Discussions among anthropologists about who we are and what our goals are are fragmented. We do not often speak to each other about such things, leaving our shared understandings implicit. The recent discussions regarding Akhil Gupta's 2021 Presidential Address have provided an exciting exception. We witnessed wide-ranging discussions about the past, present, and future of anthropology on the "all member” Communities platform of the American Anthropological Association, encouraged initially by a post provided by Herbert Lewis.
This "Zoom" meeting aims to continue these conversations, with the main protagonists (including Gupta’s co-author, Jesse Stoolman) present and active. Dialog is our goal. With the aid of discussant Gitika De, we want to try to do what anthropologists supposedly do best: that is, to listen to each other – to walk in the shoes of others and to learn from others’ experiences. We aim for a discussion that honors the deeper similarities residing in our varied viewpoints. We hope to foster, even if only as a beginning step, the emergence of a collective vision for anthropology’s future, one that truly celebrates our collective humanity.
Speakers:
Emeritus Prof. Dr. Herbert Lewis (University of Wisconsin at Madison)
Prof. Dr. Akhil Gupta (University of California, Los Angeles)
Assist. Prof. Dr. Gitika De (University of Delhi)
PhD candidate Jessie Stoolman (University of California, Los Angeles)
Discussion will be moderated by Prof. Dr. Elisa Sobo (San Diego State University) and Prof. Dr. Victor de Munck (Vilnius University).
This event is co-organized by the San Diego State University and the Institute of Asian and Transcultural Studies at Vilnius University.
Time: February 17 at 6:00 PM EET (8:00 AM PST, 9:30 PM IST).
Registration (compulsory for participating in “Zoom” platform): forms.gle/WADs4A8DoC9gkWdn6.
This event will be streamed on VU ATSI and VU Faculty of Philosophy (VU Filosofijos fakultetas) “Facebook” pages.