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Selected Works

Anthropology

Articles 1 - 4 of 4

Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities

Displaying Human Remains In Italy, Why It Matters To Italian Museums: Research, Ethics, And Repatriation, Vincent Barraza Apr 2014

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

Vincent Barraza

Looking critically at museum collections in Italy exhibiting human remains, this paper examines current display practices and techniques, cultural views on displaying the dead, and explores the controversial topic of “Human Remains vs. Historical Object.” This paper compares the scientific benefits of collecting, analyzing, displaying human remains, in concert with a cultural and physical anthropological analysis, including cultural identity and viewer interpretation.  It argues the ethical and moral issues associated with the exposition of human remains for their historical, scientific or entertainment value. Finally, it explores the principles behind repatriation, including a discussion on ownership and assessing claims to human …

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Wellness, Health, And Salvation : About The Religious Dimension Of Contemporary Body-Mindedness, Christoffer H. Grundmann Dec 2010

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and religious implications of this phenomenon by stating that the pursuit of such caring for the body has superseded the quest for salvation.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 …

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Orang-Utans, Tribes, And Nations: Degeneracy, Primordialism, And The Chain Of Being, Gareth Knapman Dec 2007

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

Gareth Knapman

This article explores how early anthropological writing (1830s and 1840s) on the nation faced the question: How natural was the nation? In exploring development of the nation from the tribe, colonial ethnological writers in Southeast Asia also explored the limits of primordialism. Debates on the humanity of the orang-utan represented the search for these limits. The theme of degeneracy underpinned these connections. Degeneracy was a complex belief that connected the civilized nation to the savage tribe. Two methodologies underpinned this discourse: scientific rationality and imagination. Many contemporary studies focus on how scientific rationality created distance between the colonized and the …

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Language Dreamers: Race And The Politics Of Etymology In The Caucasus, Rebecca Gould Dec 2006

Language Dreamers: Race And The Politics Of Etymology In The Caucasus, Rebecca Gould

Rebecca Gould

No abstract provided.

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