Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Rappaport, Roy (1926-97), Brian A. Hoey

Brian A. Hoey, Ph.D.

Always After: Desiring Queerness, Desiring Anthropology, Margot Weiss

Margot Weiss

Response To Commentary On “Rethinking Combined Departments: An Argument For History & Anthropology” By Stephen M. Lyon/Durham University, Uk; Yasar Abu Ghosh, Pavel Himl, Tereza Stöckelová, Lucie Storchová/Charles University, Prague; Robert Gibb/University Of Glasgow; Jakob Krause-Jensen/Aarhus University, Denmark; Veerendra P. Lele/Denison University, Ageeth Sluis, Elise Edwards

Ageeth Sluis

Contains response from the authors, Ageeth Sluis and Elise Edwards.

Rethinking Combined History Departments: An Argument For History And Anthropology, Ageeth Sluis, Elise Edwards

Ageeth Sluis

Many opportunities for more integrated teaching that better capture the interdisciplinary nature of contemporary scholars' work and better achieve the aims of liberal arts education still remain untapped, particularly at smaller schools where combined departments are often necessary. The disciplinary boundaries between history and sociocultural anthropology have become increasingly blurred in recent decades, a trend reflected in scholarly work that engages with both fields, as well as dual-degree graduate programmes at top U.S. research universities. For many scholars, this interdisciplinarity makes sense, with the two disciplines offering critical theoretical tools and methods that must be used in combination to tackle …

Response To Commentary On “Rethinking Combined Departments: An Argument For History & Anthropology” By Stephen M. Lyon/Durham University, Uk; Yasar Abu Ghosh, Pavel Himl, Tereza Stöckelová, Lucie Storchová/Charles University, Prague; Robert Gibb/University Of Glasgow; Jakob Krause-Jensen/Aarhus University, Denmark; Veerendra P. Lele/Denison University, Ageeth Sluis, Elise Edwards

Elise M. Edwards

Contains response from the authors, Ageeth Sluis and Elise Edwards.

Rethinking Combined History Departments: An Argument For History And Anthropology, Ageeth Sluis, Elise Edwards

Elise M. Edwards

Many opportunities for more integrated teaching that better capture the interdisciplinary nature of contemporary scholars' work and better achieve the aims of liberal arts education still remain untapped, particularly at smaller schools where combined departments are often necessary. The disciplinary boundaries between history and sociocultural anthropology have become increasingly blurred in recent decades, a trend reflected in scholarly work that engages with both fields, as well as dual-degree graduate programmes at top U.S. research universities. For many scholars, this interdisciplinarity makes sense, with the two disciplines offering critical theoretical tools and methods that must be used in combination to tackle …

Displaying Human Remains In Italy, Why It Matters To Italian Museums: Research, Ethics, And Repatriation, Vincent Barraza

Vincent Barraza

Everyday Violence, Quotidian Griefs: Kidnapping In The Pankisi Gorge, Rebecca Gould

Rebecca Gould

No abstract provided.

Husserl’S Concept Of The ‘Transcendental Person’: Another Look At The Husserl–Heidegger Relationship, Sebastian Luft

Sebastian Luft

This paper offers a further look at Husserl’s late thought on the transcendental subject and the Husserl–Heidegger relationship. It attempts a reconstruction of how Husserl hoped to assert his own thoughts on subjectivity vis-à-vis Heidegger, while also pointing out where Husserl did not reach the new level that Heidegger attained. In his late manuscripts, Husserl employs the term ‘transcendental person’ to describe the transcendental ego in its fullest ‘concretion’. I maintain that although this concept is a consistent development of Husserl’s earlier analyses of constitution, Husserl was also defending himself against Heidegger, who criticized him for framing the subject in …

November Uri Community Diversity Project 2010, Joseph A. Santiago Mr, Riley Davis Ms, Richard V. Travisano Mr

Richard Travisano

November is National Novel Writing Month. For the first time at the University of Rhode Island November was a month for the URI community to share their stories, poems, art, and photos with the world. The Writing to Model Diversity project intends to connect individuals across cultural boundaries and borders by sharing the stories and experiences that challenge our everyday experiences and the dreams of the future. Built on the efforts of the World Voice series, URI presents a book that shares the stories and culture of the students, faculty, staff, and community members who embrace the idea of becoming …

Indigenismo From Below? Carlos Castaneda, New Age Anthropology And Identity Politics, Ageeth Sluis

Ageeth Sluis

This paper explores the intersections between Carlos Castaneda’s work on shamanism, indigenismo, and larger changes within the field of anthropology from the 1960s to 1980s. Castaneda introduced a large readership to Mexico at a time when the Americas saw pronounced socio-political and cultural changes. Despite criticism by fellow anthropologists, Castaneda's bestselling books became instrumental in constructing new indigenous identities, a magical Mexico, and new directions in anthropology. This paper seeks to understand Castaneda within a larger historical context of the historical trajectories of indigenismo and changes in gender and race identity politics both in Mexico and the U.S. due to …

A Historical Background To Anthropology In The Papua New Guinea Highlands, Terence Hays

Terence Hays

This work is a historical background of the early days of how and why anthropological fieldwork was conducted and includes the viewpoints of those who were actually there. Hays, like many others, made his region choice of the Papua New Guinea Highlands based on his imense interest and literature reviews of which happened to be in the literature of the Highlands with works by L.L. Langness, Kenneth E. Read, and James B. Watson. Hays also called upon conversations he had with David Cole and Kerry Pataki-Schweizer for his precise location choice. Hays discusses the early ethnographers during the colonial period …

Sound Symbolism, Onomatopoeia, And New Guinea Frog Names, Terence Hays

Terence Hays

Brent Berlin has recently proposed the use of r sounds as a substantive universal in the names given to frogs and toads, a tendency that he attributes to onomatopoeia. A data set from over 200 New Guinea languages is analyzed. Berlin's proposal regarding r sounds recieves strong support, but an even more significant pattern is found with respect to g sounds. Onomatopoeia is a possible motivation for both of these patterns.

Folktales From Habi'ina, Katnantu District, Eastern Highlands Province, Terence Hays

Terence Hays

The people of Habi'ina village live on the northern slopes of Mount Piora in the Dogara Census Division of the Kainantu District, Eastern Highlands Province. Like other Papua New Guineans, they possess a rich oral literature and tell each other stories for a wide variety of reasons. All stories are called huri, but several different types can be distinguished.

A Pacific Island Collection In Rhode Island, Terence Hays, Mary Conaway, Susan Yeaw

Terence Hays

Collections of artifacts and specimens from Pacific Island cultures are found throughout Rhode Island. The largest and most systematically collected is in the Museum of Natural History in Roger Williams Park, Providence. The items were acquired by Rhode Island citizens over about a 150 year period from the early 1800's to the 1950's. They are from the 3 culture areas of the Pacific: Polynesia, Melanesia, and Micronesia. All form of matter including wood, shell, fiber, bone and skin, ivory, pottery, stone, and human hair are part of the artifact assemblage. The specimens (not studied for this project) include birds, lava, …

America And Political Islam, Richard Lobban

Richard A Lobban

I received this book before 11 September 2001 and am reviewing it in the aftermath of that day. One could not imagine a more intense crucible in which to view a work on political Islam. Under the glare of the fiery collapse at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and with bombs falling on Taliban and al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan, the work of an author and a reviewer requires even greater scrutiny.

Kordofan Invaded, Richard Lobban

Richard A Lobban

The history of Sudan still reflects the country's struggle to find its identity between Middle Eastern and African studies. Even within Sudan, there are spheres of interest ranging from the expanding ancient studies of Nubia to the protracted conflict between so-called Afro-Arab northerners and Nilotic southerners. Lost in these expanding domains are the histories of eastern Sudan and Kordofan to the west. Even the historiography of Sennar and Darfur is far better established than that of Kordofan. Thus, the very title of the book being reviewed suggests that Kordofan is an "invaded" and "peripheral" area on the edge of the …

Seed Of Redemption, Richard Lobban

Richard A Lobban

It is hard to imagine that a single author could so consistently produce published works of the highest quality, with great creativity, on diverse subjects for a variety of audiences. Dr. Deng has made pioneering contributions to law and anthropology as well as to the analysis and practice of foreign relations and diplomacy, so perhaps it is not surprising that in writing his first novel, he should do very well again.

War Clouds On The Horn Of Africa, Richard Lobban

Richard A Lobban

To review a book published five years ago describing a region in great turbulence is a great challenge. As one of those who has also written on aspects of the Horn of Africa it is tragically clear that the region's hostilities have brought misery and death for thousands. Resting with their remains are countless prophecies and predictions which had sought to analyze the latest events. These remarks may sound like defensive apologies of the author of this book, but I will defend him by assessing the difficulty of interpreting a dynamic and volatile region in the paroxysms of radical change.

Arab Society, Richard A. Lobban Jr.

Richard A Lobban

Having studied the Arab world for three decades, I have noted the contemporary gridlock on many pressing regional, social, economic, and religious issues. This has often generated a parallel intellectual paralysis. So, I picked up the edited work by Hopkins and Ibrahim with some hesitation. How could there be any fresh insights? For a reviewer this sense of cynicism was not good.

Repetition And The Symbolic In Contemporary Japanese Ancestor Memorial Ritual, Jason A. Danely

Jason Danely

Ancestor memorial rituals, including mortuary ceremonies for the dead, periodic grave visits, practices at home altars, and the like, constitute the most popular form of religious participation in contemporary Japan, encompassing an increasingly diverse number of ritual forms. This article examines a common theoretical framework used to describe this diversity by categorizing rituals in terms of continuity vs. change or tradition vs. invention. This article proposes an alternate framework for understanding processes leading to the transformation of rituals like ancestor memorial. This framework is centered around the process of repetition and its role in the production of the symbolic. Drawing …

The Seven Spices: Pumpkins, Puritans, And Pathogens In Colonial New England, Michael Sharbaugh

Michael D Sharbaugh

Water sources in the United States' New England region are laden with arsenic. Particularly during North America's colonial period--prior to modern filtration processes--arsenic would make it into the colonists' drinking water. In this article, which evokes the biocultural evolution paradigm, it is argued that colonists offset health risks from the contaminant (arsenic poisoning) by ingesting copious amounts of seven spices--cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, cardamom, allspice, vanilla, and ginger. The inclusion of these spices in fall and winter recipes that hail from New England would therefore explain why many Americans associate them not only with the region, but with Thanksgiving and Christmas, …

The Shanti Sena “Peace Center” And The Non-Policing Of An Anarchist Temporary Autonomous Zone: Rainbow Family Peacekeeping Strategies, Michael I. Niman Ph.D.

Michael I Niman Ph.D.

This article utilizes ethnographic methods and government documents to examine the self-policing and peacekeeping strategies of the Rainbow Family, a nonviolent acephalous intentional community that holds massive weeklong gatherings around the globe. It is a case study that examines the efficacy of these methods, comparing them to those traditional police agencies employ under similar conditions. It contextualizes these strategies by examining other utopian and anarchist communities and movements such as Critical Mass bike rides. This study demonstrates how smiling, chanting, listening, social pressure, and social capital all play into forming a more effective and less violent approach toward peacekeeping.

Wellness, Health, And Salvation : About The Religious Dimension Of Contemporary Body-Mindedness, Christoffer H. Grundmann

Christoffer H. Grundmann

Alluding to the enormous investments in wellness, health, and anti-aging by affluent US society today the article focuses on the anthropological and religious implications of this phenomenon by stating that the pursuit of such caring for the body has superseded the quest for salvation. The first section provides a historical background analysis of how the contemporary semi-religious bodymindedness came about, while the second part analyses wellness, health, and salvation from a phenomenological point of view. It shows that any body image which does not address human frailty turns into something utterly inhumane while a religiously informed anthropology, in contrast, not …

The Epistemology Of Ethnography: Method In Queer Anthropology, Margot D. Weiss

Margot Weiss

This essay explores methodological dilemmas in queer anthropology by reviewing three recent queer ethnographies: Mary Gray's Out in the Country: Youth, Media, and Queer Visibility in Rural America; Mark Padilla's Caribbean Pleasure Industry: Tourism, Sexuality, and AIDS in the Dominican Republic; and Gloria Wekker's The Politics of Passion: Women's Sexual Culture in the Afro-Surinamese Diaspora. The essay aims to illuminate the epistemology of queer studies more broadly by focusing on a key paradox of ethnographic method: the binary of theory and data that is simultaneously made and unmade in ethnographic research and writing. In a newly transnational queer studies, ethnography …

Vampire Island, Anastasia Tsaliki

Anastasia Tsaliki

Participation in this documentary directed by Julian Thomas and produced by Electric Sky for History Channel International.

"The legend of blood sucking vampires has captured peoples’ imagination for generations. Mysterious tales of the undead rising from their coffins to terrorise the living and drain their blood are the stuff of horror movies and novels. But a crack team of archaeologists and forensic scientists have uncovered hard evidence for the existence of the legend – a legend that continues to haunt communities in the present day…"

Et Ego In Academia, Kirby Farrell Prof

kirby farrell

Denial of humankind's creaturely limits is characteristic of much literary criticism. Shakespeare consistently dramatizes the limits of language, seeking to evoke wonder or a tragic sense of madness and chaos through an overplus of meanings in paradox, irony, and wordplay that cannot be processed sequentially by imagination.

Weirdos Riot, Media Gets It Wrong, Michael I. Niman Ph.D.

Michael I Niman Ph.D.

Michael I. Niman is concerned by media treatment of a hippie riot that never happened

The Emerging New Human Being, The Culture-In-The-Self, And Ahp's New Multidimensional Intercultural Initiative, Carroy U. Ferguson

Carroy U "Cuf" Ferguson, Ph.D.

The emerging New Human Being will need to explore and come to terms with a phenomenon, operating deeply, uniquely, and diversely at a core level of all human beings on the planet. I call this phenomenon the “culture-in-the-Self,” a term coined some years ago by cofounders of Interculture Inc. What we commonly think of as culture is just the surface of this phenomenon, often appearing outwardly in the diverse “forms” of cultural scripts, beliefs, values, behaviors, and customs). I want to call attention to what goes on beneath surface culture(s), and how AHP intends to play a primary role in …

Orang-Utans, Tribes, And Nations: Degeneracy, Primordialism, And The Chain Of Being, Gareth Knapman

Gareth Knapman