Drawing inspiration from our Fall, 2020 "Confronting Racism" discussion series, the Department of Sociology & Anthropology is launching a regular event and discussion series for spring, 2021, that will draw on disciplinary perspectives to interrogate current events, social movements, and constructions of difference and sameness at home and around the world.
Discussions will be led by department faculty members in collaboration with SoAn majors and minors to build conversation within and beyond the SoAn Department. The series will also incorporate departmental events oriented toward current SoAn majors and minors. The series is open to all in the Puget Sound community and will be held on Zoom semi-weekly on Thursdays at 4PM (see below for a detailed schedule). Details and readings will be posted here a week or more before each discussion.
Please RSVP to individual discussions (links in schedule below) for the Zoom joining information.
The Department of Sociology and Anthropology is committed to promoting the values of diversity, equity, and human rights and to confronting racism in our fields of research, our institution, and our classrooms.
Schedule for Spring, 2021
January 28 @ 4pm
Summer Research Event
Summer Research Event
Interested in applying for summer research funds or just hearing about what SoAn peers have focused on in their summer projects? Come hear about the process and results from three SoAn students who've recently conducted summer research: Maya Gilliam, Oscar Edwards-Hughes, Alexis Foldvary, and Karina Cherniske. They'll be joined by Zach Hermann, a Religious Studies major who has been using ethnographic methods in his summer research. There will be opportunities to discuss the application process, the sorts of projects likely to be successful, and to get advice and guidance from peers and SoAn faculty. Open to all.
February 11 @ 4pm
Bordering on Impossible? The Current State of Immigration Policy and Prospects for Change in 2021
Bordering on Impossible? The Current State of Immigration Policy and Prospects for Change in 2021
Xenophobic discourse, Muslim bans, border walls, restrictions on asylum seekers, and intensified deportation efforts were key features of the Trump administration's immigration policy. In his first days in office, President Biden signed new Executive Orders to counteract these policies and conduct an "immigration overhaul."
Through dialogue with Amanda Diaz, National Immigration Detention Hotline Manager and Puget Sound alumnus, we will take stock of current policies and assess the possibilities for transformation under the new administration. How might it resolve the political and public health crisis faced by thousands of immigrants currently in US detention facilities or awaiting court hearings in camps at the Mexican border? How might it challenge the racist language of belonging and threat Trump used to justify current policies?
Background for our conversation can be found in these articles: Washington Post and the New England Journal of Medicine. You can also consult this Immigration Detention Map by Freedom for Immigrants for more info on detention conditions nationwide. Resources for further reading and action can be found HERE.
February 25 @ 4pm
Dr. Veronika Kusumaryati: "#Papuanlivesmatter: Youth Political Movements and Black Consciousness in West Papua"
Dr. Veronika Kusumaryati: "#Papuanlivesmatter: Youth Political Movements and Black Consciousness in West Papua"
After the brutal killing of George Floyd sparked anti-racism protests around the world, Black youths organized their own protests in West Papua, Indonesia’s marginalized and easternmost region. Since then, Papuans have used the hashtag #Papuanlivesmatter to articulate their connection with broader anti-racism protests across the world and to bring the Papuan experience to #BlackLivesMatter movements.
Please join us for a talk and discussion with Dr. Veronika Kusumaryati, who holds a PhD in anthropology from Harvard University and is a postdoctoral fellow at Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University.
Background for this discussion can be found on this Jakarta Post article by scholar/activist Elvira Rumkabu and Australian radio interview with her, as well as Dr. Kusumaryati's article manuscript here.
If you would like to join the discussion, please RSVP here to receive the Zoom link.
March 11 @ 4pm
SoAn Pre-Registration Social
SoAn Pre-Registration Social
Please join us for a social event where you can get to know fellow SoAn students and faculty, and also hear about the department's fall, 2021 course offerings from the instructors themselves! For our optional ice-breaker activity, please bring an object you can show on camera and which is meaningful to you.
If you would like to watch the class-description portion of the social event, a recording is available here.
Ned Sherry '13 speaking at our 2020 "Life After Graduation" event
March 25 @ 4pm
'Life After Graduation' Event
'Life After Graduation' Event
Thinking about plans for after college, and how studying sociology and anthropology can inform different career trajectories? Come hear a panel of Sociology and Anthropology department alumni speak to their diverse professional pursuits and the role that SoAn training played in paving their pathways into fields as diverse as immigration law, user experience research, risk analysis, and service with AmeriCorps. All are welcome - bring a friend!
SoAn Alumni Panelists
Lizz Marks '18, recent two-term AmeriCorps volunteer and administrator at Ad Astra Bread
Elise Zeidman '15, Legal Assistant at Immigrant Law Group
Grace Goodwin '13, Regional Intel Analyst at Sibylline Ltd Seattle
Allison Beller '08, Lead UX Researcher at User Research International
If you would like to join the discussion, please RSVP here to receive the Zoom link.
April 8 @ 4pm
Doing Fieldwork in Multi-Ethnic Southwest China: Positionality and Reflexivity of a Semi-Native Anthropologist
Doing Fieldwork in Multi-Ethnic Southwest China: Positionality and Reflexivity of a Semi-Native Anthropologist
Professor Yu Luo is a cultural anthropologist at City University of Hong Kong who will be joining our Department of Sociology & Anthropology as the Barnett Chair in China Studies this coming fall.
How does an anthropologist with a certain "native" status observe and write about their own culture? Could returning to one's "home" for fieldwork feel "foreign" to the anthropologist? And, what can awkward, uncomfortable moments during fieldwork inform us about the power relation between the ethnographer and informants that intersects with issues of ethnicity, gender, and class? Reflecting on fieldwork encounters as an anthropologist with ethnic minority background in southwest China, the presenter will facilitate a discussion about the sense of self in ethnographic practices.
Background for this discussion can be found in an Anthropology News article by Professor Luo here. For those interested in a deeper dive on native/semi-native anthropology, this article by Sonia Ryang provides a good introduction.
A recording of this talk can be viewed here.
April 22 @ 4pm
Migration, Activism, Justice, and an Academic Career in Anthropology
Migration, Activism, Justice, and an Academic Career in Anthropology
In the essay underpinning this presentation, I explore the confluence of migration, activism and justice in my career as an applied anthropologist and an academic. Unpacking two decades of research experience on the Arabian Peninsula and in South Asia, I delineate the inherent tension between my longstanding commitment to the scholarly tradition of anthropology, and to the activist agenda that emerged as increasingly central to anthropology in the 1990s. In the concluding portion of the essay, I consider the impact of these different types of work upon the millions of labor migrants who toil on the Arabian Peninsula, and considers the implications to pedagogy in our department and on campus.
Background for this discussion can be found here.
A recording of this event can be viewed here.
April 29 @ 4pm
SoAn Senior Research Symposium
SoAn Senior Research Symposium
Come see excellent thesis research by our graduating Sociology and Anthropology seniors, and join in the celebration of departmental awards. Whether you're a SoAn major, minor, or just SoAn-curious, come drop in to hear about these projects and chat with seniors about their research!
For more information, including thesis presenters and a tentative schedule, please visit our Senior Thesis Research Page.
To attend the symposium, please RSVP to receive the Zoom link.
If you have questions about the SoAn Spring Event & Discussion Series, please email Gareth Barkin at barkin@pugetsound.edu