Appadurai A., The social life of things. Commodities in cultural perspectives, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1986.
Students with disabilities and/or with SLD who, having completed regular accreditation through SOL, have obtained access to University services, can apply for the compensatory tools ensured by law (e.g. textbooks in digital format; teaching materials in accessible formats: presentations, handouts, workbooks, provided if necessary in advance of the lessons), for which consult https://www.unipg.it/disabilita-e-dsa.
For the request, students are invited to ask the teacher, who will put them in contact with the Disability and/or DSA Department Coordinator (prof. Alessandra Di Pilla: alessandra.dipilla@unipg.it) - Educational objectives
- The course provides basic knowledge of qualitative research and promotes acquiring epistemological and methodological skills in ethnography.
The main knowledge (Dublin Descriptor 1) acquired will be:
- Knowledge of the qualitative methods.
- knowledge of the relationship between anthropology, sociology, and ethnographic research.
- knowledge of the tools and techniques for interpreting the socio-cultural processes.
The main skills acquired (ability to apply the knowledge acquired, Dublin Descriptor 2, and to adopt the appropriate approach with the autonomy of judgment, Dublin Descriptor 3) will be:
- Ability to define the research problem and adopt effective and innovative methodological choices.
- ability in data analysis and reporting research results. - Prerequisites
- To understand and tackle the course, which has a critical and reflexive orientation toward field research, the student must have basic knowledge of social science theories and cultural anthropology's history. This precondition is valid for both attending and non-attending students.
- Teaching methods
- The course is organized as follows:
- lecturers on all subjects of the course;
- laboratory activities and discussion groups concerning ethnographic research on objects and everyday life in urban settings. - Other information
- Additional bibliographic information will be provided during the course for further study.
Non-attending students should contact the lecturer during office hours regarding the exam schedule.
Students with disabilities and/or SLD: for any information on University services, consult the page https://lettere.unipg.it/home/disabilita-e-dsa and contact the Disability and/or DSA Department Coordinator (prof. Alessandra Di Pilla: alessandra.dipilla@unipg.it) - Learning verification modality
- The exam consists of an individual oral test and usually begins with a question concerning the fieldwork experiences acquired by the student during the course. The discussion interview focuses on the topics covered during the lectures and the issues present in recommended texts. Attending students will integrate the oral examination with a discussion of a written paper, in which the candidates will present and interpret the ethnographic data produced during the course. The acquired skill in ethnographic writing, essential for training in qualitative research methodology, is evaluated as an exemption from part of the overall teaching load.
The oral exam consists of an interview of about 30 minutes and is aimed at assessing the following:
- the level of knowledge of the theoretical contents of the course (Dublin descriptor 1);
- the level of competence in presenting their knowledge (Dublin descriptor 2);
- autonomy of judgment (Dublin descriptor 3).
- the student's language skills in answering the Commission’s questions, sustaining a dialectical relationship during the interview, and demonstrating logical-deductive and summary abilities in the exhibition of one's thought (Dublin 4 descriptor).
The Commission will express the grade in thirtieths.
Note: If a student intends to anticipate his/her exam in a year preceding the one it is scheduled in his/her curriculum, it is recommended that he/she anticipate the lessons' attendance and schedule the exam in the first useful session after the lessons have been concluded. - Extended program
- The course will outline a framework of qualitative research methods in social sciences, focusing on fieldwork research, particularly its interactive, processual, and reflexive features. The process of ethnography will be outlined in methodological terms, considering the definition of the field and the main steps of investigation: choosing a problem, writing a project, entering the fieldwork, participating/observing, interviewing, making qualitative data analysis, and writing an ethnographic text.
Students will be asked to participate in seminars and exercises. These activities aim to create an ethnography of everyday life by exploring (with participant observation and biographical interviews) some daily objects, commodities, and domestic spaces in urban settings. In this way, the research team will describe and experience a concrete biographical approach to the world of things, considering, respectively, recent approaches to material culture, the “social life of things,” the processes of objectification and subjectification through uses of objects, and the performance of commodities. - Obiettivi Agenda 2030 per lo sviluppo sostenibile
- 3, 4, 10, 11