Departmental Seminars

Organised and chaired by Timothy Carroll and Alex Piel

16 November - What is the work of anthropology, who is included?

With: Julia Sauma (Goldsmiths), Ashraf Hoque (UCL Social Research Institute), Harsha Balasubramanian (UCL Anthropology)

As the discipline grows, and tries to become more inclusive, there are sometimes tensions at the borders of Anthropology. Who is allowed to ask what kinds of questions about what kinds of topics? While recent developments in multi species ethnography and material culture have expanded the ‘what’ of anthropological enquiry, there have also been very valid critiques of anthropology concerning the inclusion of underrepresented populations (e.g. socioeconomic background, ethnicity, disability) amongst those conducting ethnography. If anthropology is the study of the social relations, broadly conceived, then what new insights and approaches might the discipline include, and what kinds of growth would this allow? This panel discussion asks us to consider who is the anthropologist, and what kinds of anthropology might we make room for in order to make the discipline more holistic and equitable. 

23 November - Patchwork, distributed, and protracted data sets.

With: Chika Watanabe (Manchester), Elena Liber (UCL Anth), Rafael Schacter (UCL Anth)

While the normative anthropological project is often seen as contained – by both discrete borders and temporal frames – this is rarely experienced in reality. Particularly in the face of shifting academic models (e.g. administrative loads, funding streams, demands for impact in response to global issues), anthropologists often find themselves needing to gather data across locations, during short spirts spread over several years, or collaborate in new ways toward larger aggregated sets. This round table discussion invites us to consider strategies, potential pit falls, and the impact that distributed data sets might have on how we theorise as a discipline.

[CANCELLED due to strike] 30 November - Impact and collaboration.

With: Carol Balthazar, Hélène Neveu Kringelbach, Rafael Chiaravalloti (each UCL Anthropology)

In the context of larger trends in economics and governance, academic institutions and funding bodies have increasingly expected academic research to lead not only to publications and the ongoing enrichment of academia, but also provide clear deliverables back to vested communities and the tax payers. This trend parallels practices within anthropology to ‘give back’ to the local communities amongst whom researchers live and conduct their work. However, at times the ethics of best practice, the sharing of intellectual property rights, and what kinds of engagement and reciprocity count as ‘impact’ is cause for ire. This round table invites us to hear successful accounts of collaboration with vested communities and research participants, and ask what the longterm impact to anthropology might be in light of the growing expectations for academia to produce direct measurable public good.

7 December - Audiences: To whom does anthropology speak?

With: Mette Louise Berg (UCL Social Research Institute), Ammara Maqsood (UCL Anth), Emily Emmott (UCL Anthropology)

Anthropology as a discipline has for some time bemoaned the realisation that it is not listened to by the public in ways that other disciplines appear to be, nor in ways it might have enjoyed in the past. The question, however, at least to some degree, is who ‘should’ be listening? Is this government, community leaders, general members of the public, the media, etc.? The next question, it seems to follow, relates to the best registers, media, and formats through which anthropologists might make disciplinary insight available. This round table invites us to think about potential audiences for our work and, with reference to examples of different media and formats used for dissemination, consider the ways anthropological work might need to change in order to broaden our reach and conversation.