What's the 'Matter' in Anthropology?

What's the 'Matter' in Anthropology?

Centenary Conference of the Oxford University Anthropological Society

Wednesday 13th May 2009
9:30am - 5:00pm
St Hugh's College, Oxford OX2 6LE

Social scientists are developing ways of thinking about relationships to take into account our interaction with everyday objects. Expressions of sociality are being extended beyond the individual, to include aspects of personality cultivated by the experience of living in the material world around us. But how does the material world catalyse relationships and how do those relationships create the person? Are we enskilled by materiality, or governed by it? How do the properties of objects impose aspects of their ‘personality’ onto us? How can we characterise those relations if they aren’t simply ‘social? And how far can anthropology take these ideas and provide culturally-informed theories which may be useful to the social sciences generally?

Chairperson

Professor Penny Harvey
Department of Social Anthropology
University of Manchester

Speakers

Professor Tim Ingold
Chair of Social Anthropology
University of Aberdeen

Dr Dan Hicks (co-author Professor Laurie Wilkie)
Pitt Rivers Museum, and School of Archaeology
Oxford University

Professor Daniel Miller
Professor of Material Culture
University College London

Professor Stephen Woolgar
Saïd Business School
Oxford University



Timetable

9.30am
Arrivals and registration

9.45am
Welcome and introduction

10.00am
Bringing Things Back to Life: Creative Entanglements in a World of Materials
Professory Timothy Ingold

11.00am
Going About Things: a view from archaeology
Dr Daniel Hicks (co-author Prof Laurie Wilkie)

12-1.00pm
Lunch - a selection of sandwiches and other snacks

1.00pm
"What's the matter with relationships?"
Professor Daniel Miller

2.00pm
Title tbc
Professor Stephen Woolgar

3-3.30pm
Coffee and Cake

3.30-4.30pm
Discussion panel of speakers
Chaired by Professor Penny Harvey

4.30
Closing remarks and thanks

Each speaker will present for 40 minutes followed by 20 minutes of questions.


More details:
http://www.anthro.ox.ac.uk/current-students/oxford-university-anthropological-society/events/ouas-centenary-conference/

http://www.anthro.ox.ac.uk/uploads/media/Conference_flyer.pdf