| THROUGH THE THEME OF EDUCATION, THE COURSE WILL PRESENT SOME KEY PROBLEMS IN THE ANTHROPOLOGY OF CONTEMPORARY GLOBALISED SOCIETIES. THIS WILL BE DEVELOPED IN TWO COMPLEMENTARY DIRECTIONS. ON THE ONE HAND, IT WILL RELATE SOME FUNDAMENTAL CATEGORIES OF THE DISCIPLINE TO EDUCATIONAL ISSUES, ESPECIALLY FROM AN INTERCULTURAL PERSPECTIVE, INCLUDING: HOW THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL CATEGORY OF CULTURE RELATES TO NOTIONS OF ENCULTURATION AND SOCIALISATION AND THUS, IN OUR SOCIETY, TO THE ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION; RELATIVISM AND MULTICULTURAL POLICIES IN THE DEBATE ON WESTERN SCHOOL MODELS; ISSUES OF ETHNOCENTRISM IN ITS (NON-LINEAR) RELATION TO RACISM; THE TRANSFORMATIONS OF THE LATTER CATEGORY OVER TIME AND THE REPLACEMENT OF TWENTIETH-CENTURY RACISM BY MORE ELUSIVE FORMS OF CULTURALIST NEO-RACISM; THE THEME OF CULTURAL IDENTITY AND ITS REDEFINITION, ALSO WITHIN POPULIST AND XENOPHOBIC POLITICAL FRAMEWORKS; SOCIAL STATUS AND CLASS IDENTITY AND ITS TRANSFORMATION IN POSTMODERN SOCIETY; TRADITION AS PROCESS RATHER THAN REPERTOIRE AND THE LIMITS OF THE NOTION OF CULTURAL AUTHENTICITY, ESPECIALLY IN THE GLOBALISED WORLD; AND THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COGNITIVE AND PRACTICAL COMPONENTS IN CULTURAL ATTITUDES AND THE DECISIVE ROLE OF HEGEMONY. ALL OF THESE ASPECTS COME INTO PLAY IN THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL DEBATE ON INTERCULTURAL EDUCATION.
AT THE SAME TIME, THE COURSE WILL COVER AND DEEPEN STUDENTS’ UNDERSTANDING OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL REFLECTIONS AND RESEARCH ON SCHOOLING, TRACING, ALBEIT BRIEFLY, ITS HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT IN BOTH EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN CONTEXTS (THE STRONGEST RESEARCH TRADITION ON THESE THEMES), IN ORDER TO GRASP THE TRANSFORMATION OF TOOLS AND ISSUES OVER TIME. FROM 'CULTURE AND PERSONALITY STUDIES' TO THE CONCEPTS OF CULTURAL DEPRIVATION AND OF VOLUNTARY AND INVOLUNTARY MINORITIES, TO CULTURAL STUDIES, UP TO THE ASSERTION OF THE ROLE OF SUBJECTS’ AGENCY AND THE APPLICATION OF THE NOTION OF 'COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE'. THE PROBLEM, AT ONCE SCIENTIFIC AND CIVIC, OF FAILURE AT SCHOOL AMONGST MINORITIES IS PRESENT THROUGH THE ENTIRE DEVELOPMENT OF THIS HISTORY, UNDERSTOOD MAINLY IN ETHNIC-CULTURAL TERMS (IN THE USA) OR CLASS TERMS (IN EUROPE). SOMETIMES INTERPRETED THROUGH THE CATEGORY OF 'RESISTANCE', IT PROMPTS REFLECTION ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF AN EDUCATIONAL ENVIRONMENT THAT IS MORE WELCOMING TO DIVERSITY. FINALLY, WE WILL CONSIDER THE MAIN STRATEGIES OF ETHNOGRAPHIC RESEARCH IN SCHOOLS, APPLIED AS MUCH TO THE INSTITUTIONAL LEVELS AND PROFESSIONAL COMMUNITIES LINKED TO THE SCHOOL AND TO TEACHERS’ AND STUDENTS’ IDEAL AND NORMATIVE MODELS, AS TO THE WEB OF MICRO-PRACTICES THAT STRUCTURES MUCH OF SCHOOL LIFE.
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