ANTROPOLOGIA DEL PATRIMONIO E DEL TURISMO

The course aims to equip students with the necessary skills to analyze heritage processes and tourism phenomena from an anthropological perspective. Students will develop critical conceptual tools and gain insights into the social dynamics associated with heritage and tourism through the study of relevant literature and ethnographic examples:

 - Analyse heritage processes, tourism phenomena, and cultural policies using the theoretical and methodological tools of anthropology;

- Identify and analyze the relationships between local dynamics and global processes regarding tourism and revitalization phenomena;

- Apply the acquired knowledge to the analysis and/or design of heritage enhancement projects;

- Critically discuss the economic, socio-cultural, and political implications of the impact of tourism on local communities and territories;

- Understand the different ways of managing local heritage and tourism resources; 

- Communicative skills acquired by using teaching methods based on active participation and dialogue between students and teachers.

The course will be divided into frontal lectures dedicated to the in-depth study of the main themes that have characterized anthropological reflection, with particular attention to the concepts of heritage and tourism, alternating with seminar lessons dedicated to the in-depth study of specific topics. The lectures and seminars will be complemented by class debates, film screenings, and the analysis of photographic and promotional material, which will involve the active participation of the students.

The course is designed to provide participants with an introduction to anthropology's main concepts, theoretical and methodological approaches. This will equip them with the necessary analytical tools to study the course material with ease. The focus of the course will then shift to the concepts of heritage and tourism and emphasize their processual nature and historically constructed character. It will also highlight how tourism and heritage discourses, practices, and projects are embedded within complex political dynamics and relate to the identity, social and cultural dimensions of people and places. Therefore, these become relevant anthropological objects for understanding the present. Finally, the course will critically reflect on the various forms that the relationship between institutional processes and local practices of appropriation and manipulation of tourism phenomena and heritage objects can take, through analysis of specific ethnographic contexts.

The final grade for this course will be determined through individual oral interviews. The interviews are designed to test the students' skills in critical analysis, synthesis, and exposition of the topics in the syllabus. The grade will be expressed in thirtieths and will take into account the following elements:

1. Accurate and precise use of terminology in the exposition of the course contents and the texts in the syllabus.

2. Ability to analyze the material.

3. Ability to synthesize information.

4. Capacity for critical processing of content and methods.

5. Ability to establish connections between different parts of the program and between programs of other subjects.

6. Ability to develop original reasoning around content and methods. 

For students who attend lectures, active participation during class, personal research and readings, and discussions with colleagues and the lecturer will be considered in their assessment.

Additionally, an intermediate test may be offered, and details for this will be announced at the beginning of the course, after an assessment of the basic level of preparation of attending students.

- The candidate is required to explain the areas of study and methods used in cultural anthropology.

What does the term 'cultural heritage' mean in the context of anthropology?

- The candidate should discuss how heritage and nationalism are connected and provide specific ethnographic examples to support their argument.

- How is the modern concept of heritage related to the concept of risk?

- The candidate is expected to define the concept of intangible cultural heritage and provide examples from the texts analyzed.

- The candidate must describe the evolution of the anthropological approach to tourism phenomena in the European context.