UC Berkeley Anthropology

Please check out Candace Lukasik's recent interview on her dissertation with the Coptic Canadian History Project. Candace Lukasik is a PhD student in our department, specializing in migration, religion, and politics with a focus on American geopolitical interest in Middle Eastern Christians. Link here: https://thecchp.com//interview-with-candace-lukasik-trans/

Please join us for our next 290 event with guest speaker, Professor Rosalind Fredericks, Associate Professor of Geography and Development Studies at the Gallatin School, New York University! Professor Fredericks' talk will be on Monday, October 21st, 24pm, 221 Kroeber Hall. There will be a reception following the talk. Title: Anthropocenic Discards: Infrastructural Labors and Uncanny Exposures at Dakar’s Dump Abstract: As infrastructures of wasted materials and disposable... people, waste dumps may be the signature archive of the Anthropocene. At once the most stigmatized of urban labor and at the same time, a service essential to facilitating the onward march of urban modernity, waste picking labor is, then, a sort of Anthropocenic work par excellence. This talk examines ethnographically the provocations for understandings of the Anthropocene posed by infrastructures of picking labor at Dakar’s massive, unplanned (sauvage) garbage dump, Mbeubeuss. In the context of an impending plan financed by the World Bank to modernize the dump, it examines the production of value, as well as bodily, spiritual, and ontological (in)security embedded in these infrastructures of disposability. Close exploration of the delicate relationships entailed in picking labor illuminates the forms of living and being carved out in uncanny ecologies yoking the human, natural, and otherworldly on a damaged planet. Through grappling with how pickers apprehend and navigate exposure to biochemical and social toxicities, the talk endeavors to render the violences of the Anthropocene visible and offer new provocations for how socio-material relationships may be revalued. See more

Please join us for our next 290 event with guest speaker, Dr. Carla Hernández Garavito, Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellow at UC Riverside! Dr. Hernández Garavito's talk will be next Monday, Sept 23rd, 24pm, at 221 Kroeber Hall. There will be a reception following the talk. Title: Experiencing Community: Residential Life Under the Inka Empire in Huarochirí (Lima, Peru)... Abstract: In this talk I discuss how Inka imperialism was experienced by a small Andean community in the Peruvian Highlands. I argue that Inka imperialism in Huarochiri built upon existing local practices and rituals, as well as the appropriation and redefinition of community organization. I focus on domestic space to map both the subtle and drastic changes under Inka control. I also demonstrate how local practices rebuilt themselves in the face of the Inka and subsequent Spanish conquests. The archaeology of the Inka Empire has more often focused on institutions, infrastructure, and militarism. Through my analysis, I build on this research and expand it by looking at the impact of empire in every-day life and, conversely, at the effect subjected communities had in the evolving of Inka imperial practices.

We are happy to announce an open Indigenous Archaeology position for Fall 2020! Please see below for details regarding qualifications and how to apply. Assistant Professor - Indigenous Archaeology Department of Anthropology The Department of Anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley seeks applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor position, in the area of indigenous archaeology, with an expected start date of July 1, 2020....Continue reading

Please join us for our first 290 event of the semester with guest speaker, Professor Kabir Tambar from Stanford University! The event will be this Monday, September 16th at 2pm, 221 Kroeber Hall. There will be a reception following the talk in 219 Kroeber Hall. Professor Kabir Tambar is a sociocultural anthropologist who works at the intersections of political anthropology and the anthropology of religion. He is broadly interested in the politics of history, performances of p...ublic criticism, and varieties of Islamic practice in Turkey. Professor Tambar's talk is titled, "On the Politics of Friendship in the Middle East." Abstract: This essay examines professions of friendship: efforts by populations who are targeted as enemies of the state to proclaim their historical fidelity to the state’s foundation and preservation. Such declarations often reinscribe a rigid and often violently statist narrative of politics. The essay argues that the retrenchment of this narrative, when reissued in the name of friendship, does not simply close down political options. It seeks to embolden sentiments of moral obligation across instituted lines of enmity. These solicitations of friendship are burdened by a particular historical task: to envision a past and a future of social cohabitation in a present where its possibilities have been violently undermined and morally devalued. The essay centers on two instances that bookend the past century: the first was delivered in Istanbul by an organization speaking on behalf of Armenians living in territories claimed by the Turkish nationalist movement in 1922; the second was issued by a Kurdish Peace Mother in Diyarbakr, as a plea for an end to state violence in late 2015. Please see flyer below!

We are very excited to welcome Dr. Daena Funahashi to our department as a Professor in Sociocultural Anthropology. Dr. Funahashi specializes in medical anthropology, continental philosophy, sacrifice, addiction, ethnographic writing, scientific authority, political economy, theories of negativity, and has conducted research in both Southeast Asia (Thailand) and Finland. We asked Dr. Funahashi some questions about herself and her research to get to know her. Here is what she h...Continue reading

Special Lecture by Professor Emerita Meg Conkey on August 1, 7:30pm -9:00pm at Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar, Berkeley, CA 94709. The talk is titled: "News from the Ice Age: Mobility, Connectivity and Home or How Our Ice Age Ancestors Might Tell Us Something about Adapting to Climate Challenges." If you're interested in Archaeology and climate change, please check it out!

The Department of Anthropology announces an open Indigenous Archaeology faculty position for Fall 2020. More details on qualifications and how to apply will follow shortly. Thank you!

Hi everyone! If you're interested in learning more about archaeology, please check out the Instagram page @faces_of_archaeology! The page highlights diversity among archaeologists and is run by 2 of our Archaeology PhDs, Alexandra McCleary and Kirsten Vacca! They are also looking for submissions, so feel free to email or DM their page if you want to submit a photo with a bio and any relevant hashtags, @s, etc. Thank you!

Today is Big Give Day, UC Berkeley’s day of giving. If you believe in the value of the Anthropology at Berkeley, will you show your support of Department of Anthropology by making a donation? That old adage "every dollar counts" is really true! This fundraising started 9pm yesterday and ends at 9pm today. To make donations, follow the link in this posting or choose Anthropology at give.berkeley.edu The Department of Anthropology at Berkeley has long been ranked among the to...p departments in the United States. Berkeley Anthropologists have a history of innovation and leadership in emergent areas of the discipline, whether conducting their research in modern biological labs, in globalizing villages throughout the world, or at places being developed as sites of cultural heritage and national identity. Research undertaken by Berkeley graduate students literally spans the globe, with notable regional strengths in the study of Latin America, Africa, Asia, the Islamic world, and contemporary North America. As one of the top anthropology programs in the country, Berkeley regularly is visited by leading anthropologists from around the world who share their expertise with students through lecture series, workshops, and as visiting faculty. Anthropology undergraduates are challenged to actively engage with contemporary research. They are given opportunities to develop research skills in the classroom, as apprentices to faculty and graduate students, and through original research projects, sometimes culminating in the honors thesis. Even large courses taught by anthropologists use techniques to allow discussion and debate. Many Courses encourage students to explore the use of new media in classroom presentations and for final projects. This important work needs your support, and we hope that you will consider making a gift today. We are grateful for your donation of any size. Thank you for all your love and support!! #CalBigGive #AnthroBigGive

Join us for Professor David Price's distinguished lecture, this upcoming Monday, September 24th, from 5 to 7 pm, in the Morrison Reading Room!

Read the Berkeley Center for the Study of Religion’s Grad Spotlight on recent Cal Anthropology Department grad Youssef Carter! His dissertation attempts to go beyond narrow discussions of Black Muslim identity to explore the transnational networks, traditions, and migrant communities that make up the Black American Muslim population. #ReligionInTheWorld https://medium.com//https-medium-com-bcsr-grad-spotlight-y