2024-25

The aim of the course is to acquaint students with the biology of man and the demography of a series of populations studied by anthropologists, such as the Ache, !Kung, Rendille and the Hutterites and to lead students to the study of the forces that shape the progress of such populations in space and over time.
Course outline:
Population structure and size of population: The examples of the Ache and the Dobe !Kung
Mortality and life expectancy among the Ache, !Kung, Bari, Agta, etc.

The course introduces students to the chief concepts and principles of demography and to the basic techniques employed in the study of demographic phenomena. Particular emphasis is laid upon the links between demography and biological, historical, social and economic phenomena and the cultural features of various human populations.

Greek FolkSongs: Semiotic Approaches

The aim of the course is to introduce first-year students to the various aspects of folklore, the subject itself, the content of folklore, its aims, its history, the methods it employs and to the basic bibliography. There will be extensive reference to the path followed in Greece by folklore, from the observation and recording of folklore in antiquity, during the Byzantine to the post-Byzantine and modern period. The course will also make reference to how folklore developed in the rest of Europe, America and internationally before and after the Second World War.

The course focuses both on the changes to be observed in Ottoman administrative structures from the middle period of the Ottoman empire (17th cen.) onwards and on the consequences for economy and society of such changes. The weakening of the Sultan’s institutional power and the emergence of çiftlik land ownership, the implementation of Tanzimat reforms are some of the issues discussed in the course. In addition, the course analyses aspects of social and economic questions of the 19th century and the matter of how far the Ottoman empire enjoyed access to the new industrial era.