Prerequisites for admission.

Admission to the 2nd cycle programme is subject to the possession of a three-year degree, or other suitable qualification obtained abroad.
To access the Master’s Degree Programme in Anthropology and history of the contemporary world, students are required to prove a good background knowledge in humanities (anthropology, history, sociology, philosophy, languages and literature), acquired through a three-year degree in the following classes: L-1, L-3, L-5, L-6, L-10, L-11, L-12, L-14, L-15, L-16, L-18, L-19, L-20, L-24, L-33, L-36, L-37, L-39, L-40, L-42, L-43 or a university degree of the old system in humanities. Based on the degree class chosen (LM-1 or LM-84) and on the number of university credits obtained in historical and anthropological subjects during the previous study programme, the students’ background is assessed through a non-selective interview by a specific Board appointed by the Degree Programme Board, who indicates possible integrations to be complied with by the last deadline for the enrolment in the degree programme, as per relevant teaching regulation.


The University Degree also requires language skills on at least a European foreign language. Therefore, students are required to submit a certificate proving their B2 level of a European language. A certificate issued by a university is also accepted. The means of assessment and the contents of the test relating to the knowledge of a foreign language are published in detail, well in advance, on the Degree Programme website.

Skills associated with the function

Expert of ethno-anthropology and history
The skills associated to the role in the professional world are not limited to research and analysis methodologies of strictly scientific and disciplinary issues; they include skills and knowledge in the field of communication and information management, collection and processing of empirical data, development of cultural projects, research and dissemination.

Function in a work context

Expert of ethno-anthropology and history
The interclass Degree Programme board aims to provide students with a set of concepts, methods, and abilities that a single disciplinary programme would not be able to offer. However, the shared part guarantees a consistent character to the programme, and allows students to apply - in different professional fields - the ability to understand tensions and dynamics of the current world, which embeds the consequences of the rapid change of relationships between the Western world and the “Third World”. The opportunity to make a set of specific choices will instead allow students to explore themes and perspectives of a more specific anthropologic or historic interest. Graduates will be able to use the experience acquired in the in-depth study of current society and of the issues of diversity, be it cultural, national, of gender, ethnic, or religious. In work contexts, all Master Graduates will be able to take on high-profile professional roles, with coordination tasks of other roles of also with executive responsibilities.

Educational goals

Current issues generate the essential need for a historic approach based on the comparative and interdisciplinary method, in order to examine with a scientific rigour the analogies and differences existing among cultures that are far away from each other in terms of time and space. From this perspective, within the context of a common training project, the dialogue between historic and anthropologic disciplines, which set the crucial question of the different behaviours and values of human groups is extremely necessary.
The Degree Programme intends to train graduates with a sound historic and ethnographic background, with advanced theoretical and methodological skills, aimed at guaranteeing specific professional competence to operate independently and with organisation responsibilities in different public and private contexts of social, educational and cultural nature, both profit and non-profit.

The interclass degree programme is extremely unitary inside.
The first year features a common training programme, which allows students to acquire the essential critical and methodological tools of history and anthropology, the encounter with the essential topics of the modalities of human development, with the economic anthropology and of migrations, with sociology of conflicts and intercultural relations, with the historical and political evolution of modern Europe and the social history of contemporary world, to the purpose of provide students with an overall frame of political and social conflicts since the end of the Middle Age to the current world.
At the end of the first year, students will choose between the two degree classes, LM-1 or LM-84. This means that students will go through two different programmes with relevant variations between them.
On the second year, the ethno-anthropologic programme proposes methodologic knowledge, the study of political and power relations with reference to the European-Mediterranean, American, and African cultural areas, along with interdisciplinary contributions of philosophic anthropology and history of the ideas. Specific in-depth studies are also provided on ongoing research and updates on the state-of-the-art on key topics of contemporary anthropology thanks to seminars that also offer the planned participation of external speakers. The historic programme includes distinctive and similar teachings, relating to cultural history (national identities, nationalisms, internationalisms, religious confessions, philosophic ideas, history of political ideas and, more specifically, theories of peace and war) and a teaching of methodology of historical research. This last one, other than resuming interpretation categories and methods already dealt with by the single teachings, is considered a surveying laboratory on topics that are rooted in contexts preceding the modern and contemporary age.
The training process also benefits from the support of student tutoring service, depending on the availability of the university. Students are assisted by the various professors, through a tutoring activity aimed at making their study programme consistent with their previous knowledge acquired during the base degree programme and in view of future job opportunities.

As regards the specific objectives, the purpose of the Master’s Degree Programme id to train graduates who:
a) have advanced general knowledge on the ethnographic subjects and on the international debate around them; at the same time, have a deep knowledge of events and thoughts of the contemporary age, and of the historic roots of today’s issues, in an interdisciplinary context. In particular, they will be able to actively interact with the Islamic studies, sociology, philosophic anthropology, religious history and the history of ideas.
b) have methodological knowledge and skills, to be able to design and carry out independent and original ethnographic research in various cultural contexts; as regard historic research, are trained to the critical use of archivist, bibliographic and visual sources, based on the most up-to-date analyses techniques and the most suitable IT tools.

The deep exploration of the anthropologic programme further enriches methods and knowledge on specific topics of gender relations, family set-ups, relations of dependence and social inclusion, political institutions, cultural heritage, both tangible and intangible; on the dynamics of migration movements and on the scopes of Europe, America, and Africa ethnology.
Students choosing the historic programme will further explore methodologies and concepts for the analysis of political and social movements, and of the cultural and religious dynamics regarding the current world, the Nineteenth and Twentieth-century in Europe and in the World, to the centuries of the first modern age.

Communication skills

The programme is also aimed at training students to use the communication tools in a clear and effective way, for their future study and work relationships both of a professional and less specialised nature. To that purpose, the ability to summarise and interpret in a critical way will be developed by means of a training programme focused on frequent written and oral tests, scheduled within the various teachings.

As regards the modalities and the teaching tools by means of which the learning results will be attained and assessed, the programme includes the oral and written presentation (individual and/or in a group) of specific researches carried out during the year on topics related to the teaching and collective discussions of the presentation results.

Making Judgements

The combination of a clear broadening of the base knowledge and the direct contact with the techniques and the issues of theoretical considerations and research in the field represents an essential tool to encourage a critical approach towards the topics dealt with, both promoting the abilities to summarise, namely to identify the decisive elements of complex political and cultural situations, and - on the other hand - to allow students to effectively integrate the knowledge available thanks to the tools acquired during the study programme, thus achieving scientifically based independent opinions.

Such skills shall be acquired through the individual study and the participation in practical exercise activities. The Degree Programme includes:
a) the written and/or oral presentation of personal research carried out on topics relating to the programme or agreed with one or more professors;
b) collective discussions of the research results;
c) individual and collective discussions on interdisciplinary topics.

Learning skills

The training process provides for a final research project prepared by the students, aimed at highlighting their skills to independently and originally apply the knowledge and tools acquired during the study cycle. In order to achieve it, the learning activities within the individual programmes, though different in terms of topics and scientific approaches, aim to a strong interaction between the professor and the students, encouraging the latter to play the most active role both during the lessons and in personal work in view of the assessment of the knowledge acquired. The acquisition of this mind-set is an essential objective, as it may be used both in view of a further continuation of a high-training programme, and in any other professional experience.

In brief, the objective to develop knowledge, understanding and communication and learning abilities in an harmonic way will make students - within the tests at the end of the programmes and mid-term tests - to choose topics and issues that increasingly allow them to compare the approaches of the various subjects, as well as to select and apply the most useful analytic tools in an original way.