Touch and Object Handling in the Context of Museums
UCL Museums & Collections is running a series of workshops exploring touch and object handling in the context of museums. This series is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. The third workshop centres on ‘Touch and memory: the role of reminiscence’ – see details below: Workshop 3: “TouchContinue Reading
Judy Attfield
It is with great sadness that we have to announce the death of Judy Attfield, one of the pioneers of contemporary material culture studies who did so much to demonstrate the value of this approach. Judy started her academic career within a discipline called design history that was largely devotedContinue Reading
Hoarding and Disposal in Tokyo
Fabio Gygi, PhD Student, Anthropology, University College London and University of Tokyo My project is concerned with accumulation of things, attachment to things and with what psychiatrists call ‘hoarding’. My initial interest was whether by reformulating a psychiatric concern with deviance in terms of material culture, a broader understanding ofContinue Reading
Mary Stevens Weblog
This blog site and relates to work Mary Stevens is doing on the new museum for immigration in Paris. It’s a good example of how Phd students can use blogs to discuss and share their research. http://marystevens.wordpress.com/ Michael Rowlands, Professor in Material Culture, University College LondonContinue Reading
Thinking Through Things
Daniel Miller, UCL On Thursday 7th December a book launch was held for a new volume Thinking Through Things. Edited by A Henare, M Holbraad and S Wastell and published by Routledge. The book is clearly of interest to anyone in material culture studies. The primary theme is concerned withContinue Reading
Material Religion
Barbara Kirschenblatt Gimblett, NYU Mitzvah Kinder figurines, right to left: Malkeleh, Moishy, Totty (Father), Mommy, and Baby Chaim. “The ‘Mitzvah Kinder’ has been designed to represent a Yiddishe family in the world of children’s play and imagination. Our charming characters made of soft lightweight rubber, makes them safe, durable andContinue Reading
Bruce Trigger (1937-2006)
Victor Buchli, Dept of Anthropology, UCL It is with great sadness to have to report that Bruce Trigger died at the beginning of this month. Bruce Graham Trigger (born June 18, 1937 died December 1, 2006) was a Canadian archaeologist. Born in Preston, Ontario, he received a doctorate in archaeologyContinue Reading
The Cold War Expo: 1945-1975
This two-day research symposium on the theme of exhibitions as a vital form of cultural exchange and competition during the Cold War will be held at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London on 4-5 January 2007. For more information, or to reserve a place, please contact the conference organizer,Continue Reading
From East to West: The Museum of Chinese in the Americas (New York City, NY)
Gabrielle Berlinger, Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology, Indiana University and editorial assistant, Museum Anthropology With the close of Chinese year of the pig (2007), the Museum of Chinese in the Americas (MoCA) will also close its exhibition galleries on the 2nd floor of a retired, century-old school building. It willContinue Reading
A Brief History of Globalization
Review of: “A Brief History of Globalization” by, Alex MacGillivray (2006); New York, Carroll & Graff Richard Wilk teaches at the University of Indiana This is not an academic book, written instead by an activist with a decidedly anti-globalization position. Nevertheless, because it takes a historical perspective, and sees globalizationContinue Reading
The Anthropology of Money – an undergraduate project
This is a link to undergraduate projects studying the anthropology of money in Southern California, as part of a class in the anthropology of money, taught by Bill Maurer at University of California, Irvine. There are links to student’s research into virtual world communities, feng shui, strip clubs and wishingContinue Reading