Guidelines for Teachers

Introduction for teachers

The form "Migration and Minorities" aims to provide a path for understanding the complexity of these phenomena in the current context. To achieve it, this first section is dedicated to the presentation of the terms “migration”, “diaspora” and “minorities”. The second section deals with the theme of migration flows Jewish, Christian and Muslims from their countries a historical point of view. The third section examines the social and anthropological motivations of diaspora. Finally, the fourth section addresses the problem of structuring migrant communities in diasporic contexts, in particular by analyzing the case of the Coptic Orthodox Christian community in Rome. It is advisable to encourage students to take a critical walk in their city to discover the migrant communities. The students will document through photographs, the presence of shops, religious places or other. Students will illustrate in class their pictures during a critical discussion led by the teachers.

Conceptual (Knowledge) objectives

• C.O.1: To understand the origin and meaning of terms "migration”, “diaspora” and “minorities”.
  C.O.2: To understand the motivations of migration flows.
  C.O.3: To understand how religious practices are a fundamental tool to transit the identity of minorities in diasporic contexts.

Skills

• S.1: To be able to recognize and understand the concepts of "migration", "diaspora" and "minority" connected with the different religions.
  S.2: To be able to analyze and understand roots and motivations of migration and diaspora thought in specific cases.
  S.3: To be able to analyze and understand the processes and dynamics of the structuring of religious minorities in diasporic contexts.
  S.4: To be able to use and connect in a critical way the information gained through this module to other disciplinary and cultural contexts.

Competences

• C1: To approach the phenomena of migration and minorities in a critical way.
  C2: Recognize the importance of religious practices as a tool for transmission of cultural identity in migration.
  C3: To form an opinion about the rich plethora of immigrant cultures present in their own country.

Additional general info

Bibliography

In Italian:
Balbis Aurelio, (2006), Cenni Storici sulla Chiesa Copta Ortodossa di Alessandria, http://www.coptiortodossiroma.info/libri/cenni_storici_balbis.pdf.
Buzi Paola (2006), L’Oriente cristiano-3. Il Cristianesimo copto. Egitto, Etiopia, Nubia. Storia, letteratura e arte, ESD, Bologna.
Carcione Filippo, (1998), Le Chiese d’Oriente. Identità, patrimonio, e quadro storico generale, San Paolo, Milano.
Zaccaria Paola, (2004), Studi sulla diaspora, in Dizionario degli studi culturali, Meltemi, Roma, pp. 455-463.

In English:
Cohen Robin, (1997), Global Diasporas. An introduction, UCL Press, London.
Steven Vertovec and Robin Cohen, eds. (1999), Migration, Diasporas and Transnationalism, Aldershot: Edward Elgar.

Webliography