Anthropology & Education

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MAJOR CONFERENCE:

ANTHROPOLOGY AND EDUCATION

25 June – 28 June 2024

Face to Face Conference at Senate House, University of London

The Royal Anthropological Institute is delighted to announce their next major conference that will take place at Senate House, University of London, 25 to 28 June 2024. The theme of the conference is Anthropology and Education, a focus that is sparked by the multiple contemporary challenges that we are faced with as a discipline as we seek to teach and educate.

We are equally convinced that the best way to face these challenges is to share best practice and new responses. For this reason, we are delighted to welcome as co-organisers the Education Commission of the International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences, the Teaching Anthropology Network of the European Association of Social Anthropologists, the Council on Anthropology and Education of the American Anthropological Association and the Association of Social Anthropologists.

The conference will be face to face only. However, in order to have as wide a possible a discussion as possible, we will be running a series of virtual events with our partners beforehand. These will be recorded and placed on our website in order to ensure their wide dissemination.

The details of the five plenary sessions can be seen here.

There will be distinct strands which we invite delegates to explore, of which we offer a brief explanation below. In no particular order of priority these are:

Indigenous Boarding Schools The historic phenomenon of boarding schools which take indigenous peoples away from their homelands for education is well discussed, notably with regard to Canada, Australia and New Zealand. However, there has been something of a return to this system in other countries. This strand invites panel proposals that will enable comment and discussion, as well as whether it will be possible to develop suggestions for best practice in this regard that might be adopted at an international level.

Anthropology in Pre-University Environments There are often attempts to teach anthropology at the school level, a notable example of which is the International Baccalaureate in Anthropology, a qualification that is well-established. Other initiatives may be pursued at the national level, both with regard to primary and secondary school, with varying degrees of success. We invite panels that seek to share experiences, both with regard to success and failure as to how anthropology can be strengthened in schools.

Translating Cultures and Diaspora Communities Anthropologists have long regarded themselves as translating cultures, but there is a striking more recent phenomenon, which is the way that Diaspora communities have started to codify for teaching purposes their hitherto predominantly oral cultures, often seeking formal recognition they do so from their host society. One instance of this is the Alevi community originally from Turkey, but there are many others. Proposals are welcome that seek to unravel the complexity of the pedagogic issues that come to the fore when such texts books have to be written where none have previously existed.

Anthropology, AI and Media The recent Covid lockdown made us all realise that traditional anthropology teaching will have to adapt and change if it is to remain and flourish in the classroom. This strand invites panels which seek to share this, and similar experiences in using innovative media in the classroom. In this connection, it may be noted that there will be a film stream at the conference, and panel proposals concerning film and pedagogy are also welcome.

Anthropology, Teaching and Museums One of the most interesting aspects of anthropology in recent decades is the gradual rapprochement between anthropology teaching and ethnographic museums. This relationship, having been in the second half of the twentieth century often rather distant, now is a central and creative part of our discipline. Panels are invited that reflect upon the implications of this growing proximity, and consider how we can build further on it.

Anthropology, Representation and Ethics The intensification of globalisation has rendered ethical understandings of the way that our discipline can be taught in need of reconsideration and revision. How is anthropology going to adapt and change as it becomes only one of a number of multiple actors in this complex process of mutual interaction?

Academic Teaching and Truth University teaching can be nothing without freedom of expression. Yet, from various parts of the world there appears to be increasing intolerance of a plurality of views. How can we as anthropologists contribute toward maintaining the integrity of our Higher Education institutions, wherever they may be found? Panel proposals are particularly invited that give instances of these potential problems, from whatever location.

Public Anthropology The interface between anthropology as an academic discipline and its public presence is one of the most crucial questions facing the subject today. How can it appeal to a wider, non-specialist audience? How can it teach the subject in a transparent way that ensures that it gains and attracts wider interest without compromising its intellectual message? Proposals are most welcome that will help us address this dilemma.

Anthropology in Non-Anthropology Departments All around the world, anthropologists may find a teaching position in a non-anthropology department, and likewise many universities may not have a distinct departmental structure. What implications does this have for individual careers, teaching and intellectual trajectories of the subject? Panels are invited that consider any aspect of this fascinating question as to the relationship between individual anthropologists, anthropology as a discipline and the wider structures of academia.