[URBANTH-L]Symposium on War and Social Sciences

bburke at email.arizona.edu bburke at email.arizona.edu
Thu Jan 8 14:57:28 EST 2009


As we all know, what we see now in Israel and Gaza is one of many manifestations
of war and militarization. Processes of war-making and militarization are
important topics for anthropological investigation and also often form an
inescapable context for social science work.

Those interested in discussing in greater depth the possibilities and
responsibilities (as well as the dilemmas) of social science in the context of
war may be interested in a symposium that we are hosting at the University of
Arizona on Jan 24 (description below). Students interested in attending from
out of town can arrange free lodging and (possibly) airport transport by
contact radonic at email.arizona.edu

best,
brian



Symposium on War and Social Sciences

Saturday, January 24, 2009, 1-4PM, with post-symposium reception to follow
Kiva Auditorium, Education 211
University of Arizona, Tucson AZ

Opening Address
David Price, PhD, Associate Professor of Anthropology and Sociology, St.
Martin's University

Panelists
Jesse Ballenger, PhD Candidate, Deparment of Anthropology, UA
Laura Briggs, PhD, Department of Women's Studies, UA
Leila Hudson, PhD, Department of Near Eastern Studies, UA
Maggy Zanger, LLM/MA, School of Journalism, UA

Closing Address (approx 2:45pm)
Kelly Moore, PhD, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of Cincinnati

Abstract:
War has given rise to both employment opportunities and ethical debates within
the social sciences for at least a century.  US operations in Iraq and
Afghanistan currently rely upon diverse social science human resources and
techniques, ranging from embedded ethnography, historical and psychological
analyses, mapping, linguistics and demographical statistics. Presently, the US
Defense Department not only integrates these methodologies into
counter-insurgent field strategies abroad, but also influences the funding, and
in turn the research priorities, of an increasing number of social science units
in US universities.  As students preparing for careers in these disciplines, it
is important to explore the challenges, opportunities, and ethics of scholarly
engagement with the military and national security agencies.  This symposium is
meant to provide information on the history, contemporary context, and
implications of being social scientists during wartime in the United States. 
It is intended to provide a platform for various arguments to be made on this
topic, and to encourage students and faculty to consider their own position
drawing from the breadth of expert commentary that will be presented by this
multidisciplinary panel.


Sponsored by:
UA Department of Anthropology and AGUA (Anthropology Graduate Students at the
University of Arizona)

For more information, contact Jacob Campbell at jacob at email.arizona.edu




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