The course will present a cross-cultural approach to Italian society through the perspectives and methods used in ethnography, psychology, and literary analysis. By blurring the disciplinary boundaries between anthropology and literature, the course will focus on the author as anthropologist, the novel as ethnography, and the implications of subjectivity and interpretation in social studies. Through the analysis of ethnographic essays and narrative fiction, students will be involved in a variety of cultural and social issues: ethnographic research methods and writing, interpretive anthropology, feminism for ethnographic practice, and ethnographic representations of the Italian South, are among the topics covered. At the end of the term, students will design their own cross-cultural research project, with an emphasis on Italian culture and contemporary society. (3 credits)
At the end of the course, students will be able to:
- Understand the basic anthropological and psychological issues (participant observation, data collection, ethnographic writing, ethic concerns in the practice of describing and comparing cultures);
- Develop a critical understanding of the concept of culture and of culturally different contexts;
- Develop text analysis skills;
- Gain a better understanding of Italian society, culture and historical events through readings of fiction and completion of cross-cultural assignments.
Method of presentation:
Lectures, class discussions, ethnographic assignments and presentations, film viewings, and field studies.
LANGUAGE OF PRESENTATION: English
Required work and form of assessment:
Class participation (20%); fieldnotes assignment and cross-cultural project (20%); midterm exam (30%), final exam (30%).
Exams (60%): There will be two written, in-class examinations (midterm and final).
Participation (20%): The class is partially discussion-based and will demand a high degree of participation from students. Students are expected to come to class prepared and ready to participate actively in class discussions.
Cross-cultural assignments (20%): There will be two writing assignments in the course. The first (fieldnotes assignment) will be a detailed ethnographic description and analysis of an unfamiliar place or event, to be read and discussed in class on week 7. The second will be an ethnographic project to be worked in a team through the semester, with a class presentation on week 12.
Assessment Methods:
A: The exam displays an extensive knowledge of relevant information or content, it is accurate and well-written, and demonstrates the ability to critically evaluate concepts and theory with elements of novelty and originality. There is clear evidence of a significant amount of reading.
B: The exam displays a good knowledge of relevant information or content, it is accurate and well-written, and there is a demonstration of some ability to critically evaluate theory and concepts. There is clear evidence of a good amount of reading.
C: This is an acceptable level of performance and provides answers that are clear but limited. The student sometimes lacks a coherent grasp of material, and the writing contains some errors.
D: Important information is omitted and irrelevant points included. The exam contains errors and suggests a poor amount of reading.
F: This work fails to show any knowledge or understanding of the issues raised in the questions. Most of the material in the answers is irrelevant.
content:
PART I: INTRODUCTION TO ETHNOGRAPHIC RESEARCH AND WRITING
Week 1
Session 1: Introduction to the course.
Session 2: Anthropology, cross-cultural psychology and the study of culture: an introduction.
Readings due: Miller, Cultural Anthropology in a Globalizing World: pp. 5-23; 29-44; Berry, Cross-Cultural Psychology: pp. 1-15.
Week 3
Sessions 5 and 6: Ethnographic Realism and its foundations: Bronislaw Malinowski.
Readings due: Miller, Cultural Anthropology in a Globalizing World: pp. 32-33; Malinowski, Argonauts of the Western Pacific: pp. 1-25 (“Introduction: the subject, method and scope of this inquiry”); 81-86 (Chapter 3: “The essentials of the Kula”); 237-255 (Chapter 10: “The story of a shipwreck”): e-text available at http://www.archive.org/details/argonautsofthewe032976mbp.
Week 5
Session 9: Class discussion on film’s issues relevant to research and data collection methodology.
Session 10: Field study.
Week 6
Session 11: Review for the midterm exam.
Session 12: Midterm exam.
PART II: ISSUES IN SOCIETY AND CULTURE
Week 7
Sessions 13 and 14: Class presentations on fieldnotes writings.
Week 8
Session 15: Introduction to Women’s Studies.
Readings due: Women’s Realities, Women’s Choices: pp. 2-10; 15-17; 24-30; 32-33; 110; 121-124; 176-181; Boas, Foreword: pp. 5-6.
Session 16: Women’s Studies in Italy.
Reading due: Aleramo, A Woman: chapters 1-11.
Week 9
Sessions 17 and 18: Women’s Studies in Italy.
Reading due: Aleramo, A Woman: chapters 12-22.
Week 10
Session 19: Introduction to Italy’s Southern Question.
Readings due: Mack Smith, Modern Italy: pp. 206-216; Clark, Modern Italy 1871-1995: pp. 69-70.
Session 20: Carlo Levi’s ethnographic novel: Christ Stopped at Eboli.
Readings due: Carlo Levi, Christ Stopped at Eboli: Introduction and chapters 1-13; Freud, Totem and Taboo: pp. 94-124.
Week 11
Sessions 21 and 22: Carlo Levi and the Southern Question.
Readings due: Carlo Levi, Christ Stopped at Eboli: chapters 14-25; Schneider (ed.), Italy’s “Southern Question”: pp. 180-196.
Week 12
Session 23: Class presentations on cross-cultural project.
Session 24: Class presentations on cross-cultural project. Review for the final exam.
Week 13
Final Exam (TBA)
Required readings:
Aleramo, Sibilla, A Woman (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1980).
Berry, John W., Poortinga Ype H. et al., Cross-Cultural Psychology. Research and Applications (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002).
Boas, Franz, “Foreword”, in Margaret Mead, Coming of Age in Samoa (Penguin Books, 1977).
Clark, Martin, Modern Italy 1871-1995 (Longman, 1984).
Emerson, Robert, Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes (University of Chicago Press, 1995).
Freud, Sigmund, Totem and Taboo (New York: Norton and Company, 1990).
Geertz, Clifford, The Interpretation of Cultures (New York: Basic Books, 1973).
Geertz, Clifford, "From the Native's Point of View": On the Nature of Anthropological Understanding, in Bulletin of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Vol. 28, No. 1 (Oct., 1974), pp. 26-45.
Levi, Carlo, Christ Stopped at Eboli (New York: Farrar, Strauss and Co., 1947).
Malinowski, Bronislaw, Argonauts of the Western Pacific (London: Routledge, 1932).
Mack Smith, Denis, Modern Italy. A Political History (New Haven-London: Yale University Press, 1997).
Miller, Barbara, Cultural Anthropology in a Globalizing World (Prentice Hall, 2010).
Women’s Realities, Women’s Choices. An Introduction to Women’s Studies by Hunter College Women’s Studies Collective (New York-Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005).
Schneider, Jane (ed.), Italy’s Southern Question (Oxford-New York: Berg, 1998).
Recommended readings:
RECOMMENDED READINGS AND FILMS (ON RESERVE):
Rosi, Francesco, Christ Stopped at Eboli (Italy, 1979).
Mead, Margaret, Coming of Age in Samoa (Penguin Books, 1977).
Shostak, Marjorie, Nisa: The Life and Words of a !Kung Woman (London: Harvard University Press, 2000).
Shweder, Richard A. and Robert A. LeVine (eds.), Culture Theory. Essays on Mind, Self, and Emotion (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984).
Brief Biography of Instructor:
Barbara Castaldo is a graduate in Literature and Philosophy from the University of Rome “La Sapienza.” She earned a Master’s degree from Columbia University and a Ph.D. from New York University in Italian Studies with a focus on Social Studies. She is editor of Jack London, Zanna Bianca (Milan: Mondadori, 2000), and published articles on contemporary Italian authors (Marco Lodoli, Sandro Veronesi, Ennio Flaiano, Pier Paolo Pasolini). Barbara was granted the prestigious Pier Paolo Pasolini Award for her doctoral dissertation, and is currently working on a book on Pasolini’s legal trials.
The course will present a cross-cultural approach to Italian society through the perspectives and methods used in ethnography, psychology, and literary analysis. By blurring the disciplinary boundaries between anthropology and literature, the course will focus on the author as anthropologist, the novel as ethnography, and the implications of subjectivity and interpretation in social studies. Through the analysis of ethnographic essays and narrative fiction, students will be involved in a variety of cultural and social issues: ethnographic research methods and writing, interpretive anthropology, feminism for ethnographic practice, and ethnographic representations of the Italian South, are among the topics covered. At the end of the term, students will design their own cross-cultural research project, with an emphasis on Italian culture and contemporary society. (3 credits)
REQUIRED FILM:
Hamer, Bent, Kitchen Stories (Norway, 2003).
At the end of the course, students will be able to:
- Understand the basic anthropological and psychological issues (participant observation, data collection, ethnographic writing, ethic concerns in the practice of describing and comparing cultures);
- Develop a critical understanding of the concept of culture and of culturally different contexts;
- Develop text analysis skills;
- Gain a better understanding of Italian society, culture and historical events through readings of fiction and completion of cross-cultural assignments.
Lectures, class discussions, ethnographic assignments and presentations, film viewings, and field studies.
LANGUAGE OF PRESENTATION: English
Class participation (20%); fieldnotes assignment and cross-cultural project (20%); midterm exam (30%), final exam (30%).
Exams (60%): There will be two written, in-class examinations (midterm and final).
Participation (20%): The class is partially discussion-based and will demand a high degree of participation from students. Students are expected to come to class prepared and ready to participate actively in class discussions.
Cross-cultural assignments (20%): There will be two writing assignments in the course. The first (fieldnotes assignment) will be a detailed ethnographic description and analysis of an unfamiliar place or event, to be read and discussed in class on week 7. The second will be an ethnographic project to be worked in a team through the semester, with a class presentation on week 12.
Assessment Methods:
A: The exam displays an extensive knowledge of relevant information or content, it is accurate and well-written, and demonstrates the ability to critically evaluate concepts and theory with elements of novelty and originality. There is clear evidence of a significant amount of reading.
B: The exam displays a good knowledge of relevant information or content, it is accurate and well-written, and there is a demonstration of some ability to critically evaluate theory and concepts. There is clear evidence of a good amount of reading.
C: This is an acceptable level of performance and provides answers that are clear but limited. The student sometimes lacks a coherent grasp of material, and the writing contains some errors.
D: Important information is omitted and irrelevant points included. The exam contains errors and suggests a poor amount of reading.
F: This work fails to show any knowledge or understanding of the issues raised in the questions. Most of the material in the answers is irrelevant.
PART I: INTRODUCTION TO ETHNOGRAPHIC RESEARCH AND WRITING
Week 1
Session 1: Introduction to the course.
Session 2: Anthropology, cross-cultural psychology and the study of culture: an introduction.
Readings due: Miller, Cultural Anthropology in a Globalizing World: pp. 5-23; 29-44; Berry, Cross-Cultural Psychology: pp. 1-15.
Week 2
Sessions 3 and 4: Ethnographic research methods: fieldwork, participant observation and ethnographic fieldnotes.
Reading due: Emerson, Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes: pp. 1-32 (e-text available at http://www.pacificdiscovery.org/credit/SEAreadings/Robert%20et.al.%20-%2...).
Week 3
Sessions 5 and 6: Ethnographic Realism and its foundations: Bronislaw Malinowski.
Readings due: Miller, Cultural Anthropology in a Globalizing World: pp. 32-33; Malinowski, Argonauts of the Western Pacific: pp. 1-25 (“Introduction: the subject, method and scope of this inquiry”); 81-86 (Chapter 3: “The essentials of the Kula”); 237-255 (Chapter 10: “The story of a shipwreck”): e-text available at http://www.archive.org/details/argonautsofthewe032976mbp.
Week 4
Sessions 7 and 8: Foundations of interpretive anthropology: Clifford Geertz.
Readings due: Geertz, The Interpretation of Cultures: pp. 5-10; 13-20; Geertz, From the Natives Point of View: pp. 26-45 (e-text available at http://hypergeertz.jku.at/GeertzTexts/Natives_Point.htm);
Geertz, Deep play: Notes on the Balinese Cockfight: pp. 1-11 (e-text available at http://rfrost.people.si.umich.edu/courses/MatCult/content/Geertz.pdf).
Film viewing: Kitchen Stories, Bent Hamer (2003).
Week 5
Session 9: Class discussion on film’s issues relevant to research and data collection methodology.
Session 10: Field study.
Week 6
Session 11: Review for the midterm exam.
Session 12: Midterm exam.
PART II: ISSUES IN SOCIETY AND CULTURE
Week 7
Sessions 13 and 14: Class presentations on fieldnotes writings.
Week 8
Session 15: Introduction to Women’s Studies.
Readings due: Women’s Realities, Women’s Choices: pp. 2-10; 15-17; 24-30; 32-33; 110; 121-124; 176-181; Boas, Foreword: pp. 5-6.
Session 16: Women’s Studies in Italy.
Reading due: Aleramo, A Woman: chapters 1-11.
Week 9
Sessions 17 and 18: Women’s Studies in Italy.
Reading due: Aleramo, A Woman: chapters 12-22.
Week 10
Session 19: Introduction to Italy’s Southern Question.
Readings due: Mack Smith, Modern Italy: pp. 206-216; Clark, Modern Italy 1871-1995: pp. 69-70.
Session 20: Carlo Levi’s ethnographic novel: Christ Stopped at Eboli.
Readings due: Carlo Levi, Christ Stopped at Eboli: Introduction and chapters 1-13; Freud, Totem and Taboo: pp. 94-124.
Week 11
Sessions 21 and 22: Carlo Levi and the Southern Question.
Readings due: Carlo Levi, Christ Stopped at Eboli: chapters 14-25; Schneider (ed.), Italy’s “Southern Question”: pp. 180-196.
Week 12
Session 23: Class presentations on cross-cultural project.
Session 24: Class presentations on cross-cultural project. Review for the final exam.
Week 13
Final Exam (TBA)
Aleramo, Sibilla, A Woman (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1980).
Berry, John W., Poortinga Ype H. et al., Cross-Cultural Psychology. Research and Applications (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002).
Boas, Franz, “Foreword”, in Margaret Mead, Coming of Age in Samoa (Penguin Books, 1977).
Clark, Martin, Modern Italy 1871-1995 (Longman, 1984).
Emerson, Robert, Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes (University of Chicago Press, 1995).
Freud, Sigmund, Totem and Taboo (New York: Norton and Company, 1990).
Geertz, Clifford, The Interpretation of Cultures (New York: Basic Books, 1973).
Geertz, Clifford, "From the Native's Point of View": On the Nature of Anthropological Understanding, in Bulletin of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Vol. 28, No. 1 (Oct., 1974), pp. 26-45.
Levi, Carlo, Christ Stopped at Eboli (New York: Farrar, Strauss and Co., 1947).
Malinowski, Bronislaw, Argonauts of the Western Pacific (London: Routledge, 1932).
Mack Smith, Denis, Modern Italy. A Political History (New Haven-London: Yale University Press, 1997).
Miller, Barbara, Cultural Anthropology in a Globalizing World (Prentice Hall, 2010).
Women’s Realities, Women’s Choices. An Introduction to Women’s Studies by Hunter College Women’s Studies Collective (New York-Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005).
Schneider, Jane (ed.), Italy’s Southern Question (Oxford-New York: Berg, 1998).
RECOMMENDED READINGS AND FILMS (ON RESERVE):
Rosi, Francesco, Christ Stopped at Eboli (Italy, 1979).
Mead, Margaret, Coming of Age in Samoa (Penguin Books, 1977).
Shostak, Marjorie, Nisa: The Life and Words of a !Kung Woman (London: Harvard University Press, 2000).
Shweder, Richard A. and Robert A. LeVine (eds.), Culture Theory. Essays on Mind, Self, and Emotion (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984).
Barbara Castaldo is a graduate in Literature and Philosophy from the University of Rome “La Sapienza.” She earned a Master’s degree from Columbia University and a Ph.D. from New York University in Italian Studies with a focus on Social Studies. She is editor of Jack London, Zanna Bianca (Milan: Mondadori, 2000), and published articles on contemporary Italian authors (Marco Lodoli, Sandro Veronesi, Ennio Flaiano, Pier Paolo Pasolini). Barbara was granted the prestigious Pier Paolo Pasolini Award for her doctoral dissertation, and is currently working on a book on Pasolini’s legal trials.