Cultural Anthropology

The course explores the role of museums as spaces for discussion on issues of contemporary anthropology, such as intercultural relations, globalisation, climate change and sustainability. Museum anthropology focuses on these topics, using collections as a basis for research, highlighting both their potential and their limitations.

The course includes a mix of theoretical lectures and practical exercises, including fieldwork, to encourage students to understand the different facets of the discipline and to choose their own path within the many specialisations available.

The course will start with the basic principles of research in museum anthropology and the history of studies. Subsequently, it will focus on the formation of collections, with an emphasis on non-European objects, and the functions of museums. Topics such as repatriation, the ethics of collecting and cultural appropriation will be discussed.

It will also examine how postcolonial studies have changed the approach to the management of museum objects in cataloguing, conservation and display.

The use of museum collections to understand historical and contemporary cultures has long been a key objective of anthropology. For this reason, in the final part of the course, case studies of museum anthropology issues applied to Amerindian and Asian heritages of the Museo delle Culture in Milan will be presented.

The course aims to provide the basics of cultural anthropology through the analysis of objects, to acquaint students with the main articulations of the discipline, and to raise awareness of the various aspects of museum practice. The main objectives of the course are:

1. To provide information on anthropological methodologies used in the research, collection and display of materials of anthropological interest.

2. To develop skills in finding and critically reviewing primary sources related to objects.

3. To acquire awareness of the ethical issues involved in the collection, study, cataloguing and display of anthropological and ethnographic materials.

At the end of the course, students will be able to use advanced tools and methodological skills to critically analyse museum collections and heritage management. Furthermore, they will be able to apply these skills in specific projects, taking into account the critical issues related to the use of sensitive materials and using the most appropriate languages.