Unit ANTHROPOLOGY OF MIGRATION PROCESSES
- Course
- Social policies, welfare systems and non profit sector
- Study-unit Code
- A003098
- Curriculum
- In all curricula
- Teacher
- Aurora Massa
- Teachers
-
- Aurora Massa
- Hours
- 60 ore - Aurora Massa
- CFU
- 8
- Course Regulation
- Coorte 2025
- Offered
- 2025/26
- Learning activities
- Caratterizzante
- Area
- Formazione psico-pedagogica, antropologica e storico-filosofica
- Academic discipline
- M-DEA/01
- Type of study-unit
- Opzionale (Optional)
- Type of learning activities
- Attività formativa monodisciplinare
- Language of instruction
- Italian
- Contents
- This course aims to provide students with analytical tools and knowledge to better understand contemporary migration dynamics both within and beyond Italy. After reconstructing the historical context of contemporary migrations and clarifying the specific contribution of the anthropological approach to migration studies, the course will explore several perspectives through which the complexity of these phenomena can be understood—such as the transnational perspective, the mobility paradigm, and border regimes. The course includes thematic focuses that relate migration processes to other aspects of migrants’ social lives, including family relationships, social networks, work, gender, processes of growing up and aging, desires, and expectations. Key concepts such as interculturalism, multiculturalism, and inclusion will receive particular attention. A specific section will be dedicated to forced migration, aiming to critically examine certain assumptions (e.g., the dichotomy between “forced” and “voluntary” migration) and analytical frameworks (such as the suffering paradigm and the humanitarian system) that shape current practices and policies of reception and social intervention.
- Reference texts
- TESTI OBBLIGATORI: - Capello C., Cingolani, P., Vietti, F. Etnografia delle migrazioni, Carocci, Roma, 2023 - Dispensa disponibile su Unistudium UN TESTO A SCELTA TRA: - Biffi D. Auto-etnografia dell'accoglienza. Lavorare nei servizi per richiedenti asilo e rifugiati, Edizioni Junior, 2025 - Massa A. Intrecci di frontiera. CISU 2021 - Quagliariello C. L'isola dove non si nasce. Lampedusa tra esperienze procreative, genere e migrazioni. Unicopli, 2021 NON FREQUENTANTI
- Educational objectives
- Working with foreign users, or with families of immigrants, is an increasingly common experience for social workers and social service professionals, including in Italy. This course aims to provide students with an anthropological perspective on contemporary migration dynamics in order to support the integration of anthropological approaches into professional social work practice. Students will develop an analytical lens to critically discuss humanitarian rhetorics, concepts of ethnicity and identity, forms of violence and exclusion, and the mechanisms that produce social, labor, racial, and gender inequalities. By the end of the course, students will have developed a culturally informed, critical, and historically grounded analytical capacity regarding migration as a key intersection of contemporary historical and political processes. They will be able to integrate the concepts and paradigms discussed in class with their own academic paths, positively impacting their ability to work and act in multicultural contexts. Through an in-depth exploration of key terms, students will enhance their communication skills to better understand and discuss key dynamics of multicultural contemporary society. They will be provided with the conceptual and methodological tools needed to form independent judgments on important contemporary phenomena such as racism, migration, and social and labor marginalization, ultimately improving their professional competencies.
- Prerequisites
- Although there are no formal prerequisites, students who have never taken a course in Cultural Anthropology are strongly advised to read one of the following texts (selected chapters only): U. Fabietti, Elements of Cultural Anthropology (only the first 3 chapters of the first part), Mondadori, 2015 F. Dei, Cultural Anthropology (only the first 5 chapters of the first part), Il Mulino, 2016 D. Palumbo, G. Pizza, P. Schirripa, Cultural and Social Anthropology: Concepts, History, Perspectives, Milan, Hoepli, 2023 (first part)
- Teaching methods
- The course will be conducted primarily through lectures, supported by video and photographic materials. Experts in the field will be invited to present their research. Some sessions will be dedicated to group presentations and practical exercises.
- Learning verification modality
- The final assessment will consist of an oral examination, structured as an interview with questions aimed at verifying students’ understanding and knowledge of the topics discussed during the course and covered in the required readings. In addition to the accuracy and completeness of the responses and the clarity of presentation, the evaluation will consider students’ ability to construct arguments, make connections, and use appropriate disciplinary terminology. The duration of the examination may vary depending on how the discussion develops. Students with disabilities and/or specific learning disorders (SLD) are encouraged to contact the teacher in advance.
- Extended program
- This course introduces the contribution of cultural anthropology to the analysis of migration processes and multicultural societies, exploring its theoretical and methodological inputs. The course is divided into three parts. The first part reconstructs the foundations of the anthropology of migration through the examination of concepts such as culture, ethnicity, nation, and citizenship, and their historical development from the Manchester School to the transnational perspective. By presenting specific ethnographic cases from different geographic contexts, the main research themes of the discipline will be examined, including cultures of migration, diaspora, work, gender and generational dynamics, religious and identity dimensions, racism, and processes of discrimination and exclusion. Significant attention will be given to Italian and European reception policies, border regimes between the Global South and North, and forced migration. Central methodological issues in migration studies will also be presented, such as travel, multi-sited research, and the role of images and new technologies. The second part consists of seminars by researchers and professionals involved in migration. The third part is dedicated to group work by students