The Department of Anthropology offers courses that focus on human diversities and similarities from a sociocultural point of view. Through theoretical and empirical approaches, issues related to the everyday, religion, food, and music are examined through the department's curriculum.
3 semester credits. This course focuses on the forces that shape cultures and societies. The following topics will be explored: our relationship to our environment, systems of social organization, social rules of law, politics, economics, religion, language, and social practices. Students will gain an understanding of anthropological variations through the study of people as social and cultural beings.
3 semester credits. How is individual and collective memory created? What is heritage, and how is it propagated? This course explores memory and memorialization as social phenomena that shape, and are mutually shaped, by both tangible and intangible heritage. Emphasis is attributed to an increasingly relevant concept in the social sciences: multisensoriality. The latter can be framed as a means to attain an embodied experience that can foster the generation of sociological, political, and imaginative considerations. Memory shapes and is mutually shaped by the organization and values of communities. Students will be exposed to a great variety of multisensorial spaces in Florence, such as participatory museums and memorials. These will be examined analytically, with a particular focus on the methodology of ethnographic research, so as to bridge the gap between theory-based knowledge and the applied skills of data gathering and assessment. The approach of this course is based on experiencing the city of Florence as the academic space for learning and engagement. Classes are not held in a traditional, frontal-style setting; each lesson is carefully mapped for curricular content and featured locations: lectures, observations, exercises, analysis, and reflections on presented topics are held in relevant sites that are accounted for in the academic planning, syllabus, and related course material. Coursework and submissions will be regularly assessed on the MyAUF platform through daily assignments in addition to exams, papers, and projects. Learning through the on-site classroom approach fosters a deeper understanding of the cultural environment of Florence and how it is related to the subject of study represented by the course, and allows the overall experience to contribute to students' academic and personal enrichment.
3 semester credits. This course is structured as one week of on-site field learning class in different locations throughout Tuscany. Students will have the chance to gain critical insight of this superb region as they uncover its unity and fragmentation in terms of territory, gastronomy, social structure, and historical layers. The course will reveal local hidden gems, with the aim of having students embark on an authentic learning experience focused on the traditions, values, and social fabric of Tuscany. The course places emphasis on a variety of Tuscan landmarks, with emphasis on religion, mythology, gastronomy, art and architecture, and folklore. Topics explored will incude: music opera, villas, folktales such as Pinocchio, the wine traditions of Chianti and Montalcino, al fresco meals, and impressive castles. The itinerary will take students through various communities and landscapes of the Mediterranean Riviera, hills, and mountains, immersing them in the richness Tuscany has to offer. On-site teaching is a significant part of this course and aims to provide students with an incomparable experience of studying important sites of artistic, architectural, and social relevance in present-day Italy. Students will be encouraged to observe the sites through active participation and to discuss their observations using specific and analytical social assessment skills. This class also includes field learning hours. Field learning is a method of education through first-hand experience. Skills, knowledge, and experience are acquired outside of the traditional academic classroom setting and may include onsite field activities, field research, and service learning projects. The course’s field learning experience is cultural in scope and aims to be comprehensive. Field-related content is not limited to the course topic but seeks to supplement and enrich it. Students will have the opportunity to integrate theory and practice while experiencing Italian culture, art, and community within the Italian territory. Faculty will lead students in experiencing Italian culture through guided projects and field experiences as planned for the course. Field learning will be developed through classroom preparation, follow up projects, and guided learning outcomes. Field learning will provide students with the opportunity to develop skills and appreciate the multifold components of Italian Culture through direct experience. Field education will advance student learning as a relationship-centered process.