Anthropologist as Witness

Event Date: 2/5/2021 4:15:00 PM The Ph.D. Program in Anthropology invites you to attend our Spring 2021 Colloquium series. 

Anthropologist as Witness
The global trend toward extreme right-wing politics, alongside the expansion of extractivist economies and unprecedented levels of environmental destruction, has forced anthropologists to rehearse, yet again, how to bring our expertise to bear on issues of urgent public concern. Firmly anchored in an anthropology for liberation long promoted by Black, Latinx, and Native scholars, public anthropology in the United States has in recent years taken on new forms that have led scholars to revisit why, as Dr. Leith Mullings insisted throughout her career, anthropology continues to matter. This round table discussion builds on the critical interrogations posed in a recent American Anthropologist special section on cultural expertise (Loperena, Mora, and Hernández Castillo 2020). Crucially, we ask what the work of expert witnessing reveals about anthropology and the limits of "culture" as a concept and a tool for political change in legal proceedings pertaining to asylum and struggles over territorial rights. 

Christopher Loperena, CUNY Graduate Center
Lynn Stephen, University of Oregon
Mariana Mora, CIESAS, Mexico City
Moderated by Rosalva Aída Hernández Castillo, CIESAS, Mexico City

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