teacher profile teaching materials
The study of shared religious places is conducted from a trans-scalar perspective, capable of creating a dialogue between bottom-up forces—linked to forms of daily cohabitation, ritual creativity, and the spontaneous negotiations of the faithful—and top-down logics imposed by institutional policies, urban governance, and religious authorities.
Key themes addressed include the circulation of objects, bodies, and devotional practices—central to understanding the functioning of these spaces—and the transformations induced by preservation and enhancement processes, highlighting how institutional management and heritage protection interact with the daily and ritual use of space.
Programme
The laboratory examines the configuration of shared religious places—sites claimed and inhabited by two or more religious groups—as nodes of global dynamics, investigating the tensions between devotional practices, representation of the self (and the other), and heritagitization processes. By integrating historical analysis with the tools of geography and anthropology, the laboratory provides the necessary skills to decode the role of religious places in the construction of ethnic-religious identity, collective memory, the control of and access to resources, and the genesis of conflicts and their pacification.The study of shared religious places is conducted from a trans-scalar perspective, capable of creating a dialogue between bottom-up forces—linked to forms of daily cohabitation, ritual creativity, and the spontaneous negotiations of the faithful—and top-down logics imposed by institutional policies, urban governance, and religious authorities.
Key themes addressed include the circulation of objects, bodies, and devotional practices—central to understanding the functioning of these spaces—and the transformations induced by preservation and enhancement processes, highlighting how institutional management and heritage protection interact with the daily and ritual use of space.
Attendance
Attendance is mandatory. To be eligible for the exam, students must attend at least 75% of the scheduled seminars.Type of evaluation
Attending students will be evaluated based on a final paper (between 2,500 and 3,000 words) focused on one or more of the themes covered. Students can choose from the three options listed below or arrange a customized one with the instructor: 1. Critical Essay: An original analysis centered on a theoretical node or a specific case study addressed in the laboratory. 2. In-depth Review: A critical examination and historiographical contextualization of one or more reference texts from the scientific literature. 3. Critical Literature Review: A structured synthesis and evaluation of the methodological debates that have redefined the spatial paradigm in the study of sacred places.