The University of Lecce is pleased to announce the first International Summer School in anthropology to be held in Apulia (Puglia), southern Italy.

In the current era when a thorough understanding of cultural and local differences is the only means to avoid dangerous generalizations, clichés and intolerance, we feel the need to offer an opportunity to experience “learning in the field”. It is our belief that southern Italy constitutes an appropriate venue for discussing in loco issues relating to various fields of contemporary anthropology, such as the changing moral and social role of Christianity, the impact of globalization and mass tourism on religious rituals and festivals, material culture and the revival of a “southern identity”.

Participants will be able to test the applicability of theoretical methods in the field and discuss them with scholars who live and work in everyday contact with these phenomena. This approach will offer up a lively perspective on anthropology, with a strong emphasis on communication and interaction between students and lecturers as well as students and locals.

Instructors at the Summer School will mostly (and not only) include teachers of anthropology in southern Italian academic institutions and local researchers. This is intended to provide a real "emic" perspective to the school activities.

The language of the Summer School will be English. Applications are welcome from students and scholars working on anthropology, Mediterranean studies, religion and other themes in the social and cultural anthropology of Europe. Applicants should be interested in theoretical and methodological issues and in comparative approaches.

The course will last 10 days. The seminars will cover several topics in the field of the anthropology of Southern Europe and especially the specific ethnographic case of southern Italy.

The structure of the Summer School is based on two types of sessions: theory and practice. Theoretical sessions will usually take place in the morning, while the afternoons will be devoted to field trips, excursions and practical sessions. This approach is intended to enable participants to take an active part in the program and observe first-hand some of the problems and phenomena discussed in the course.

Information on the school can be found at: www.medius-terrae.com Applications are due by April 15.

More info from: dtorsello@yahoo.it Davide Torsello, PhD University of Lecce Italy

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