Basic orientations

The school is committed to developing dialogue and practice around central concerns in anthropology today. Three themes provide starting points:

Ethnographic Method: The empirical tools of our discipline are still fundamental. But participant observation and the definition of analytical fields need to be reconsidered in the face of new kinds of fieldwork, as more anthropologists do research in their own societies or across geographical localities.

New Research Fields: New technologies and political transformations create possibilities for new forms of social relations and new interpretations of established domains (nature and culture, local and global). In both richer and poorer societies, biotechnology and communication technology provide new areas for research.

The Concept of Culture: The analytical and political uses of ‘culture’ are being re-examined in relation to multiculturalism, migration, globalization, identity politics, and violent conflict. Culture is being studied in relation to processes, positions, and negotiation. Anthropology must consider cross-cultural comparison, the emphasis on ethnographic regions, and the representation of material culture in museums in relation to these developments.