Environmental Anthropology
A.Y. 2025/2026
Learning objectives
The course aims to provide students with a solid knowledge of the concepts, theoretical frameworks and methodological instruments of Environmental Anthropology.
Expected learning outcomes
Knowledge and understanding
At the end of the course, the student
- has a thoroughly adequate knowledge of the anthropological theories concerning the relations between human societies and environments and between humans and non humans, and can identify and discuss the crucial points of Environmental Anthropology;
- understands the lexicon and knows the subjects of the anthropological literature on culture, society and the environment in different contexts;
- has proficient knowledge of the bibliographic resources and methodological tools characterising Environmental Anthropology.
Ability to apply knowledge and understanding
At the end of the course, the student
- can put forward and outline the main conceptual contributions of Environmental Anthropology;
- can apply the knowledge acquired in anthropological domain to discuss theses, rework problems and make critical judgments in relation to the issues addressed in Environmental Anthropology;
- can apply the conceptual structures of the anthropological sciences to the contemporary cultural debate about ecology, environment and non human animals.
At the end of the course, the student
- has a thoroughly adequate knowledge of the anthropological theories concerning the relations between human societies and environments and between humans and non humans, and can identify and discuss the crucial points of Environmental Anthropology;
- understands the lexicon and knows the subjects of the anthropological literature on culture, society and the environment in different contexts;
- has proficient knowledge of the bibliographic resources and methodological tools characterising Environmental Anthropology.
Ability to apply knowledge and understanding
At the end of the course, the student
- can put forward and outline the main conceptual contributions of Environmental Anthropology;
- can apply the knowledge acquired in anthropological domain to discuss theses, rework problems and make critical judgments in relation to the issues addressed in Environmental Anthropology;
- can apply the conceptual structures of the anthropological sciences to the contemporary cultural debate about ecology, environment and non human animals.
Lesson period: Second semester
Assessment methods: Esame
Assessment result: voto verbalizzato in trentesimi
Single course
This course can be attended as a single course.
Course syllabus and organization
Single session
Responsible
Lesson period
Second semester
Course syllabus
1. Lessons for both 6 and 9 ECTS exams:
Introduction to environmental anthropology.
Basic introduction to the theoretical framework, the research subjects and the methodologies of environmental anthropology. The main currents of the discipline will be presented in historical perspective, with specific attention to the following topics: ecology and social organization; complexity in the relationships between society, culture and environment; cultural diversity and environmentalism; indigenous people, resources and environment; environment, religion and ritual; the Nature/Culture dichotomy; humans and non humans in comparative perspective.
2. Additional lessons for 9 ECTS program:
Humans and non humans in environmental anthropology
Examples of anthropological literature will be presented in order to encourage reflections on the methodologies and the theoretical framework of environmental anthropology, with specific attention to indigenous concepts about the relationships between humans and non humans and the contemporary debate on this subject.
Introduction to environmental anthropology.
Basic introduction to the theoretical framework, the research subjects and the methodologies of environmental anthropology. The main currents of the discipline will be presented in historical perspective, with specific attention to the following topics: ecology and social organization; complexity in the relationships between society, culture and environment; cultural diversity and environmentalism; indigenous people, resources and environment; environment, religion and ritual; the Nature/Culture dichotomy; humans and non humans in comparative perspective.
2. Additional lessons for 9 ECTS program:
Humans and non humans in environmental anthropology
Examples of anthropological literature will be presented in order to encourage reflections on the methodologies and the theoretical framework of environmental anthropology, with specific attention to indigenous concepts about the relationships between humans and non humans and the contemporary debate on this subject.
Prerequisites for admission
No prior knowledge is needed
Teaching methods
Lectures
Debate and discussion
Debate and discussion
Teaching Resources
International students are warmly invited to contact prof. Mangiameli at [email protected]
Readings and assignments for attending students:
Assignments for both 6 and 9 ECTS exams:
1) Philippe Descola, Oltre natura e cultura, Milano, Raffaello Cortina, 2021 (the Introductions and the following chapters: 1; 2; 4; 6; one chosen among 7, 8 and 9; cap. 13)
2) G. Mangiameli, "Il fardello della natura. Indigeni, espulsioni conservazioniste e saggezza ambientale", in La questione indigena in Africa, a cura di M. Sapignoli, R. Hitchcock, G. Mangiameli, Milano, Unicopli, 2017, pp. 245-273.
3) Elisabetta Dall'Ò, Il cambiamento in-visibile. Antropologia dei cambiamenti climatici nel cuore delle Alpi, Torino, Rosenberg & Sellier, 2025.
4) Seven essays chosen from the list
Additional assignments for 9 ECTS exam:
Option a)
1) Philippe Descola, Oltre natura e cultura, Milano, Raffaello Cortina, 2021 (chapter 14; chapter 15; Epilogo)
2) Two essays chosen from the list
OR
Option b)
Five essays chosen from the list
List of essays
G. Bateson, "Finalità cosciente e natura", in Verso un'ecologia della mente, Milano, Adelphi, 1977, pp. 465-479.
G. Bateson, "Effetti della finalità cosciente sull'adattamento umano", in Verso un'ecologia della mente, Milano, Adelphi, 1977, pp. 480-487.
J. Bergoglio, "Lettera Enciclica Laudato Sii del Santo Padre Francesco sulla tutela della casa comune", Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2015. (vale due saggi)
N. Bird-David, "The giving environment: another perspective on the economic system of gatherer-hunters", Current Anthropology 31, 1990, pp. 189-196 (vale mezzo saggio).
N. Bird-David, "'Animism revisited': personhood, environment, and relational epistemology, Current Anthropology 40, 1999, Supplement: special issue, pp. S67-S79.
D. Brockington - J. Igoe, "Eviction for conservation. A global overview", Conservation and Society 4, 3, 2006.
R. Carneiro, "A theory of the origin of the State", Science, 169, No. 3947 (Aug. 21, 1970), pp. 733-738. (vale mezzo saggio)
P. Descola, "Humain, trop humain", Esprit 12, 2005. Scaricabile qui:https://www.cairn.info/revue-esprit-2015-12-page-8.htm?contenu=citepar
R. Ellen, "What Black Elk left unsaid. On the illusory images of green primitivism", Anthropology Today 2, 1986, pp. 8-12. (vale mezzo saggio)
C. Geertz, "The wet and the dry: Traditional irrigation in Bali and Morocco", Human Ecology, 1972, Vol. 1, No. 1 (Mar., 1972), pp. 23-39.
T. Ingold, "Globes and spheres. The topology of environmentalism", in The perception of the environment, London & New York, Routledge, 2000, pp. 209-218.
T. Ingold, "Sogno di una notte circumpolare", in Metamorfosi. La svolta ontologica in antropologia, a cura di R. Brigati e V. Gamberi, Macerata, Quodlibet, 2019, pp. 53-92 (oppure edizione originale inglese).
T. Ingold, "Dreaming of dragons: on the imagination of real life", Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute (N.S.) 19, 2013, pp. 734-752.
G. Mangiameli, "The clouds of the paramount chief. Interpreting the taboo of rainwater among the Kasena of North-Eastern Ghana", Journal des Anthropologues, 132-133, 2013, pp. 339-359 (scaricabile qui: https://journals.openedition.org/jda/5027)
G. Mangiameli, "Una salutare ambiguità. Orti urbani, antropologia, trasformazioni", Archivio di etnografia, 1-2, 2017, pp. 103-127.
M. Mauss, "Essai sur les variations saisonniéres des sociétés eskimos: ètude de morphologie sociale" (qualunque versione)
R. Rappaport, "Ritual, sanctity, and cybernetics", American Anthropologist, 73, No. 1 (Feb., 1971), pp. 59-76.
J. Steward, "Gli indiani shoshoni del Grande Bacino: un esempio di livello familiare di integrazione socioculturale", in Teoria del mutamento culturale. La metodologia dell'evoluzione multilineare, Torino, Boringhieri, 1977.
P. West - J. Igoe - D. Brockington, "Parks and peoples. The social impact of protected areas", Annual Review of Anthropology 35, 2006, pp. 251- 277.
Readings and assignments for attending students:
Assignments for both 6 and 9 ECTS exams:
1) Philippe Descola, Oltre natura e cultura, Milano, Raffaello Cortina, 2021 (the Introductions and the following chapters: 1; 2; 4; 6; one chosen among 7, 8 and 9; cap. 13)
2) G. Mangiameli, "Il fardello della natura. Indigeni, espulsioni conservazioniste e saggezza ambientale", in La questione indigena in Africa, a cura di M. Sapignoli, R. Hitchcock, G. Mangiameli, Milano, Unicopli, 2017, pp. 245-273.
3) Elisabetta Dall'Ò, Il cambiamento in-visibile. Antropologia dei cambiamenti climatici nel cuore delle Alpi, Torino, Rosenberg & Sellier, 2025.
4) Seven essays chosen from the list
Additional assignments for 9 ECTS exam:
Option a)
1) Philippe Descola, Oltre natura e cultura, Milano, Raffaello Cortina, 2021 (chapter 14; chapter 15; Epilogo)
2) Two essays chosen from the list
OR
Option b)
Five essays chosen from the list
List of essays
G. Bateson, "Finalità cosciente e natura", in Verso un'ecologia della mente, Milano, Adelphi, 1977, pp. 465-479.
G. Bateson, "Effetti della finalità cosciente sull'adattamento umano", in Verso un'ecologia della mente, Milano, Adelphi, 1977, pp. 480-487.
J. Bergoglio, "Lettera Enciclica Laudato Sii del Santo Padre Francesco sulla tutela della casa comune", Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2015. (vale due saggi)
N. Bird-David, "The giving environment: another perspective on the economic system of gatherer-hunters", Current Anthropology 31, 1990, pp. 189-196 (vale mezzo saggio).
N. Bird-David, "'Animism revisited': personhood, environment, and relational epistemology, Current Anthropology 40, 1999, Supplement: special issue, pp. S67-S79.
D. Brockington - J. Igoe, "Eviction for conservation. A global overview", Conservation and Society 4, 3, 2006.
R. Carneiro, "A theory of the origin of the State", Science, 169, No. 3947 (Aug. 21, 1970), pp. 733-738. (vale mezzo saggio)
P. Descola, "Humain, trop humain", Esprit 12, 2005. Scaricabile qui:https://www.cairn.info/revue-esprit-2015-12-page-8.htm?contenu=citepar
R. Ellen, "What Black Elk left unsaid. On the illusory images of green primitivism", Anthropology Today 2, 1986, pp. 8-12. (vale mezzo saggio)
C. Geertz, "The wet and the dry: Traditional irrigation in Bali and Morocco", Human Ecology, 1972, Vol. 1, No. 1 (Mar., 1972), pp. 23-39.
T. Ingold, "Globes and spheres. The topology of environmentalism", in The perception of the environment, London & New York, Routledge, 2000, pp. 209-218.
T. Ingold, "Sogno di una notte circumpolare", in Metamorfosi. La svolta ontologica in antropologia, a cura di R. Brigati e V. Gamberi, Macerata, Quodlibet, 2019, pp. 53-92 (oppure edizione originale inglese).
T. Ingold, "Dreaming of dragons: on the imagination of real life", Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute (N.S.) 19, 2013, pp. 734-752.
G. Mangiameli, "The clouds of the paramount chief. Interpreting the taboo of rainwater among the Kasena of North-Eastern Ghana", Journal des Anthropologues, 132-133, 2013, pp. 339-359 (scaricabile qui: https://journals.openedition.org/jda/5027)
G. Mangiameli, "Una salutare ambiguità. Orti urbani, antropologia, trasformazioni", Archivio di etnografia, 1-2, 2017, pp. 103-127.
M. Mauss, "Essai sur les variations saisonniéres des sociétés eskimos: ètude de morphologie sociale" (qualunque versione)
R. Rappaport, "Ritual, sanctity, and cybernetics", American Anthropologist, 73, No. 1 (Feb., 1971), pp. 59-76.
J. Steward, "Gli indiani shoshoni del Grande Bacino: un esempio di livello familiare di integrazione socioculturale", in Teoria del mutamento culturale. La metodologia dell'evoluzione multilineare, Torino, Boringhieri, 1977.
P. West - J. Igoe - D. Brockington, "Parks and peoples. The social impact of protected areas", Annual Review of Anthropology 35, 2006, pp. 251- 277.
Assessment methods and Criteria
The exam will be oral. Its purpose will be to test the knowledge of the volumes indicated in the reading list, with reference to the theoretical framework, the methods and the research topics of enviromental anthropology.
Evaluation criteria:
- knowledge of the theoretical aspects of the topics discusses during the course;
- ability to exemplify concepts;
- adequacy of lexicon
Evaluation criteria:
- knowledge of the theoretical aspects of the topics discusses during the course;
- ability to exemplify concepts;
- adequacy of lexicon
Modules or teaching units
Parte A e B
M-DEA/01 - DEMOLOGY, ETHNOLOGY AND ANTHROPOLOGY - University credits: 6
Lessons: 40 hours
Parte C
M-DEA/01 - DEMOLOGY, ETHNOLOGY AND ANTHROPOLOGY - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Educational website(s)
Professor(s)
Reception:
Tuesday 2pm-5pm. Contact me by email.
Department of Philosophy "Piero Martinetti", Icehouse Courtyard, last floor