CULTURAL ANTROPOLOGY

This course, designed for students in the Bachelor’s program in Social Work (L39), will be led by Prof. Mara Benadusi and Prof. Antonio Vesco. By the end of the course, students will not only have acquired fundamental concepts in anthropology, but also essential practical skills for working in social services and personal care services, specifically:

• Critical Reflection skills: Analyze cultural dynamics in social work from an anthropological perspective.
• In-Depth Understanding of Care Processes: Explore the complexities of care relationships and appreciate the value of reciprocity in interactions with vulnerable groups.
• Ability to Apply Theory to Social Practice: Utilize anthropological theories to examine the moral and socio-cultural dimensions of social work.
• Familiarity with Interactive Learning Styles: Engage in discussions and collaborative projects that promote more effective learning dynamics in the field of social work.

Information for Students with Disabilities or Special Needs

To ensure equal learning opportunities, we encourage students with special needs to schedule a personal meeting to discuss how we can best support their learning goals. Students may also contact the department’s designated representative from the CInAP (Center for Active and Participatory Inclusion - Services for Students with Disabilities or Learning Disorders).

This course offers an engaging introduction to the anthropology of welfare, divided into two comprehensive parts.

Part One: Students will develop a critical understanding of key concepts such as nature vs. culture, identity vs. otherness, and ethnicity vs. ethnocentrism. We will explore the intricate relationships between public welfare, social research, and the roles of the third sector, crime, politics, and the market. Key methodological approaches in anthropology and the basic skills of ethnographic fieldwork will also be introduced.

Part Two: This section delves into anthropological literature on various facets of the social protection system. We’ll focus on critical areas like public health, education, rehabilitation policies in prisons, street education, addiction recovery, and services for children at risk. Students will collaborate in groups to examine a monograph that investigates the interplay between anthropology and social work within one of these contexts. Field visits and hands-on activities will enhance learning in this phase.

A) For the theoretical part:

• B. Miller, Antropologia culturale, Pearson, 2ª edizione, 2019 (Chapters 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10);
• Giacomo Pozzi and Luca Rimoldi (eds.), Pensare un'antropologia del welfare. Etnografie dello stato sociale in Italia, Meltemi, 2022 (Introduction by the authors, plus one chapter of the student’s choice).

B) For the empirical part, students should choose one of the following texts:

• Martina Riina, L’erba tinta. Dentro le crepe di Borgo Vecchio a Palermo: un racconto antropologico, Editpress, 2021.
• Philippe Bourgois e Jeff Schonberg, Reietti e fuorilegge. Antropologia della violenza nella metropoli americana, DeriveApprodi, 2019.
• Valentina Castellano, Revolving door. I servizi per i minori e la riproduzione delle disuguaglianze a New York, Edizione Junior, 2018.
• Elton Kalica e Simone Santorso (eds.), Farsi la galera. Spazi e culture del penitenziario, Ombre Corte, 2018.
• Lorenzo Urbano, Scegliere la malattia. Responsabilità e riflessività nella riabilitazione della tossico dipendenza, ARGO, 2023.

The final exam will be oral. However, for those attending the course, there will be the opportunity to participate in intermediate assessments based on the monographs included in the program. Students will be evaluated not only on their disciplinary knowledge but also on the following: a) Their active participation in class; b) The quality of their group work contributions; c) Their ability to connect theoretical knowledge with real-world problems analyzed through ethnographic case studies.