Wednesday 14 March 2007
Anthropology is not Ethnography
Professor Timothy Ingold, FBA, University of Aberdeen
Radcliffe-Brown Lecture in Social Anthropology
The British Academy
Anthropology has been shrinking. Once an inclusive inquiry into the
conditions of human life, it has increasingly turned inwards on itself.
One reason for this shrinkage lies in the identification of anthropology
with ethnography. Such identification leads us to think of observation as
a means to the end of description. The lecturer will aim to show, to the
contrary, how description not just literary but graphic and performative -
can be re-embedded in observation. Overturning the relation between
observation and description will enhance anthropology's potential to
engage with biology, psychology and archaeology on the great questions of
the origins and destiny of humankind.
The lectures in the 2007 programme are free - no tickets will be issued.
All seats will be allocated on a strict first-come, first-served basis.
The first 100 audience members arriving at the Academy will be offered a
seat in our Lecture Room where this event will take place. The next 50
people to arrive will be offered a seat in our Overflow Room which has a
video and audio link to the Lecture Room. Unless otherwise stated, these
events will start at 5.30pm, to be followed by a reception at 6.30pm.
Please arrive in good time.
British Academy, 10 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1Y 5AH
Nearest tube: Charing Cross, Piccadilly Circus
Buses: Piccadilly Circus, Lower Regent Street, Haymarket, Trafalgar Square
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