NEWS & EVENTS
Study Group on Philosophy of Anthropology
Philosophy of anthropology is an exciting and unexplored area, and this study group offers a great introduction to some of its issues. The study group is open to all and will be particularly relevant to those in the humanities and social sciences, both undergraduates and postgraduates. The study group will run weekly, starting on January 24th. All readings, room details for in-person meetings at UWA, and Teams links for virtual attendance will be sent to your email (after registration).
Meetings will be 1:30 hours long, starting at 3 pm, Perth time (check here the corresponding time at your location). In this second series of five meetings (24/01, 31/01, 07/02, 14/02, 21/02), we will delve into recent literature on the concept of animism, multispecies kinship, kinship politics, and issues in the discipline of anthropology. Feel free to join all or selected meetings, according to your availability and interest. If you plan to attend, please let us know by sending an email to: [email protected]. |
January 24th – Animism
Bird-David, N. (2018). Persons or relatives? Animistic scales of practice and imagination. In M. Astor-Aguilera & G. Harvey (Eds.), Rethinking Relations and Animism: Personhood and Materiality (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203709887 (10 pages) Peterson, N. (2011). Is the Aboriginal Landscape Sentient? Animism, the New Animism, and the Warlpiri. Oceania, 81(2), 167–179. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1834-4461.2011.tb00101.x (12 pages) January 31st – Kinship and Politics Donner, H., & Goddard, V. (2023). Kinship and the politics of responsibility: An introduction. Critique of Anthropology, 43(4), 331–364. https://doi.org/10.1177/0308275X231217928 (25 pages) Ginsburg, F., & Rapp, R. (2020). Disability/Anthropology: Rethinking the Parameters of the Human. Current Anthropology, 61(S21), S4–S15. https://doi.org/10.1086/705503 (10 pages) |
February 7th – The genealogical model vs. the relational animistic model
Ingold, T. (2000). Ancestry, generation, substance, memory, land. In The perception of the environment: Essays on livelihood, dwelling & skill (pp. 132–152). Routledge. (20 pages) February 14th – Social and Cognitive Foundations of Kin Categorization Mitchell, A., & Jordan, F. M. (2021). The Ontogeny of Kinship Categorization. Journal of Cognition and Culture, 21(1–2), 152–177. https://doi.org/10.1163/15685373-12340101 (20 pages) February 21st – Anthropology's Avatars Kuper, A. (2019). Deconstructing anthropology: First Annual Stephen F. Gudeman Lecture. HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory, 9(1), 10–22. https://doi.org/10.1086/703730 (11 pages) |
Australasian Philosophy of Anthropology Workshop (A-PAW)A-PAW explores the intersection of philosophy and anthropology. We welcome all, but particularly encourage submissions from philosophers, anthropologists, and others aiming to develop non-reductive naturalistic and interpretative frameworks for the study of human sociality. Our goal is to foster discussions on conceptual and methodological issues and explore the intersection of diverse ontologies within these frameworks. Ultimately, we aim to promote interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary dialogue and collaboration.
Venue: The University of Western Australia - Perth, Australia (+ Online) Date: July 3rd-5th 2024 Submissions will open soon! |
Thinking Together WorkshopIn October/November 2023, we participated and sponsored a 3-day interdisciplinary workshop on collective memory and collective knowledge organized by our own Alberto Guerrero-Velasquéz and Dr. Anne Schekenbecker from Murdoch University. The workshop proved to be highly rewarding, and we thoroughly enjoyed the fruitful discussions. Rob and Alberto delivered long talks, while Jorge and Lucia presented flash talks.
More info about the event here: thinkingtogether.au |
KKiM Seminars with Dr. KochanIn August 2023, we organized a 5-week seminar with Dr. Jeff Kochan, a visiting research fellow of the Keeping Kinship in Mind project. Dr. Kochan is currently an Associated Fellow of the Zukunftskolleg, an institute of advanced studies at the University of Konstanz. Jeff’s research combines History and Philosophy of Science with Sociology of Scientific Knowledge, and salts this with a bit of existential phenomenology.
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ISHPSSB 2023We organized a Diverse Format Session called “Keeping Kinship in Mind” at The International Society for the History, Philosophy and Social Studies of Biology (ISHPSSB) that occured between 9 and 15 of July 2023 in Toronto, Canada. Two members of our team were there in person, Rob and Lucia, and two presented online, Jorge and Alberto.
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Philosophy and STS Workshop with Dr. LudwigIn May 2023, we organized a Philosophy and STS Workshop on Transdisciplinarity and Community-based Philosophical Inquiry with Dr. David Ludwig. associate professor in the Knowledge, Technology, and Innovation Group of Wageningen University and the PI of the Global Epistemologies and Ontologies (GEOS) Project which explores different modes of knowledge production and their relations to livelihoods and social realities. |
Undergraduate Research Assistants 2023Amy Alexander (not pictured): Examining the development of feminist thought in relation to kinship and its response to reproductive technologies from the 1950s to the present day. Emma Hughes: Developing an understanding of Indigenous kinship systems and 'skin names', and exploring how these systems shape generational bonds. Akshata Jois: Exploring the biases present in our legal systems towards the nuclear family and how this bias restricts the formation of non-nuclear families. Lara Cooper: Searching for universal meaning in kinship, and investigating how adoption and 'chosen' kinship challenge and enrich the traditional view of kinship based on biological connections. |
Undergraduate Research Assistants 2023 - Presentation and Q&AIn May 2023, our four Summer Undergraduate Research Assistants presented their research projects on kinship at UWA. These students had worked closely with Professor Rob Wilson, the Principal Investigator of the 'Keep Kinship in Mind' project, to explore the concept of kinship and gain experience in philosophical research at an undergraduate level. The presentations were followed by a Q&A session during which attendees could ask questions about both the research projects and the Summer Undergraduate Research Assistantship program to the presenters and Professor Wilson. |