[URBANTH-L]Fwd: AAA 2009 CFP -- When the Ends Require the Means: The Intersection of Ethnographic Methods and Critical Theory in Undergraduate Research

[Robert T. O'Brien]

PLEASE FORWARD AS APPROPRIATE
I am putting together a panel for the November AAA meeting in Philadelphia
that shows the importance of undergraduate training in methods and theory.
I've got a draft abstract below. Please encourage your students to
participate. We need one more for a full panel. Sam Beck has agreed to be
discussant.

The theme of this year's conference is "The end/s of anthropology". With
that in mind, I am proposing the following panel:

*When the Ends Require the Means: The Intersection of Ethnographic Methods
and Critical Theory in Undergraduate Research*

This panel proposes an argument for the validity of anthropology's methods
and its unique critical perspectives on sociocultural phenomena using
exemplary work by undergraduates trained in both fieldwork and theory. Each
of the papers should local forms of difference in the context of
transnationalism and advanced capitalism. These papers should represent the
ends to which good ethnographic research and writing can be put. In our
focus on the work of trained undergraduates we argue for the specificity of
anthropological ethnographic practice and inquiry.

In order to participate students must have done coursework in ethnographic
methods and (some form of) critical theory.
Paper proposals that addresses broad issues related to race, ethnicity,
sexuality, gender, disability or other processes of marginalization are
strongly encouraged.

Papers may also engage with or broadly articulate any of these following
themes:

- Reflexive works on the experience of conducting research
- The politics of the field setting
- Theoretical/Conceptual Approaches related to activist research
- Methodological approaches related to providing what Farmer refers to as
"pragmatic solidarity"

More info, including the call for papers is here:
http://aaanet.org/meetings/presenters/index.cfm

The deadline for submitting abstracts and proposals is April 1 at 5PM.
Abstracts must be sent to Robert T. O'Brien <robertob at rci.rutgers.edu> no
later than March 27th to be considered for inclusion.

**********
Breathe in, Breathe out.
Breathe in, Breathe out.
Forget this and attaining enlightenment will be the least of your worries.

Robert T. O'Brien
Assistant Instructor
Department of Anthropology
Rutgers University
robertob at rci.rutgers.edu
215-803-5181