- 395 HHH Center
301 19th Avenue S.
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William O Beeman
University of Minnesota, Anthropology, Faculty Member
- Brown University, Anthropology, Department Memberadd
- Anthropology, Languages and Linguistics, Performance Studies, Opera, Ethnomusicology, Middle East Studies, and 57 moreIran, Japan, India, India (Anthropology), Modern Germany, Linguistic Anthropology, Sociolinguistics, Discourse Analysis, Pragmatics, Human Evolution, Musicology, Sociology, Cognitive Science, Neurobiology, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Cultural Anthropology, Social Anthropology, World music-Ethnomusicology, Ethnomusicology, Anthropology of music, Organology, Ethnography, Ethnography of Communication, Terrorism, International Relations, Iranian Studies, Middle Eastern Studies, Islamic Studies, Japanese Studies, Pragmatism, Pragmatism and Ethnography, Pragmatism (Philosophy), American Pragmatism, Margaret Mead, Ethnography (Research Methodology), South Asian Studies, Media Studies, Media and Cultural Studies, Anthropology of News and Journalism, Media Anthropology, Anthropology of Media, Folklore, Iranian Traditional Performance, Taziyeh, Iranian Theatre, Theatre Studies, Musical Theatre, Performance Studies (Music), Theatre and Performance Studies, Performance Studies and Musical Theatre, American Culture, Advertising, Advertising And Social Culture, Culture and Advertising, Understanding of Advertising and Its Role In Culture, Society and the Economy, Risk Management, Culture and Risk Perception, Public Policy, and Freedom to chooseedit
- William O. Beeman is Professor Emeritus of and past Chair of the Department of Anthropology at the University of Minn... moreWilliam O. Beeman is Professor Emeritus of and past Chair of the Department of Anthropology at the University of Minnesota. He is an anthropological linguist by training. Best known as a Middle East Specialist for more than 40 years, he has also worked in Central Asia, the Caucasus, Japan, China, Europe, and South Asia. Recognized for special expertise in Iranian culture and linguistics, he is the author or editor of more than 150 scholarly articles, 500 opinion pieces and 14 books, including Language, Status and Power in Iran, and The "Great Satan" vs. the "Mad Mullahs": How the United States and Iran Demonize Each Other. He has been a consultant to the Department of State, the Department of Defense, the United Nations and the European Union on Middle Eastern affairs. He has also written extensively on music and performance traditions both in Western and non-Western traditions. His latest book on this topic is Iranian Performance Traditions. His co-authored book with Daniel Helfgot, The Third Line: The Singer as Interpreter has been widely used in teaching and research in vocal performance. His forthcoming book: The Meistersingers: Opera Performance in Germany centers on his experience as an opera performer in a leading German opera house. During 2013-2014, and 2017-2018 he was Visiting Scholar at Stanford Universityedit
- Paul Friedrich, Victor Turner, Clifford Geertz, David MacAllester, Dell Hymes, Erving Goffman, John Perry, McKim Marriott, Heshmat Moayyad, Willard Walker, John Cage, Masao Yamaguchi, Genichi Tsugeedit
(The uploaded paper is the final unpublished proof) Taʿārof (تعارف) is a Persian/Arabic term based on the Arabic triliteral root عرف [ʿarafa], “to know.” Other words derived from this root include knowledge, acquain-tance, familiarity,... more
(The uploaded paper is the final unpublished proof)
Taʿārof (تعارف) is a Persian/Arabic term based on the Arabic triliteral root عرف [ʿarafa], “to know.” Other words derived from this root include knowledge, acquain-tance, familiarity, skill and information. Ta’ārof literally means “becoming acquainted” in Arabic. In some modern Arabic dialects it is used to indicate “dating.”
In Persian, however, ta’ārof is used to indicate a nearly untranslatable, but funda-mental cultural concept encompassing a broad complex of behaviors in Iranian life that mark and underscore differences in social status and degrees of social intimacy. Ta’ārof has been noted as a feature of Iranian life by non-Iranians for centuries. It has been greeted with fascination and remains one of the most frequently noted aspects of Iranian social life both by native Iranians and visitors.
This paper provides an outline of the logic and practice of ta’ārof both in its linguistic manifestation and its broader behavioral manifestation.
Taʿārof (تعارف) is a Persian/Arabic term based on the Arabic triliteral root عرف [ʿarafa], “to know.” Other words derived from this root include knowledge, acquain-tance, familiarity, skill and information. Ta’ārof literally means “becoming acquainted” in Arabic. In some modern Arabic dialects it is used to indicate “dating.”
In Persian, however, ta’ārof is used to indicate a nearly untranslatable, but funda-mental cultural concept encompassing a broad complex of behaviors in Iranian life that mark and underscore differences in social status and degrees of social intimacy. Ta’ārof has been noted as a feature of Iranian life by non-Iranians for centuries. It has been greeted with fascination and remains one of the most frequently noted aspects of Iranian social life both by native Iranians and visitors.
This paper provides an outline of the logic and practice of ta’ārof both in its linguistic manifestation and its broader behavioral manifestation.
Research Interests: Anthropology, Social Anthropology, Languages and Linguistics, Linguistic Politeness, Social and Cultural Anthropology, and 12 moreIranian Studies, Persian Language, Cognitive Linguistics, Pronouns, Linguistics, Cultural Anthropology, Iranian Languages, Iranian politics and history, Cultural and Social Anthropology, Hierarchy, Iranian Domestic Politics, Society, Culture, and Ta'arof
The most powerful mythic figure in the life of Shiʽa Muslims is the figure of the hero-martyr, Imam Hossein, third Imam of the Shi’ite sect of Islam, grandson of the prophet Mohammed through his cousin Ali and his daughter Fatima. No... more
The most powerful mythic figure in the life of Shiʽa Muslims is the figure of the hero-martyr, Imam Hossein, third Imam of the Shi’ite sect of Islam, grandson of the prophet Mohammed through his cousin Ali and his daughter Fatima. No other figure in Shiʽism commands the power of Imam Hossein to inspire sincere believers in their quest for ritual purity. This paper traces the influence of this powerful religious symbol in contemporary Iranian politics. In particular the symbolic role of martyrdom in framing Iranian interpretation of contemporary history and political confrontation with the United States and other nations external to Iran. The role of the passion drama, ta'ziyeh is also featured in the discussion.
Research Interests: Anthropology, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Iranian Studies, Anthropology of Iran, Iranian History, and 11 moreMartyrdom, Cultural and Social Anthropology, Karbala, Shiism, Shia studies, Anthropology of Religion, Iranian Politics, Imam Hossein, U.S. Iranian Relations, Ta'zieh, and cultural anthropology of Iran
ARE THE CATEGORIES "man" and "woman" so obviously clear that they need no further explanation? Legislators throughout the nation in 1996 were trying to prevent the recognition of "gay marriage" contracted in other states obviously thought... more
ARE THE CATEGORIES "man" and "woman" so obviously clear that they need no further explanation? Legislators throughout the nation in 1996 were trying to prevent the recognition of "gay marriage" contracted in other states obviously thought so. They introduced legislation that would grant official recognition only to marriages between "a man and a woman." This is an article from 1996 that was written to critique this kind of reasoning. The political message of the article is now outdated, because same-sex marriage is now legal throughout the United States, but the basic critique of binary gender classification remains a live issue today.
Research Interests:
William O. Beeman (WB) answers to Questions posed by Persia Digest Persia Digest: Tensions between the US and Iran have been on the rise in recent weeks. Although President Trump says he does not want war, he has threatened Iran with... more
William O. Beeman (WB) answers to Questions posed by Persia Digest
Persia Digest: Tensions between the US and Iran have been on the rise in recent weeks. Although President Trump says he does not want war, he has threatened Iran with “complete obliteration”. In return, Iran has shown its readiness to defend itself by downing a US drone in its airspace. It will also begin the second phase of scaling back its commitments under the 2015 JCPOA nuclear deal on 7 July. The EU has warned Iran against abrogating the JCPOA. Under these circumstances. We posed these questions to William O. Beeman, internationally known expert on Iran-U.S. relations.
Persia Digest: Tensions between the US and Iran have been on the rise in recent weeks. Although President Trump says he does not want war, he has threatened Iran with “complete obliteration”. In return, Iran has shown its readiness to defend itself by downing a US drone in its airspace. It will also begin the second phase of scaling back its commitments under the 2015 JCPOA nuclear deal on 7 July. The EU has warned Iran against abrogating the JCPOA. Under these circumstances. We posed these questions to William O. Beeman, internationally known expert on Iran-U.S. relations.
Research Interests: Anthropology, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Iranian Studies, United Nations, United States Foreign Policy, and 12 moreNuclear Disarmament, United States, Iranian Foreign Policy, Iranian politics and history, Cultural and Social Anthropology, Nuclear deterrence, United States and Iran, Donald Trump, United States Iranian Relations, Iranian Foreign Affairs, JCPOA, and Comprehensive Plan of Action Joint (JCPOA)
Anthropology is the one social science that is most adept at dealing with economic and cultural change. Anthropologists focusing on business and industry are in the admirable position of being able to study these change effects even more... more
Anthropology is the one social science that is most adept at dealing with economic and cultural change. Anthropologists focusing on business and industry are in the admirable position of being able to study these change effects even more quickly than anthropologists focusing on classic topics such as religion, political structures, ideology, and family life. Maryann McCabe and Elizabeth K. Briody articulate this well in a new collection, Cultural Change from a Business Anthropology Perspective (McCabe and Briody 2018). As McCabe and Briody point out, however, the progress in understanding that is gained through engaging in business anthropology requires the development of new and innovative field methodologies, which bring with them fieldwork challenges.
Research Interests: Business, Business Administration, Anthropology, Ethnography, Social and Cultural Anthropology, and 10 moreFieldwork in Anthropology, Applied Anthropology, Ethnographic Fieldwork (Anthropology), Ethnographic fieldwork, Ethnographic Methods, Business Research, Business Anthropology, Business Management, Anthropology of Business and Corporations, and Cultural and Social Anthropology
Note: This is an historical paper from the early days of hypertext. It may be more interesting for its historical value than for current theory. ABSTRACT There are at present two diverging views regarding the future shape of the... more
Note: This is an historical paper from the early days of hypertext. It may be more interesting for its historical value than for current theory.
ABSTRACT
There are at present two diverging views regarding the future shape of the computer and computing in human life. The Artificial Intelligence (AI) approach, and the functional approach. The AI approach regards the computer as a device which will eventually imitate human cognitive operations, to eventually substitute for human work process. The functional approach sees the computer as a tool to be used by humans
much like a hammer, or a screwdriver.
My tendency in this discussion is to reject both approaches. The AI approach is far from realization at this point. Computers are a long way from being able to imitate human cognitive processes, especially realization and utilization of the cultural and environmental knowledge which underlies most everyday actions and thought processes, which have been constant for at least 25,000 years.
ABSTRACT
There are at present two diverging views regarding the future shape of the computer and computing in human life. The Artificial Intelligence (AI) approach, and the functional approach. The AI approach regards the computer as a device which will eventually imitate human cognitive operations, to eventually substitute for human work process. The functional approach sees the computer as a tool to be used by humans
much like a hammer, or a screwdriver.
My tendency in this discussion is to reject both approaches. The AI approach is far from realization at this point. Computers are a long way from being able to imitate human cognitive processes, especially realization and utilization of the cultural and environmental knowledge which underlies most everyday actions and thought processes, which have been constant for at least 25,000 years.
Research Interests: Computer Science, History Of Computing, Anthropology, Computers and Philosophy, Computer Engineering, and 9 moreCyberpsychology, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Consciousness, Technology And Culture, Hypertext theory, Cybercultures, Hypermedia, Cultural and Social Anthropology, and Computers and Education
This historical paper from 1986 was prescient in predicting the development of computerization on university campuses. At the time of writing, computers were not widely used on campus. The article predicts an explosion of dedicated... more
This historical paper from 1986 was prescient in predicting the development of computerization on university campuses. At the time of writing, computers were not widely used on campus. The article predicts an explosion of dedicated resources to increase computer resources on campus.
The original introduction is as follows:
The widespread promotion of computer use on American college campuses may someday be hailed as the most important technological innovation in scholarship since the invention of pencil and paper. It may eventually be denounced as one of the most extravagant fads ever perpetuated on higher education.
The decision rests on whether computer applications can be constructed which are useful and important for academic disciplines outside of the laboratory sciences and engineering-principally the humanities and the social sciences.
But there is a catch. Most educators agree that if computers are to be a worthwhile investment for the social sciences and humanities, they must prove that they can facilitate learning in ways unachievable using traditional educational technology:
The original introduction is as follows:
The widespread promotion of computer use on American college campuses may someday be hailed as the most important technological innovation in scholarship since the invention of pencil and paper. It may eventually be denounced as one of the most extravagant fads ever perpetuated on higher education.
The decision rests on whether computer applications can be constructed which are useful and important for academic disciplines outside of the laboratory sciences and engineering-principally the humanities and the social sciences.
But there is a catch. Most educators agree that if computers are to be a worthwhile investment for the social sciences and humanities, they must prove that they can facilitate learning in ways unachievable using traditional educational technology:
Research Interests: History Of Computing, Anthropology, Computers and Philosophy, Computer Assisted Language Learning, Ethnography, and 15 moreHigher Education, Computer-Based Learning, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Computers and Composition, Ethnography (Research Methodology), Hypertext theory, Cybercultures, History of Computing (Computer Science), Computers in Education, Hypertext, Cyber Anthropology, Computers, Cultural and Social Anthropology, Digital literacy, Hypertext reading, Online Learning, and History of Computing in Learning and Education
Brown University, being a small university was able to punch well above its weight This short paper singles out one cross-disciplinary institute at Brown that may not leap to mind when thinking about these fruitful years, but which has... more
Brown University, being a small university was able to punch well above its weight This short paper singles out one cross-disciplinary institute at Brown that may not leap to mind when thinking about these fruitful years, but which has had an outreach well beyond the Brown Campus. It was my privilege to head up the Office of Program Analysis at the Institute for Research in Information and Scholarship (IRIS) in the 1980s. In 1984 as IRIS was being organized, then Provost Maurice Glicksman with uncanny vision felt that this new Institute, devoted to research in computing and information technology in higher education, needed a social science branch. This unit within IRIS would be charged to assess the effects of digital technology as it was gradually introduced to higher education. In 1984 only 25% of the senior class at Brown claimed to have any experience with computers or computing. In the same year, 100% of the freshman class claimed to have had some computing experience. IRIS developed the first hypertext program for use in the classroom. Our office was charged with studying its effects. This short paper provides the outcome for this research effort
Research Interests:
Benedict Anderson’s great work, Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism (Anderson 1983; hereafter IC) has been hailed as the “best known single work in nationalism studies” (Breuilly 2016: 625). His work... more
Benedict Anderson’s great work, Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism (Anderson 1983; hereafter IC) has been hailed as the “best known single work in nationalism studies” (Breuilly 2016: 625). His work has had an enormous impact throughout the social sciences. Much of Anderson’s formulation depends on observations about the importance of linguistics, communication, and standardization of language in community formation and identities. It is therefore paradoxical that few linguists have addressed Anderson’s work. Even rarer are discussions of the implications of Anderson’s work from the perspective of pragmatics. This essay is an attempt to begin
an exploratory discussion of the many pragmatic issues raised by the concept of Imagined Communities as laid out in Anderson’s important work.
Beeman, William O. 2018 Benedict Anderson’s Imagined Communities. In Östman, Jan-Ola and Jef Verschueren, Eds. Handbook of Pragmatics 21. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Pp. 81-110.
an exploratory discussion of the many pragmatic issues raised by the concept of Imagined Communities as laid out in Anderson’s important work.
Beeman, William O. 2018 Benedict Anderson’s Imagined Communities. In Östman, Jan-Ola and Jef Verschueren, Eds. Handbook of Pragmatics 21. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Pp. 81-110.
Research Interests: Cultural Studies, Anthropological Linguistics, Languages and Linguistics, Pragmatics, Sociolinguistics, and 15 moreLinguistic Anthropology, Nationalism, Applied Linguistics, National Identity, Critical applied linguistics, Language Ideology, Linguistics, Imagined Community, Imagined Communities, Cultural and Social Anthropology, Benedict Anderson, Foreign languages, Ethnicity and National Identity, National Language, and Anthropological Theory
The Trump administration is considering defining gender as a binary biological, immutable condition determined “biologically” at birth. According to this proposed policy, one is either “male” or “female.” No other categories would be... more
The Trump administration is considering defining gender as a binary biological, immutable condition determined “biologically” at birth. According to this proposed policy, one is either “male” or “female.” No other categories would be allowed. This policy change is apparently directed at transgender citizens who would be classified according to their chromosomal “identity” at birth, rather than their pre-or post-operative gender re-assignment.
Research Interests: Gender Studies, Biological Anthropology, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Gender and Sexuality, Transsexuality, and 10 moreGender and Politics, Transsexual Medicine, Gender Identity, Culture, gender and sexuality, Gender and Social Policy, Transsexuality and Transgender, Cultural and Social Anthropology, Chromosome Biology, Donald Trump, and Sexualtiy Gender and National Identity
Fashion in the twenty-first century in Iran has become highly inventive, surprisingly innovative, and undoubtedly glamorous. This is a surprise to some in the West who are accustomed to seeing images of large public gatherings of men and... more
Fashion in the twenty-first century in Iran has become highly inventive, surprisingly innovative, and undoubtedly glamorous. This is a surprise to some in the West who are accustomed to seeing images of large public gatherings of men and women in drab clothing engaged in religious or political activities that seem to be decidedly lacking in any elements that could be called “fashionable.”
Women in particular are portrayed in the all-enveloping
chador, usually solid black, which has become a Western trope for female repression. Fashion in Iran has, in fact, been remarkable for its flexibility and for its role in cultural communication. It has been directly responsive to social and political events in the country for as long
as documentation has existed. Iranians take enormous care in their dress, exhibiting a great deal of attention and individualism.
Every element of Iranian fashion is socially coded, making it easy to determine the political, social, and personal attitudes of the wearer. Because dress is such a potent public statement, attempts on the part of the Iranian state to impose standards and requirements
on the population have been a universal phenomenon over many centuries.
Before one can understand the current status of fashion in Iran, it is necessary to understand the elements from which fashion is constructed. These consist both of material element, like fabrics and tailoring, ethnic traditions from the many cultural groups that live under the rubric of Iranian culture, and historical social forces that have inspired the expression of Iranian identity
over the years. These three elements: material, cultural, and historical, have shifted and interacted with each other to create fashion variation.
Women in particular are portrayed in the all-enveloping
chador, usually solid black, which has become a Western trope for female repression. Fashion in Iran has, in fact, been remarkable for its flexibility and for its role in cultural communication. It has been directly responsive to social and political events in the country for as long
as documentation has existed. Iranians take enormous care in their dress, exhibiting a great deal of attention and individualism.
Every element of Iranian fashion is socially coded, making it easy to determine the political, social, and personal attitudes of the wearer. Because dress is such a potent public statement, attempts on the part of the Iranian state to impose standards and requirements
on the population have been a universal phenomenon over many centuries.
Before one can understand the current status of fashion in Iran, it is necessary to understand the elements from which fashion is constructed. These consist both of material element, like fabrics and tailoring, ethnic traditions from the many cultural groups that live under the rubric of Iranian culture, and historical social forces that have inspired the expression of Iranian identity
over the years. These three elements: material, cultural, and historical, have shifted and interacted with each other to create fashion variation.
Research Interests: Cultural Studies, Islamic Law, Islamic Economics, Fashion design, Fashion Theory, and 34 moreMiddle East Studies, Fashion Dynamics: (outside of apparel) ideas, technologies, cultures, frameworks, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Islamic Contemporary Studies, Iranian Studies, History of Iran, Fashion History, Islamic Studies, Iranian Art History, Qajar photography, Iranian History, Middle East Politics, Social and Cultural History, Persian Culture, Qajar Persia, Maqasid al-Sharia (Purposes of Islamic Law), Fashion Merchandising, Arabian/Persian Gulf Studies, Fashion Retailing, Fatwa and Islamic Shariah Law, Global Fashion, Qajar Art, Cultural and Social Anthropology, History of clothing and fashion, Fast Fashion, Fashion Communication and Marketing, Iranian Art and Material Culture, Cultural Studies, Fashion Theory, Ancient Iranian Culture and Languages, Fashion, International History of Fashion, Fashion Industry, Fashion Retailer, and Islamic law and jurisprudence
PIŠ-PARDA (lit. in front of the curtain), a short comedy sketch, musical number, or dance performed before the main theatrical performance, or in an intermission between acts of a performance. The term appears to be of some antiquity,... more
PIŠ-PARDA (lit. in front of the curtain), a short comedy sketch, musical number, or dance performed before the main theatrical performance, or in an intermission between acts of a performance. The term appears to be of some antiquity, predating Western cultural contact with Iran, but carrying over into modern times. This paper provides a brief description of this traditional theater form.
Research Interests: Cultural Studies, Media and Cultural Studies, Theatre Studies, Social Anthropology, Performance Studies, and 14 moreSocial and Cultural Anthropology, Iranian Studies, Theater and film, Performance Studies (Music), Iranian Modern History, Persian Culture, Iranian Languages, Modern Iran, Traditional Culture, Cultural and Social Anthropology, Theater and Performance Studies, Ancient Iranian Culture and Languages, Iranian Theater, and Iranian Media and Cultural Studies
RUḤAWŻI, a comic type of traditional folk musical drama in Iran, often characterized by improvised funny remarks with social and/or cultural overtones and usually performed by professionals at ceremonies and festivities such as wedding... more
RUḤAWŻI, a comic type of traditional folk musical drama in Iran, often characterized by improvised funny remarks with social and/or cultural overtones and usually performed by professionals at ceremonies and festivities such as wedding and circumcision celebrations. It was traditionally performed on boards that were placed on the top of a small pool (ḥawż) in the courtyard and covered with rugs, thus serving as the stage, hence the designation ruḥawżi (lit. [done] on the top of the pool). This paper provides an overview of this performance form
Research Interests: Cultural Studies, Improvisation, Theatre Studies, Humanities, Theatre History, and 15 moreMiddle East Studies, Comedy, Performance Studies, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Iranian Studies, Performance, Middle East (Culture), Cultural Anthropology, Persian Culture, Traditional Culture, Humanities and Social Sciences, Cultural and Social Anthropology, Ancient Iranian Culture and Languages, Middle East Media and Critical and Cultural Studies, and Improvisatory Theater
TAʿĀROF, an Arabic term (lit. ‘becoming acquainted’) used in Persian to define a nearly untranslatable concept encompassing a broad complex of behaviors in Iranian life that mark and underscore differences in social status. It underscores... more
TAʿĀROF, an Arabic term (lit. ‘becoming acquainted’) used in Persian to define a nearly untranslatable concept encompassing a broad complex of behaviors in Iranian life that mark and underscore differences in social status. It underscores and preserves the integrity of culturally defined status roles as it is carried out in the life of every Iranian every day in thousands of different ways. Taʿārof has both a linguistic and a social behavioral component. This article deals succinctly with both.
Research Interests: Cultural Studies, Anthropological Linguistics, Social Anthropology, Languages and Linguistics, Social Sciences, and 20 moreLinguistic Politeness, Sociolinguistics, Linguistic Anthropology, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Iranian Studies, Persian Language, Cognitive Linguistics, Linguistics, Interactional Sociolinguistics, Cultural Anthropology, Persian Culture, Iranian Languages, Persian, Linguistic (im)politeness, Arabian/Persian Gulf Studies, Sociolinguística (Sociolinguistics), Cultural and Social Anthropology, Ancient Iranian language and culture, Iranian Domestic Politics, Society, Culture, and Hierarchy In Languages
It is easy to view this event as a simple clash between Kurdish nationalism and a repressive Iranian state, but this analysis is much too one-dimensional. As tragic as the deaths and attacks against Kurds are, they are the surface... more
It is easy to view this event as a simple clash between Kurdish nationalism and a repressive Iranian state, but this analysis is much too one-dimensional. As tragic as the deaths and attacks against Kurds are, they are the surface phenomena in a growing struggle between Iran and its Kurdish population that is sure to grow stronger as events in Iraqi Kurdistan develop.
Research Interests: Cultural Studies, Anthropology, Social Sciences, Cultural Heritage, Social and Cultural Anthropology, and 14 moreIranian Studies, Kurdish Studies, Kurdish Question in Turkey, Iran (American Foreign Policy), Kurds of Iran, Kurdish Nationalism, Kurdistan, Iran Foreign Policy, Iranian Foreign Policy, Kurds, Cultural and Social Anthropology, Kurds in the Middle East, Iranian Kurdistan, and Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)
It is axiomatic that educators hope that students use their skills to improve their communities. “Doing good” in the world outside of academia can often translate into “doing well” in academic work. This is the philosophy of Business... more
It is axiomatic that educators hope that students use their skills to improve their communities. “Doing good” in the world outside of academia can often translate into “doing well” in academic work. This is the philosophy of Business Anthropology training at the University of Minnesota. The Business Anthropology course combines academic work and real-world problems in business and public service arising in the Greater Twin Cities community. Students visit local corporations that employ anthropologists and anthropologically trained researchers in the local area. These are often the high points of the semester as students see how employees close to their own age use ethnography effectively in business. This paper outlines five recent research projects in business anthropology in partnership with business and industry in the Minneapolis/St. Paul region
Research Interests: Business, Business Administration, Business & Society, Ethnography, Applied, engaged, and public anthropology, and 24 moreSocial and Cultural Anthropology, Applied Anthropology, Ethnography (Research Methodology), Ethnography of Communication, Ethnographic fieldwork, Activist Ethnography, Ethnographic Methods, Anthropology of public and political life, Business Research, Ethnography of urban spaces, Business Anthropology, Business and management education, Economic and Business Journalism, Business Management, Business and Management, Business Education, Anthropology of Business and Corporations, Cultural and Social Anthropology, Political Philosophy, Cultural Anthropology, Business Administration, Industrial and Urban Anthropology, Business Anthropology-Theory, Social sciences and Business studies, Anthropological Research, and Anthropology and Business Marketing
The Middle East region is once again a tinderbox as tensions are rising between Saudi Arabia and Iran to new heights. Although hostility between the two States has been simmering for decades, two new factors have served to cause their... more
The Middle East region is once again a tinderbox as tensions are rising between Saudi Arabia and Iran to new heights. Although hostility between the two States has been simmering for decades, two new factors have served to cause their mutual enmity to heat up further. The first is the presidency of Donald J. Trump in the United States. The second is the rise of Mohammad bin Salman (MBS in the vernacular) as heir-apparent to the Saudi kingship. Both of these leaders are hostile to Iran, and highly friendly to each other. This heightened alliance
has created a new dynamic relationship in the Middle East. MBS is young, ambitious and seeking a new and heightened role for Saudi Arabia in the Middle East and the world. Trump is anxious to flex American muscle wherever he is able. For both, Iran is a highly suitable target.
has created a new dynamic relationship in the Middle East. MBS is young, ambitious and seeking a new and heightened role for Saudi Arabia in the Middle East and the world. Trump is anxious to flex American muscle wherever he is able. For both, Iran is a highly suitable target.
Research Interests:
In the debate over the fate of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA—the “Iran Nuclear Deal”) those wishing to torpedo the Deal have frequently stated that at the expiration of the Deal, Iran would be free to manufacture nuclear... more
In the debate over the fate of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA—the “Iran Nuclear Deal”) those wishing to torpedo the Deal have frequently stated that at the expiration of the Deal, Iran would be free to manufacture nuclear weapons. This is false. The reason is the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
Research Interests:
President Trump is about to take action on that will withdraw the United States from the “Iran Nuclear Deal’” October 15, Trump will reportedly “decertify” American participation in this historical agreement. This action is dangerous.... more
President Trump is about to take action on that will withdraw the United States from the “Iran Nuclear Deal’” October 15, Trump will reportedly “decertify” American participation in this historical agreement. This action is dangerous. This action will endanger the world. It will erode American credibility with both allies and enemies, and will destabilize the Middle East by worsening relations with Iran.
Research Interests:
Iran has been accused of being the "chief state sponsor of terrorism" since the George W. Bush administration. This is often based on Iran's "support" of Hezbollah in Lebanon. However, Iran no longer supports Hezbollah's military... more
Iran has been accused of being the "chief state sponsor of terrorism" since the George W. Bush administration. This is often based on Iran's "support" of Hezbollah in Lebanon. However, Iran no longer supports Hezbollah's military operations, and has no control over its politics or decisions today, as is shown in this analysis from In These Times
Research Interests: Terrorism, Middle East Studies, Political Science, Iranian Studies, Israel/Palestine, and 13 moreLebanon, Middle East Politics, Iran Foreign Policy, Iranian politics and history, Shiism, Shiite Islam, Shii Islam, Lebanon (History and Politics), Hezbollah, Politics of Syria and Lebanon, Religious History, Ethnic Nationalism, Hamas, Hizballah Terrorism Africa Iran, Shia studies, Hezballah, and Shiah
This book chapter examines the use of the trope, or master symbol, of Imam Husayn (Hossein) and his martyrdom in modern Iranian politics, pointing out that the popular appeal of the commemoration of Husayn's martyrdom derives in part from... more
This book chapter examines the use of the trope, or master symbol, of Imam Husayn (Hossein) and his martyrdom in modern Iranian politics, pointing out that the popular appeal of the commemoration of Husayn's martyrdom derives in part from its power to embody many elements that are characteristic of core themes in Iranian life. In the post -revolution period the trope of martyrdom evolved as a definitive proof of the legitimacy of the regime.
Research Interests: Cultural Studies, Anthropology, Political Anthropology, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Iranian Studies, and 21 moreHistory of Iran, Iranian History, Martyrdom, Iranian Foreign Policy, Iranian Islamic Revolution, Iranian politics and history, Shiism, Shiite Islam, Shii Islam, Cultural and Social Anthropology, Imam Husayn, Foreign Policy of Islamic Republic of Iran, Shiism, 1979 Iranian Revolution, Taziyeh, Islamic republic of Iran, Anthropology of Religion, Imam Hossein, THE DAY OF ASHUR IN KARBALA, MARTYRDOM OF IMAM HOSAIN (a.s.)., Foreign Policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Iranian Government, Iran's Islamic Revolution, Islamic Republic of Iran, and Martyrdom of Imam Husain
The Trump administration appears to be renewing the possibility of violent confrontation with Iran using a questionable pretext—Iran’s testing of conventional missiles. This reason for imposing sanctions on Iran turns out on close... more
The Trump administration appears to be renewing the possibility of violent confrontation with Iran using a questionable pretext—Iran’s testing of conventional missiles. This reason for imposing sanctions on Iran turns out on close inspection to be utterly insubstantial--effectively nothing. There is thus no plausible justification for these sanctions.
Research Interests:
The government of Iran in the post-revolutionary period may have religious leaders in central positions, but it is far from being a pure theocracy. This paper pursues this topic in the spirit of Michel Foucault’s widely explored notion... more
The government of Iran in the post-revolutionary period may have religious leaders in central positions, but it is far from being a pure theocracy. This paper pursues this topic in the spirit of Michel Foucault’s widely explored notion of governmentality. Foucault’s concept is broad, but generally
covers the ways that government adopts a cultural ideology for carrying out its duties, a structural framework for implementing this ideology, and a rationality associated with that framework From an anthropological standpoint, it is expected that different forms of governmentality will be observed in different societies, with different cultural underpinnings resulting in unique institutions. Iranian governmental institutions are unique to Iran, emphasizing legitimacy as a mark of authority, and martyrdom as the symbolic proof of legitimacy.
covers the ways that government adopts a cultural ideology for carrying out its duties, a structural framework for implementing this ideology, and a rationality associated with that framework From an anthropological standpoint, it is expected that different forms of governmentality will be observed in different societies, with different cultural underpinnings resulting in unique institutions. Iranian governmental institutions are unique to Iran, emphasizing legitimacy as a mark of authority, and martyrdom as the symbolic proof of legitimacy.
Research Interests: Anthropology, Legitimacy and Authority, Democratic Theory, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Iranian Studies, and 26 moreLegitimacy, Political Legitimacy, Power and Legitimacy, Michel Foucault, Iranian History, Democracy, Iranian Modern History, Modern Iranian History, Martyrdom, Iran, Nationalism, Theocratic Politics, Gender & Caste Issues, Modern Iran, Legitimacy Theory, Iranian politics and history, Cultural and Social Anthropology, New Social Movements, Green Movement, Environmentalism, Theocracy, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Ahmadinejad, Taziyeh, Theories of Democracy and Ideology, Hassan Rouhani, Guardian Council of Iran, Iranian Government, Velayat-e Faqih, and Government, Resistive Economy, Iranian Goods
In today's rapidly changing, highly competitive world, product design requires swift translation of human needs and desires into technical specifications for the development of devices and services that meet those needs. This calls for a... more
In today's rapidly changing, highly competitive world, product design requires swift translation of human needs and desires into technical specifications for the development of devices and services that meet those needs. This calls for a
complex integration of qualitative and quantitative data. But despite some notable successes, product design failures are today both extensive and expensive, consuming enormous amounts of time and human labor. Any improvement to the
process of product design would be of great public benefit. This paper explores the use of ethnographic and other anthropological techniques to improve product design leading to increased success.
complex integration of qualitative and quantitative data. But despite some notable successes, product design failures are today both extensive and expensive, consuming enormous amounts of time and human labor. Any improvement to the
process of product design would be of great public benefit. This paper explores the use of ethnographic and other anthropological techniques to improve product design leading to increased success.
Research Interests: Anthropology, Design, Ethnography, Qualitative studies (Psychology), Qualitative Methods (Sociology), and 27 moreQualitative methodology, Qualitative Methods, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Industrial Design, Design Research, Product Design, Ethnography (Research Methodology), Qualitative Research, Qualitative Research Methods, Ethnographic fieldwork, Ethnographic Methods, Institutional ethnography, Empathy, Industrial Product Design, Industrial Engineering and Management, Kano Model, The Kano model: how to delight your customer, Fuzzy QFD, Cultural and Social Anthropology, Qualitative Analysis, QFD applications in vehicle industries, Quality Function Deployment (QFD), QFD IN SIX SIGMA, Etnographical Studies, kano model and QFD, Smart System Service, and Depts.) cascade Quality (QFD
Performance forms and Ritual have undoubtedly been linked in human culture since primordial times. The first “theatrical” performances have been speculated to have either originated in early agricultural practices of fertility renewal, or... more
Performance forms and Ritual have undoubtedly been linked in human culture since primordial times. The first “theatrical” performances have been speculated to have either originated in early agricultural practices of fertility renewal, or with shamanistic practices involving magic and healing, or both.
In the modern study of religion by social scientists, such as Emile Durkheim and Max Weber, we see a largely accepted view that the structure and shape of any given religion and its practice will mirror the overall structures and ideologies of the societies that engender it. In general:
All religions embody a world view
All religions reinforce the world view of the societies that embrace them Established religions may be put to different uses in different societies (Christianity, Judaism and Islam are different in the different communities in which they exist.)
This paper explores the interplay between ritual and religion in Japan, the Persian Gulf and in Iran. The three ritual forms, Kagura, the Zar and Ta'ziyeh are exemplary of the greatest ritual performance forms in the world, and they embody the same ritual structure despite their great geographical separation.
In the modern study of religion by social scientists, such as Emile Durkheim and Max Weber, we see a largely accepted view that the structure and shape of any given religion and its practice will mirror the overall structures and ideologies of the societies that engender it. In general:
All religions embody a world view
All religions reinforce the world view of the societies that embrace them Established religions may be put to different uses in different societies (Christianity, Judaism and Islam are different in the different communities in which they exist.)
This paper explores the interplay between ritual and religion in Japan, the Persian Gulf and in Iran. The three ritual forms, Kagura, the Zar and Ta'ziyeh are exemplary of the greatest ritual performance forms in the world, and they embody the same ritual structure despite their great geographical separation.
Research Interests: Japanese Studies, Anthropology, Social Anthropology, Ethnomusicology, Performance Studies, and 27 moreJapanese Language And Culture, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Anthropology of Performance, Ritual, Iranian Studies, The Persian Gulf, Performance, Japan, Ritual (Anthropology), Performance Theory, Cultural Anthropology, Ritual Theory, Arabian/Persian Gulf Studies, Anthropology of Music and Dance, Cultural and Social Anthropology, Medieval Japanese Performance, Japanese noh theatre, Japanese/Asian performing arts, the anthropology of religion, cultural authenticity, ethnographic research methodology, Japanese religious history, religious globalization, religion and media, and visual anthropology, Ritual Practices, Taziyeh, Japanese performing arts, Anthropology of dance and performance, Healing Ceremonies, Persian/Iranian Classical Music, Spirit Posession and Witchcraft, Japanese Anthropology, and Kagura
Hearing may be the most basic of the senses. We know from the work of cognitive scientists such as Joseph LeDoux that sound has the capability of triggering an immediate physical response in humans—hence the “startle” reflex in babies.... more
Hearing may be the most basic of the senses. We know from the work of cognitive scientists such as Joseph LeDoux that sound has the capability of triggering an immediate physical response in humans—hence the “startle” reflex in babies. Patterned sound, such as in rhyme or music, has an easier retention in memory. Finally, human hearing is most acute at 2800-3000 Hz. (cycles per second), so sounds in this range have high awareness. In this paper I will discuss all three of these factors in the process of “marketing” sound in the form of music, commercial messages and political discourse (“sound bites”). I conclude that all three basic properties of sound can be combined to “fix” messages in purposeful communication designed to motivate humans to action.
Research Interests: Business, Marketing, Cultural Studies, Cognitive Psychology, Cognitive Science, and 27 moreAcoustics, Music, Anthropological Linguistics, Communication, Languages and Linguistics, Ethnomusicology, Linguistic Anthropology, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Advertising, Advertising And Social Culture, Sound studies, Strategic Communication, Advertising and Media, Marketing Research, Cognitive Linguistics, Linguistics, Cognitive Neuroscience, Marketing Strategy, Cultural Anthropology, Marketing & Advertising, Business Anthropology, Culture and Advertising, Commercials, Rhyme, Cultural and Social Anthropology, Advertising and Branding, and Joseph LeDoux
All humor has a common structure. It involves “double framing” in which something is presented that is suddenly revealed to be something else, often by being recontextualized during the course of the humorous presentation. The apparent... more
All humor has a common structure. It involves “double framing” in which something is presented that is suddenly revealed to be something else, often by being recontextualized during the course of the humorous presentation. The apparent “frame” of the humorous item is broken to reveal the second (and occasionally a third or fourth) frame to the surprise of the listener. The combination of double framing coupled with surprise produces an autonomic reaction—usually spontaneous laughter. Freud linked humor with aggression in part because the process of recontextualiztion and surprise is designed to take the consumer of humor unawares—a kind of assault. Cultural differences in humor arise because of the variety of bases for framing in different social traditions, conditioned by history, shared knowledge and behavioral expectations. For this reason it is often difficult for persons from one cultural tradition to understand the humor generated by other traditions. This paper will explore the generation of humor in the Middle East. Humor generated by exploiting expectations arising from social customs, language, shared symbolism and ironic distance between the “inside” and “outside” reality of current events create a rich humorous tapestry often unappreciated by persons from outside the region. Examples will be drawn from Egypt, Iran and the Persian Gulf states.
Research Interests: Cultural Studies, Anthropological Linguistics, Folklore, Social Anthropology, Middle East Studies, and 17 moreLinguistic Anthropology, Humor, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Iranian Studies, Cognitive Framing, Anthropology Of Literature, Cultural Anthropology, Message Framing, Jokes, Framing, Cultural and Social Anthropology, Framing Theory, Framing Analysis, Psychology of Humor, Jokes, humor and communication, Analysis of Jokes, and Political Jokes
This article explores the performative dimensions of the Zar ceremony as carried out throughout the Persian Gulf. This ceremony is mirrored by similar ones throughout North and East Africa, suggesting that the Zar may have resulted from... more
This article explores the performative dimensions of the Zar ceremony as carried out throughout the Persian Gulf. This ceremony is mirrored by similar ones throughout North and East Africa, suggesting that the Zar may have resulted from cultural diffusion along historical trade routes. The Zar practitioners, the baba and the mama, have extensive demands in musical performance, movement and coordination in order to affect a palliative relief for persons affected by spirit ‘winds’ that inhabit them. The analysis in this paper uses the framework of ritual structure developed by Arnold Van Gennep and Victor Turner to show how the practitioners skilfully guide the person at the centre of the ceremony and the community of the ‘People of the Wind’ to a successful conclusion by bringing persons under treatment from a ‘normal’ state through a ‘liminal’ state to an eventual ‘reincorporated’ state in which relief is experienced. The performative aspects of the ceremony move those who are being treated through stages in which the inhabiting spirit is addressed: induction, movement into a trance state both for the practitioner and the person being treated, addressing of the spirit by the practitioners and return of the person being treated to normal life. All of these stages are marked by special music, chanting and movement. The Zar ceremony is an important method of non-allopathic treatment for emotional disorders that might elsewhere be treated through psychiatry in clinical settings.
Research Interests: Cultural Studies, Music, Psychological Anthropology, Medical Anthropology, Performing Arts, and 27 moreEthnomusicology, Middle East Studies, Performance Studies, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Ritual, Traditional Medicine, Iranian Studies, The Persian Gulf, Performance, Islamic Studies, Culture and Performance, Spirit Possession (Anthropology), Zarządzanie, Ritual Healing, Arabian/Persian Gulf Studies, Persian Gulf Studies, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Persian Gulf, Cultural and Social Anthropology, Performance and Religion, Arabic Studies, Iranian Anthropology, Zar, Arabic and Islamic Studies, Religious/healing dances and rituals, Healing Ceremonies, Spirit Posession and Witchcraft, and Islamic Medical Practice
Research Interests: Cultural Studies, Anthropology, Social Anthropology, Romanticism, Ethnography, and 13 moreUser Experience (UX), Social and Cultural Anthropology, Spirituality, Cultural Anthropology, Religious Experience, New Age spirituality, Religion and Popular Culture, Religious Studies, Intellectualism, Cultural and Social Anthropology, Ecstasy, Anthropology of Religion, and Diane Fossey
This paper drawn from ethnographic fieldwork in pre-revolutionary Iran assesses the potential role of rural midwives in promoting family planning in rural Iranian villages. The advantages and limitations of utilizing these traditional... more
This paper drawn from ethnographic fieldwork in pre-revolutionary Iran assesses the potential role of rural midwives in promoting family planning in rural Iranian villages. The advantages and limitations of utilizing these traditional practitioners in family planning education are assesssed.
Research Interests: Medical Sociology, Rural Sociology, Medical Anthropology, Social Sciences, Social and Cultural Anthropology, and 14 moreIranian Archaeology, Iranian Studies, Rural Development, Islamic Studies, Women and Gender Issues in Islam, Midwifery, Cultural Anthropology, Iran, Women and Gender Studies, Social Medicine, Iranian Women, Shi'a Islam, Family Planning, and Medical Social Work
Teaching performance theory in an anthropology program requires relating the act and practice of performance to the broad questions posed by the field of anthropology. In the most general sense, these questions lead to a comparative... more
Teaching performance theory in an anthropology program requires relating the act and practice of performance to the broad questions posed by the field of anthropology. In the most general sense, these questions lead to a comparative analysis of human similarities and differences in all times and over all geographical locations. Such an analysis also
involves the four theoretical subfields of anthropology: archaeology, biological anthropology, linguistic anthropology, and sociocultural anthropology.
involves the four theoretical subfields of anthropology: archaeology, biological anthropology, linguistic anthropology, and sociocultural anthropology.
Research Interests: Cultural Studies, Archaeology, Biological Anthropology, Media and Cultural Studies, Performing Arts, and 27 moreTheatre Studies, Languages and Linguistics, Theatre History, Ethnography, Performance Studies, Dramaturgy, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Music Theater, Performance Art, Drama, Culture, Theater and film, Avant-Garde Theater, Performance, Ethnography (Research Methodology), Ethnography of Communication, Linguistic ethnography, Ethnographic fieldwork, Cultural Anthropology, Ethnographic Methods, Drama and Theater, Theatre, Cultural and Social Anthropology, Theater and Performance Studies, Theater Arts, Theater, and History of the Theater
Observers of the Middle East in Europe and the United States over the past several centuries have been fascinated by the question of Middle Eastern sexuality. This has often led to exaggerated or distorted claims of nonstandard sexual... more
Observers of the Middle East in Europe and the United States over the past several centuries have been fascinated by the question of Middle Eastern sexuality. This has often led to exaggerated or distorted claims of nonstandard sexual practice-particularly same-sex activity that have frequently been assailed by Middle Eastern critics as exemplary
of "Orientalism." At the same time, many other observers
characterize Islam as vehemently opposed to same-sex sexual activity, making it seem that such activity would be impossible in today's world. The truth lies somewhere in between. Same-sex sexual activity definitely exists in the Middle East, but it is not always constructed or practiced in the same way as in Europe or the United States.
of "Orientalism." At the same time, many other observers
characterize Islam as vehemently opposed to same-sex sexual activity, making it seem that such activity would be impossible in today's world. The truth lies somewhere in between. Same-sex sexual activity definitely exists in the Middle East, but it is not always constructed or practiced in the same way as in Europe or the United States.
Research Interests: Cultural Studies, Gender Studies, Sex and Gender, Middle East Studies, Religion and Sexuality, and 27 moreSocial and Cultural Anthropology, Sexuality, Gender and Sexuality, Gay And Lesbian Studies, Iranian Studies, Anthropology and Sexuality, History of Sexuality, Islamic Studies, Women and Gender Issues in Islam, Egypt, Middle East (Culture), Gender and Sexuality Studies, Islam, Sexuality And Culture, Culture, gender and sexuality, Same-sex relationships, Homosexuality, Oman, Gay Culture, Cultural and Social Anthropology, • Gender and Sexuality in the Middle East and North Africa, History of Homosexuality in Islamic Society (from the medieval era to present day), Attitudes Towards Homosexuality, Homosexuality in Islam, Societies and Cultures in the Greater Middle East and Central Asia, Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Studies, and Homosexuality in the Middle East
Pulitzer Prize–winning reporter Seymour Hersh has once again created controversy by stating in a recent New Yorker article, “Iran and the Bomb,” that there is no evidence that Iran is building a nuclear weapon. Hersh is correct, but his... more
Pulitzer Prize–winning reporter Seymour Hersh has once again created controversy by stating in a recent New Yorker article, “Iran and the Bomb,” that there is no evidence that Iran is building a nuclear weapon. Hersh is correct, but his statement still provokes debate. This article reviews the evidence for an Iranian nuclear weapons program and concludes that Hersh is right: There is no evidence anywhere that Iran is building a bomb or plans to in the future.
Research Interests: International Relations, Cultural Sociology, Foreign Policy Analysis, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Nuclear Weapons, and 9 moreIranian Studies, Nuclear Energy, U.S. Foreign Policy, Iran, Cultural and Social Anthropology, US-Iran Relations, U.S Foreign Policy towards Iran, US Sanctions Against Iran, and US-Iranian Relations
Iran has been made a bogeyman throughout the Middle East with mythical accusations about its "spread of power." This article debunks seven of the most pervasive myths about Iranian influence in the region, which is actually rather weak... more
Iran has been made a bogeyman throughout the Middle East with mythical accusations about its "spread of power." This article debunks seven of the most pervasive myths about Iranian influence in the region, which is actually rather weak and benign.
Research Interests: Cultural Studies, Foreign Policy Analysis, International Studies, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Iranian Studies, and 11 moreLebanon, U.S. Foreign Policy, Iran, Iranian Foreign Policy, Shiism, Shiite Islam, Shii Islam, Hezbollah, Cultural and Social Anthropology, Hamas, Shiism, U.S.-Iran Relations, and Iranian Foreign Affairs
The decade from 1979 to 1989 marks one of the most remarkable chapters in the history of international foreign relations-the era of troubled and difficult relations between the United States and Iran. The period is remarkable, first,... more
The decade from 1979 to 1989 marks one of the most remarkable chapters in the history of international foreign relations-the era of troubled and difficult relations between the United States and Iran. The period is remarkable, first, because of the extraordinary degree to which the two nations lacked perspective on the cultural basis for each other's
political motivations and strategies in the international arena and, second, for the degree to which each side was able to use vilification of the other as a political stratagem for domestic political purposes.
For both nations thjs was the longest period of direct wrangling with a nation outside of their own immediate geographical sphere in the twentieth century. The difficulties faced by the two nations went beyond simple misunderstanding or conflict of interests, and their differences were essentially cultural.
Each nation, led by governmental leaders, constructed a mythological image that served to "demonize" the other.'
Paradoxically, each fulfilled the worst expectations of the other, playing true to the image being created for it.
For Iran, the United States became the Great Satan, an external
illegitimate force that continually strove to destroy the pure, internal core of the Iranian Revolution. For the United States, Iran took on another demonic form-that of the "crazy outlaw" nation whose activities were illegal, unpredictable, and irrational.
This "mythology of the other" was complemented by each nation's mythology of itself and its role in world affairs. For Iran, the revolution of 1978-1979 assumed this mythic status. For the United States, a more complex structure (which I term the "US. Foreign Policy Myth") held sway.
political motivations and strategies in the international arena and, second, for the degree to which each side was able to use vilification of the other as a political stratagem for domestic political purposes.
For both nations thjs was the longest period of direct wrangling with a nation outside of their own immediate geographical sphere in the twentieth century. The difficulties faced by the two nations went beyond simple misunderstanding or conflict of interests, and their differences were essentially cultural.
Each nation, led by governmental leaders, constructed a mythological image that served to "demonize" the other.'
Paradoxically, each fulfilled the worst expectations of the other, playing true to the image being created for it.
For Iran, the United States became the Great Satan, an external
illegitimate force that continually strove to destroy the pure, internal core of the Iranian Revolution. For the United States, Iran took on another demonic form-that of the "crazy outlaw" nation whose activities were illegal, unpredictable, and irrational.
This "mythology of the other" was complemented by each nation's mythology of itself and its role in world affairs. For Iran, the revolution of 1978-1979 assumed this mythic status. For the United States, a more complex structure (which I term the "US. Foreign Policy Myth") held sway.
Research Interests: Cultural Studies, International Relations, Social Anthropology, International Relations Theory, Foreign Policy Analysis, and 25 moreSocial and Cultural Anthropology, Iranian Studies, American Foreign Policy, History of American Foreign Relations, Foreign Policy, Iranian History, Iran (American Foreign Policy), Cultural Anthropology, Foreign Relations and Cross-Cultural contact, U.S. Foreign Policy, Iran, United States Foreign Policy, Iranian Foreign Policy, Cultural and Social Anthropology, Politics and International relations, Iranian cultural diplomacy, Demonization of the Other, Iranian Foreing Policy in Post-Revolution period, 1979 Iranian Revolution, Khomeini, Iranian Revolution, United States and Iran, Demonization, Ayatollah Khomeini, and United States Iranian Relations
The Islamic world has long had an ambiguous attitude toward music and musical instruments. Though, as will be seen below, there is absolutely no Qur'anic prohibition against music, most severe Islamic theologians nevertheless enforce a... more
The Islamic world has long had an ambiguous attitude toward music and musical instruments. Though, as will be seen below, there is absolutely no Qur'anic prohibition against music, most severe Islamic theologians nevertheless enforce a nearly complete prohibition of musical performance. They then allow "exceptions" based on special conditions occasioned by various hadith or traditions of the Prophet. More modern interpreters of Islamic law have extended these views to modern situations such as the use of electronic instruments and activities
involving music as a secondary concomitant, such as the music accompanying films or television programs. More liberal theologians not only allow musical performance, they encourage it in many situations.
Because the religious suitability of music is an ambiguous matter, the performance and consumption of music itself has often been in the forefront of conflict between
traditional religionists and secular modernists who are trying to establish broader parameters for living for citizens in a religious world. Music becomes symbolic of the divide between liberal and conservative, and is thus a true "battleground issue."
In the most stringent periods of time, when conservative religious authorities have been in the ascendancy, music has been prohibited absolutely. For example, in Iran after the Revolution of 1978-79, homes where secular popular music was
being played or performed were raided by members of the Revolutionary Guard. In Afghanistan under the Taliban in the late 1990's similar prohibitions were in effect.
It goes without saying that despite these restrictions on music, elaborate "classical" and popular music traditions have arisen throughout the Islamic world. They have been a part of Islamic traditional civilization for centuries, and are likewise a concurrent fact of life in the Islamic world alongside the religious prohibitions. While, as stated, the most conservative Muslims enforce the general prohibition against music, there is no Islamic society in the world that lacks a musical tradition,
or where musical performance can not be heard. These simultaneous strains of cultural practice are fascinating, since they show the tension between generalized Islamic law and local cultural practice.
Nowhere is this seen more clearly than in the Persianate world-particularly the area of the world influenced by Shi'a cultural traditions. This is the world dominated by historically Persian cultural traditions spreading from Baghdad to China and extending in part to present day Iran, Afghanistan, the Tajik areas of Uzbekistan and Tajikististan, and also to the Shi'a areas of Iraq, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon. Of all these traditions Persian classical music and particularly the epic
musical-dramatic form, ta'ziyeh, constitute the greatest challenge to conservative Islamic opinions about the suitability of musical performance in general society.
Persian historical musical practices (along with the musical traditions of Islamic Southeast Asia) constitute the most liberal musical performance conventions in the Muslim world. Nevertheless, to frame the following discussion, it is necessary
to look at commentary on music deriving more generally from the Islamic world. The Persianate world is particularly interesting as a way to frame the conservative/liberal conflict in the Islamic world because of the rich and ancient musical
traditions that exist among Persian speaking peoples. Music is, in fact, such an essential part of greater Persianate civilization, that outright prohibition is nearly unthinkable. Therefore the conflict revolves around the boundary between acceptability and non-acceptability. The question of acceptability becomes
particularly acute when considering ta'ziyeh practice.
involving music as a secondary concomitant, such as the music accompanying films or television programs. More liberal theologians not only allow musical performance, they encourage it in many situations.
Because the religious suitability of music is an ambiguous matter, the performance and consumption of music itself has often been in the forefront of conflict between
traditional religionists and secular modernists who are trying to establish broader parameters for living for citizens in a religious world. Music becomes symbolic of the divide between liberal and conservative, and is thus a true "battleground issue."
In the most stringent periods of time, when conservative religious authorities have been in the ascendancy, music has been prohibited absolutely. For example, in Iran after the Revolution of 1978-79, homes where secular popular music was
being played or performed were raided by members of the Revolutionary Guard. In Afghanistan under the Taliban in the late 1990's similar prohibitions were in effect.
It goes without saying that despite these restrictions on music, elaborate "classical" and popular music traditions have arisen throughout the Islamic world. They have been a part of Islamic traditional civilization for centuries, and are likewise a concurrent fact of life in the Islamic world alongside the religious prohibitions. While, as stated, the most conservative Muslims enforce the general prohibition against music, there is no Islamic society in the world that lacks a musical tradition,
or where musical performance can not be heard. These simultaneous strains of cultural practice are fascinating, since they show the tension between generalized Islamic law and local cultural practice.
Nowhere is this seen more clearly than in the Persianate world-particularly the area of the world influenced by Shi'a cultural traditions. This is the world dominated by historically Persian cultural traditions spreading from Baghdad to China and extending in part to present day Iran, Afghanistan, the Tajik areas of Uzbekistan and Tajikististan, and also to the Shi'a areas of Iraq, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon. Of all these traditions Persian classical music and particularly the epic
musical-dramatic form, ta'ziyeh, constitute the greatest challenge to conservative Islamic opinions about the suitability of musical performance in general society.
Persian historical musical practices (along with the musical traditions of Islamic Southeast Asia) constitute the most liberal musical performance conventions in the Muslim world. Nevertheless, to frame the following discussion, it is necessary
to look at commentary on music deriving more generally from the Islamic world. The Persianate world is particularly interesting as a way to frame the conservative/liberal conflict in the Islamic world because of the rich and ancient musical
traditions that exist among Persian speaking peoples. Music is, in fact, such an essential part of greater Persianate civilization, that outright prohibition is nearly unthinkable. Therefore the conflict revolves around the boundary between acceptability and non-acceptability. The question of acceptability becomes
particularly acute when considering ta'ziyeh practice.
Research Interests: Cultural Studies, Music, Music History, Musicology, Social Anthropology, and 22 moreEthnomusicology, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Iranian Studies, Quranic Studies, Islamic Studies, Music And Religion, Cultural Anthropology, Quran, Iranian Folk Music, Iran, Islam and Music, Islamic Music, Cultural and Social Anthropology, Islamic Art and Music, Iranian music, Taziyeh, Iranian Music and Drama, Azerbaycanda Taziye, Persian/Iranian Classical Music, Music and Islam, Iranian Classical Music, and Ta'ziyeh
Many commentators on the revolutionary events of 1978-79 in Iran have interpreted them as indicating a strong upswing in Shi'a Islamic orthodoxy.interpreted them as indicating a strong upswing in Shi'a Islamic orthodoxy. Although Iran's... more
Many commentators on the revolutionary events of 1978-79 in Iran have interpreted them as indicating a strong upswing in Shi'a Islamic orthodoxy.interpreted them as indicating a strong upswing in Shi'a Islamic orthodoxy. Although Iran's identity as an Islamic state is not in question, both Iranian and foreign observers over the years have regularly reported the Iranian
population to be somewhat lax in both knowledge of doctrine and adherence to strict Islamic practice. The religious fervor which characterized the revolution seems to constitute a significant change in the basic religious orientation of the Iranian people. The leaders of the postrevolutionary
Islamic Republic were committed to effecting such a change in the population. They viewed the prerevolutionary period as one of corruption, led by a corrupt shah-thus accounting for previous laxity in religious observance.
In the discussion which follows the apparent shift in religious orientation in Iran is seen neither as a question of corruption and purity nor as one of decline and revival. Iranian religious behavior and belief is viewed as oriented by a set of symbolic principles which underlie not only religious practice, but also many other aspects of Iranian social, economic, and political life. This symbolic substratum, rather than orthodox Shi'a doctrine, provided the inspiration and strength underlying the fervor of the original revolution.
population to be somewhat lax in both knowledge of doctrine and adherence to strict Islamic practice. The religious fervor which characterized the revolution seems to constitute a significant change in the basic religious orientation of the Iranian people. The leaders of the postrevolutionary
Islamic Republic were committed to effecting such a change in the population. They viewed the prerevolutionary period as one of corruption, led by a corrupt shah-thus accounting for previous laxity in religious observance.
In the discussion which follows the apparent shift in religious orientation in Iran is seen neither as a question of corruption and purity nor as one of decline and revival. Iranian religious behavior and belief is viewed as oriented by a set of symbolic principles which underlie not only religious practice, but also many other aspects of Iranian social, economic, and political life. This symbolic substratum, rather than orthodox Shi'a doctrine, provided the inspiration and strength underlying the fervor of the original revolution.
Research Interests: Religion, Cultural Studies, Development Economics, Social Anthropology, Social Sciences, and 25 moreSocial and Cultural Anthropology, Iranian Studies, Social Media, Islamic Studies, Economic Development, Modern Iranian Historiography, Social History, Iranian History, Qajar Period, Iranian Modern History, Cultural Anthropology, Qajar Persia, Iran, Modern Iran, Iranian Islamic Revolution, Shiism, Shiite Islam, Shii Islam, Cultural and Social Anthropology, middle eastern political economy and Iranian economy, comparative economic history, Qajar Iran, Shiism, 1979 Iranian Revolution, Anthropology of Shiism, Islamic republic of Iran, Iranian Revolution, and EFFECTS OF FISCAL POLICY SHOCKS ON IRANIAN ECONOMIC GROWTH FROM 1959-2009
When one cultural group becomes dominated by another, resulting rapid change and loss of authority may make its original meaning system seem thin, ineffective, and contradictory. The resulting state of deprivation often causes members to... more
When one cultural group becomes dominated by another, resulting rapid change and loss of authority may make its original meaning system seem thin, ineffective, and contradictory. The resulting state of deprivation often
causes members to rebuild their culture along what they consider to be more satisfying lines. The process, which is called revitalization by anthropologists, has occurred over and over again among peoples throughout the world. Often couched in religious terms movements prescribe rituals and
beliefs designed to restore order to their existence. In this selection, William O. Beeman describes the process of revitalization and shows how it shapes the beliefs and actions of such groups as the militias that have sprung up
across America and the Islamic fundamentalists of the Middle East.
causes members to rebuild their culture along what they consider to be more satisfying lines. The process, which is called revitalization by anthropologists, has occurred over and over again among peoples throughout the world. Often couched in religious terms movements prescribe rituals and
beliefs designed to restore order to their existence. In this selection, William O. Beeman describes the process of revitalization and shows how it shapes the beliefs and actions of such groups as the militias that have sprung up
across America and the Islamic fundamentalists of the Middle East.
Research Interests: New Religious Movements, Cultural Studies, Anthropology, Social Anthropology, Terrorism, and 22 moreMiddle East Studies, Religion and Politics, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Political Violence and Terrorism, Conservatism, Islamic Studies, Militant Research, American Conservatism, United States History, Militias, Religious Revivals, United States Political and Religious History, Cultural and Social Anthropology, Conservative Christianity, Religious conservatism, Latin American conservative parties, Revitalization, Militant, Militant Democracy, Militant Groups, Religious Revivalism, and Spirituale Christiani Militis Certamen
One goal of American and Northern European higher education is to promote acquisition of a pluralistic cognitive style, which has as an important property- non-lineality. This paper investigates the effects of using of an advanced... more
One goal of American and Northern European higher education is to promote acquisition of a pluralistic cognitive style, which has as an important property- non-lineality. This paper investigates the effects of using of an advanced hypertext/hypermedia system, Intermedia, to develop
instructional materials for two university courses in English and Biology intended to promote acquisition of non-lineal thinking. Use of Intermedia is shown to produce significant learning
effects, which are somewhat more pronounced for persons involved in developing materials than for students using the system.
This paper, written in 1987, is a pioneering study of the first hypertext application used in higher education. It is a precursor to the linked documents that are seen in Wikipedia and in every Internet application today.
instructional materials for two university courses in English and Biology intended to promote acquisition of non-lineal thinking. Use of Intermedia is shown to produce significant learning
effects, which are somewhat more pronounced for persons involved in developing materials than for students using the system.
This paper, written in 1987, is a pioneering study of the first hypertext application used in higher education. It is a precursor to the linked documents that are seen in Wikipedia and in every Internet application today.
Research Interests: History of Science and Technology, Cultural Studies, Computer Science, Anthropology, Social Anthropology, and 13 moreComputer Engineering, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Technology and Society, Computers And Composition (Education), Hypertext theory, Computers and Computing Cultures, Cultural Anthropology, Internet and Society, Computers and Society, Cyber Anthropology, Cultural and Social Anthropology, Computers and Education, and Anthropology and Education
A comprehensive overview of Middle Eastern Theater from the most ancient times down to the present. From the Cambridge Guide to World Theatre
Research Interests: Cultural Studies, Performing Arts, Theatre Studies, Persian Literature, Arabic Literature, and 26 moreTheatre History, Middle East Studies, Performance Studies, Arabic Language and Linguistics, Islamic Contemporary Studies, Iranian Studies, Persian Language, Lebanon, Performance, Islamic Studies, Iraq, Egypt, Syria, Islamic History, Iranian Literature, Theatre, Persian Culture, Iran, Middle East, Kuwait, Palestinian Cinema, Lebanese Cinema, Arab Cinema, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Cultural Studies, Ethnology, Cultural Production, Film, Art, Theatre, Social Media, Theater and Performance Studies, Taziyeh, Middle East Media and Critical and Cultural Studies, History of the Theater, and Theater Studies
The debate below, on the role of women in the Islamic Republic of Iran, prompted by William O. Beeman's 2001 article, "Iranian Women's Situation has Improved under the Islamic Republic" was conducted in 2001 as part of the Gulf12000... more
The debate below, on the role of women in the Islamic Republic of Iran, prompted by William O. Beeman's 2001 article, "Iranian Women's Situation has Improved under the Islamic Republic" was conducted in 2001 as part of the Gulf12000 project at Columbia University, directed by Gary Sick. Normally, these on-line discussions are reserved for members, but
this topic is of such general interest and aroused such intense emotions, that Keddie and Karimkhany asked permission of the participants to edit and reproduce the discussion for a wider audience. The final version was edited by Nikki R. Keddie, Professor Emerita of History at the University of California, Los Angeles, based on the selection and organization of the texts by co-editor Azita Karimkhany, alumna of Columbia University and researcher in Middle Eastern studies. For additional information on Gulf/2000, see the project website
at http://gu]f2000.coJumbia.edu/.
this topic is of such general interest and aroused such intense emotions, that Keddie and Karimkhany asked permission of the participants to edit and reproduce the discussion for a wider audience. The final version was edited by Nikki R. Keddie, Professor Emerita of History at the University of California, Los Angeles, based on the selection and organization of the texts by co-editor Azita Karimkhany, alumna of Columbia University and researcher in Middle Eastern studies. For additional information on Gulf/2000, see the project website
at http://gu]f2000.coJumbia.edu/.
Research Interests: Social Anthropology, Women's Studies, Social Sciences, Human Rights, Social and Cultural Anthropology, and 17 moreLaw and Society, Iranian Studies, Gender and the Law, Women, Women and Gender Issues in Islam, Gender and Politics, Gender and religion (Women s Studies), Cultural Anthropology, Social Inequality (Anthropology), Iran, Social Inequality, Women and Gender Studies, Iranian Women, Gender and Women's Studies, Cultural and Social Anthropology, Law and Gender, and Gender and Law
A decade ago social anthropologists were admonished by Edmund R. Leach (1961) to stop 'butterfly collecting'-that is, to stop the mere description and classification of social systems, and get on with the business of trying to... more
A decade ago social anthropologists were admonished
by Edmund R. Leach (1961) to stop 'butterfly collecting'-that
is, to stop the mere description and classification of social systems,
and get on with the business of trying to formulate the general
principles of operation of social systems. Although formal linguistics
in general has been struggling with the problem of general principles
of operation in the study of syntax, I feel that it might be well for
those of us engaged in the study of variation in language to pay some
attention to Leach's admonition in the area of stylistics and pragmatics.
This paper explores the dynamics of the construction of one dimension of style in Persian--the distinction between "inside" and "outside." In this paper I show that the retention and reduction in Persian phonetic features in pragmatic conversational circumstances corresponds to this distinction. I use morphophonemic data, and analyze the stylistic distinctions using a semiotic framework developed by the pragmatist, Charles Sanders Peirce.
by Edmund R. Leach (1961) to stop 'butterfly collecting'-that
is, to stop the mere description and classification of social systems,
and get on with the business of trying to formulate the general
principles of operation of social systems. Although formal linguistics
in general has been struggling with the problem of general principles
of operation in the study of syntax, I feel that it might be well for
those of us engaged in the study of variation in language to pay some
attention to Leach's admonition in the area of stylistics and pragmatics.
This paper explores the dynamics of the construction of one dimension of style in Persian--the distinction between "inside" and "outside." In this paper I show that the retention and reduction in Persian phonetic features in pragmatic conversational circumstances corresponds to this distinction. I use morphophonemic data, and analyze the stylistic distinctions using a semiotic framework developed by the pragmatist, Charles Sanders Peirce.
Research Interests: Discourse Analysis, Cultural Studies, Anthropology, Anthropological Linguistics, Pragmatism, and 28 moreLanguages and Linguistics, Pragmatics, Linguistic Politeness, Sociolinguistics, Linguistic Anthropology, Conversation Analysis, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Anthropological Linguistics (Languages And Linguistics), Iranian Studies, Persian Language, Ethnography of Communication, Charles S. Peirce, Linguistics, Morpho Phonology, Pragmatism (Philosophy), Culture and Cognition, Peircean Semiotics, Iran, Persian Studies, Morphophonology, Arabian/Persian Gulf Studies, Informality, Cultural and Social Anthropology, Formality, Formality of Language, Phonemics, Hierarchy In Languages, and Morphemics
Anthropology has rarely been recognized as one of the "policy sciences," yet at this point in history, anthropological skills are needed more than ever for the government officials, businessmen and journalists who deal with an... more
Anthropology has rarely been recognized as one of the "policy sciences," yet at this point in history, anthropological skills are needed more than ever for the government officials, businessmen and journalists who deal with an increasingly complex world. There is an extremely powerful and pervasive American belief system about the nature of foreign policy, how it is conducted and how it affects American life. This paper elucidates this belief system and shows how adherence to it harms American and world interests.
Research Interests: Discourse Analysis, Cultural Studies, American Studies, American Politics, International Relations, and 21 moreInternational Relations Theory, Foreign Policy Analysis, Middle East Studies, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Iranian Studies, American Culture, Foreign Policy, Lebanon, International Politics, Critical Political Discourse Analysis, Political Discourse Analysis, Middle East Politics, Beliefs, Cultural Anthropology, Iran, United States Foreign Policy, Political Discourse, Lebanese Politics, Cultural and Social Anthropology, Beliefs and attitudes, and Lybia
Recent foreign conflict throughout the world has shown an unusually coherent and powerful belief system operating in the exercise of United States foreign policy. Like most belief systems, that of the United States foreign policy... more
Recent foreign conflict throughout the world has shown an unusually coherent and powerful belief system operating in the exercise of United States foreign policy. Like most belief systems, that of the United States foreign policy community is highly coherent and extraordinarily rigid in its exercise. It continues to be pursued despite extraordinary, repeated evidence of its fallaciousness.
After outlining the broad structures of this belief system and some of the questions about it that have been raised by recent foreign crises, I will suggest that it maintains its strength in the conduct of foreign policy because, as with most belief systems, its abandonment threatens more danger to the internal order of the United States government than the actual crises that challenge its validity.
After outlining the broad structures of this belief system and some of the questions about it that have been raised by recent foreign crises, I will suggest that it maintains its strength in the conduct of foreign policy because, as with most belief systems, its abandonment threatens more danger to the internal order of the United States government than the actual crises that challenge its validity.
Research Interests: American Studies, International Relations, Foreign Policy Analysis, Middle East Studies, U.S. history, and 24 moreSocial and Cultural Anthropology, Iranian Archaeology, Political Science, Iranian Studies, American Foreign Policy, American Culture, Foreign Policy, Lebanon, Middle East Politics, Cultural Anthropology, U.S. Foreign Policy, Iran, Middle East, United States Foreign Policy, United States, Lebanese Politics, Cultural and Social Anthropology, Beliefs and attitudes, Lybia, Religious and Cultural Beliefs and Practices, ANTHROPOLOGY OF PUBLIC POLICY AND MANAGEMENT, U.S. Iranian Relations, United States State Department, and Culture and Foreign Policy
If depression is a disease, there seems to be very little indication among psychologists and psychiatrists as to what kind of disease it might be. To be sure, "depression" as a concept has been operationalized, measured according to... more
If depression is a disease, there seems to be very little indication among psychologists and psychiatrists as to what kind of disease it might be. To be sure, "depression" as a concept has been operationalized, measured according to standard testing devices, and treated. Still, vast areas of confusion remain. Is depression biological in origin or is it a configuration of wrong "cognitions?" In this paper I explore depression from the standpoint of linguistic anthropology, suggesting that depression may have a root in communication structures, especially in pragmatic dimensions of language.
Research Interests: Discourse Analysis, Psychology, Clinical Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, Cognitive Science, and 30 moreSocial Psychology, Emotion, Psychiatry, Anthropological Linguistics, Medical Anthropology, Pragmatics, Sociolinguistics, Linguistic Anthropology, Depression, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Cultural Psychology, Discourse, Culture, Critical Discourse Analysis, Metaphor, Cultural Anthropology, Depression (Psychology), Depression symptoms and clinical depression, Linguistic and Literary Stylistics, Semiotics, Pragmatics and Discourse Analysis, Dysphoria, Bronislav Malinowski, Cultural and Social Anthropology, Cognitive linguistics (especially metaphor and metonymy, conceptualization of emotions and relationship between language, mind, and culture), .Medical Anthropology, Discourse Analysis (DA), Language and Psychiatry, Paul Watzlawick, Aaron Beck, Rational Cognitive Therapy, and Janet Beavin
Food plays a central role in hospitality in virtually every culture on earth. Eating together - 'commensality'' is perhaps one of the most basic human social acts, and is imbued with a special ritual quality. In this paper I show that... more
Food plays a central role in hospitality in virtually every culture on earth. Eating together - 'commensality'' is perhaps one of the most basic human social acts, and is imbued with a special ritual quality. In this paper I show that there are several stages that participants in commensality pass through from the outside world to the communal meal. The passage from stage to stage is effected through the use of linguistic/ behavioral routines that I call "pragmemic triggers. " The form of these triggers is different for different societies, but their structure and use is the same. To demonstrate this, I compare the passage to the meal in four widely dispersed cultures: Middle East, Japanese, German and American
Research Interests: Discourse Analysis, German Studies, Japanese Studies, Anthropological Linguistics, Languages and Linguistics, and 45 moreMiddle East Studies, Pragmatics, Japanese Language And Culture, Sociolinguistics, Linguistic Anthropology, Arabic Language and Linguistics, Conversation Analysis, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Anthropology of Food, Anthropological Linguistics (Languages And Linguistics), Ritual, Iranian Studies, Persian Language, German Language, American Culture, Arabic Sociolinguistics, Turkish and Middle East Studies, Food and Nutrition, Turkey, Islamic Studies, Language and Culture, Ethnography of Communication, Islam, Japan, Interactional Sociolinguistics, Hospitality, Cultural Anthropology, Turkish Language, Turkish Studies, Arab Culture, Iran, Germany, Victor Turner, Arabian Peninsula, South Arabian Culture, General Linguistics, Sociolinguistics, Comparative Linguistics and Language Acquisition, Hospitality & Tourism Studies, Commensality, Iranian cultural diplomacy, American economy and society, Anthropological Theory, Protocol and etiquette, Ancient Iranian Culture and Languages, Van Gennep, and American customs
Highlights • I present an explanation of instantaneous pragmatic linguistic choice behavior. • I posit “thin slicing” and “emotional response” behavior as mechanisms. • My conclusion supplements other explanations based on... more
Highlights
• I present an explanation of instantaneous pragmatic linguistic choice behavior.
• I posit “thin slicing” and “emotional response” behavior as mechanisms.
• My conclusion supplements other explanations based on metapragmatics and habitus.
• I analyze examples of pragmatic choice drawn from Japanese, Persian and Javanese.
Abstract
It is axiomatic in the study of pragmatics that speakers must make choices from a myriad of variants in phonology, morphology and syntax “on the fly” during the course of interaction. However, the specific psychological and neurophysiological mechanisms that both prompt these choices have largely been taken for granted. Theoretical approaches to this problem in the past have focused on linguistic mechanisms such as “metapragmatics” or cultural approaches such as the analysis of “habitus.” While acknowledging the importance of these approaches, in this paper I extend this view by suggesting that these instantaneous choices are largely governed by the same cognitive mechanisms that govern emotional response. Drawing on the work of contemporary neurophysiology, pragmatic philosophy and phenomenology, I draw on examples from Japanese, Persian and Javanese.
• I present an explanation of instantaneous pragmatic linguistic choice behavior.
• I posit “thin slicing” and “emotional response” behavior as mechanisms.
• My conclusion supplements other explanations based on metapragmatics and habitus.
• I analyze examples of pragmatic choice drawn from Japanese, Persian and Javanese.
Abstract
It is axiomatic in the study of pragmatics that speakers must make choices from a myriad of variants in phonology, morphology and syntax “on the fly” during the course of interaction. However, the specific psychological and neurophysiological mechanisms that both prompt these choices have largely been taken for granted. Theoretical approaches to this problem in the past have focused on linguistic mechanisms such as “metapragmatics” or cultural approaches such as the analysis of “habitus.” While acknowledging the importance of these approaches, in this paper I extend this view by suggesting that these instantaneous choices are largely governed by the same cognitive mechanisms that govern emotional response. Drawing on the work of contemporary neurophysiology, pragmatic philosophy and phenomenology, I draw on examples from Japanese, Persian and Javanese.
Research Interests: Discourse Analysis, Cognitive Psychology, Cognitive Science, Emotion, Japanese Studies, and 62 moreAnthropological Linguistics, Languages and Linguistics, Language and Social Interaction, Ethnography, Pragmatics, Japanese Language And Culture, Linguistic Politeness, Linguistic Anthropology, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Psycholinguistics, Iranian Studies, Language and Power, Persian Language, Applied Linguistics, Cognitive Neuropsychology, Comparative Linguistics, Language Ideology, Cognitive Linguistics, Linguistics, Cognitive Anthropology, Cognitive Neuroscience, Politeness theory, Cultural Anthropology, Iranian Languages, Politeness, Interlanguage Pragmatics, Persian Linguistics and Politeness, ethnography, comparative visual media, humanitarianism, human rights, biopolitics, Marxist critique, postcolonial studies, documentary studies, critical theory and cultural studies, posthumanism, animal studies, discourses of the child, Japanese Language, Thalamus, Language and Emotion, Amygdala structure and function, Cognitive Psycholinguistics, Cultural and Linguistic Anthropology, Politeness Research, General Linguistics, Sociolinguistics, Comparative Linguistics and Language Acquisition, Speech codes theory, Ethnography of Communication, online education, Cultural linguistics, Persian Language, Linguistics and Pedagogy, Socio-Cultural Anthropology, Amygdala, Cultural and Social Anthropology, Cognitive linguistics (especially metaphor and metonymy, conceptualization of emotions and relationship between language, mind, and culture), Thin-Slicing, Javanese language, Javanese studies, Language and Emotions, Javanese, Politeness strategies, Persian (Farsi) Linguistics, Ancient Iranian Culture and Languages, Linguistic Anthropology, South Asia, Francophonie, Linguistic Analysis of Literary Style, Ethnography of Communications, Linguistic Pragmatic, Linguistic Pragmatics, Language Learning Strategies and Style, Language and Emotion (Inc. Performance Of), Neurophysiology (Motivation and Emotion), Instantaneous Choice, Language and Hierarchy, and Language and Social Hierarchy
In this early paper I document the strategic process of indicating hierarchy in the use of the Persian language--sometimes glossed as "ta'arof" This paper is expanded in my 1986 book, *Language, Status and Power in Iran* (Indiana... more
In this early paper I document the strategic process of indicating hierarchy in the use of the Persian language--sometimes glossed as "ta'arof" This paper is expanded in my 1986 book, *Language, Status and Power in Iran* (Indiana University Press, 1986). A link to the book is included below (also available from the publisher in ebook format for download)
Research Interests:
The success of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS--Also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, ISIL) in capturing large territories in Syria and Northern Iraq, and now threatening Baghdad, has raised once again the... more
The success of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS--Also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, ISIL) in capturing large territories in Syria and Northern Iraq, and now threatening Baghdad, has raised once again the specter of a Sunni-Shi'a war in the Middle East. Such a scenario is possible, but unlikely. That's because Sunni and Shi'a believers throughout the world are divided into many factions living under different social conditions and with different religious, social and political agendas. These differences greatly reduce the possibility of the emergence of a coalition of either group into a single bloc opposing the other.
This annotated bibliography was completed in 1986. It will be of use today primarily for persons interested in the history of computing, the history of technology, and the rise of cultural aspects of computing. The bibliography documents... more
This annotated bibliography was completed in 1986. It will be of use today primarily for persons interested in the history of computing, the history of technology, and the rise of cultural aspects of computing. The bibliography documents sources that pre-date the Internet, Email, hypertext, the world wide web, and all forms of social media.
This bibliography brings together in one place diverse, scattered and hard-to find sources that will give researchers an entree to the literature on the social aspects of computing. The bibliography and the literature review that accompanies it are intended to provide an overview of this research area. Scholars here and abroad, graduate students and others interested in the social aspect of computing have encouraged us in this task because they believe that the bibliography would be a useful tool. The bibliography is intended to make vital literature readily accessible and to serve as a source of information about working papers and other documents that are often difficult to locate.
The bibliography contains a review essay: "Social Sciences and the Computer: A Literature Review" by James M. Nyce
The full bibliographic reference is:
Beeman. William; and Kenneth T. Anderson. 1986. An Annotated Bibliography of Research on Computers and Society with an essay by James M. Nyce. Providence, RI: Office of Program Analysis, Institute for Research in Information and Society (IRIS), Brown University.
This bibliography brings together in one place diverse, scattered and hard-to find sources that will give researchers an entree to the literature on the social aspects of computing. The bibliography and the literature review that accompanies it are intended to provide an overview of this research area. Scholars here and abroad, graduate students and others interested in the social aspect of computing have encouraged us in this task because they believe that the bibliography would be a useful tool. The bibliography is intended to make vital literature readily accessible and to serve as a source of information about working papers and other documents that are often difficult to locate.
The bibliography contains a review essay: "Social Sciences and the Computer: A Literature Review" by James M. Nyce
The full bibliographic reference is:
Beeman. William; and Kenneth T. Anderson. 1986. An Annotated Bibliography of Research on Computers and Society with an essay by James M. Nyce. Providence, RI: Office of Program Analysis, Institute for Research in Information and Society (IRIS), Brown University.
Research Interests: Computer Science, History Of Computing, Social Anthropology, Bibliography, Social and Cultural Anthropology, and 18 moreTechnology And Culture, Social Computing, History of Computing (History), Computers and Computing Cultures, Cultural Anthropology, Computing, Cybercultures, Annotated Bibliographies, History of Computing (Computer Science), Computers in Education, Computers and Society, Cultural and Social Anthropology, Educational Technology and Computing, Culture and Computing, History of Computing (Computer Science) , CNRS, Social Anthropology and Computing, History of Computing in Learning and Education, and Intellectual History of Computing
This is a study published eight years before the Iranian Revolution of 1978-79. Its principal value today is as a sketch of Iranian village life centering on children in pre-Revolutionary times. It also provides a snapshot of marriage... more
This is a study published eight years before the Iranian Revolution of 1978-79. Its principal value today is as a sketch of Iranian village life centering on children in pre-Revolutionary times. It also provides a snapshot of marriage patterns including marriage age, age at which children left the family, and family structure. Many changes have taken place in Iran since this study was published by the Iranian Plan Organization. It is hoped that having this pre-Revolutionary comparison will be of use to researchers studying social change in Iran.
Bibliographic Reference:
Rudolph-Touba and William Beeman 1971. Problems of Children and Youth in the Iranian Family: A Pilot Study in the Villages of the Kashan Desert Region Vol. I (Project No. 15707, Iranian Plan Organization). Tehran: Institute for Social Studies and Research, University of Tehran
Bibliographic Reference:
Rudolph-Touba and William Beeman 1971. Problems of Children and Youth in the Iranian Family: A Pilot Study in the Villages of the Kashan Desert Region Vol. I (Project No. 15707, Iranian Plan Organization). Tehran: Institute for Social Studies and Research, University of Tehran
Research Interests: Social Demography, Demography, Development Studies, Sociology of Children and Childhood, Youth Studies, and 16 moreFamily studies, Ethnography, Children and Families, Community Development, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Iranian Studies, Family, Rural Development, Village Studies, Islamic Studies, Family (Sociology), Cultural and Social Anthropology, Islamic Social Sciences, Kashan, Iranian Studies, Middle Persian, Lexicography, and Sociology of the Family
In this book anthropologist William O. Beeman presents the rich tapestry of Iranian traditional performance traditions—traditions that have cultural roots dating many centuries before Western contact. Readers who are unfamiliar with... more
In this book anthropologist William O. Beeman presents the rich tapestry of Iranian traditional performance traditions—traditions that have cultural roots dating many centuries before Western contact.
Readers who are unfamiliar with Iranian culture may be surprised to discover that Iran has any significant performance traditions at all. In fact, as readers will discover, Iranian performance traditions strike deep to the roots of Iranian culture, and reveal truths about Iran that are profound and fascinating.
These performance traditions, including the epic drama, ta’ziyeh and the comic improvisatory ruhozi, have continued down to the present. They are aesthetically complex, subtle and uniquely reflective of Iranian culture and thought, enriching all Iranian cultural expression, including literature, art, architecture and film.
In the years since the Iranian Revolution of 1978-79, some people have worried that these traditions, which have been a venerable part of Iranian life for many centuries may disappear. Though there has been a reduction of traditional performance in some areas, much has still remained under the Islamic Republic.
These performance traditions remain an exceptionally powerful part of Iranian life. Even highly Westernized individuals appreciate them and watch them regularly. They remain an essential part of Iranian cultural heritage, and a key element in Iranian identity. Moreover, their strength extends to the rest of the “Persianate” world in Iraq, Afghanistan, Central Asia and beyond. They also affect the Shi’a world in Arab speaking regions such as Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Azerbaijan, India and Pakistan.
Professor Beeman shows the close association between the symbolism and structure of these performance forms with Iranian core culture. He argues in anthropological terms that this close association remains one of the most important reasons these traditions should be studied and revered. He also maintains that Iranian performance constitutes an assemblage of profoundly important aesthetic institutions worthy of the most elevated attention among the cultural expressions of the world.
Even for those who do not have a primary interest in Iran, this book will reveal a fascinating world of performative art that has engaged and inspired all who have experienced it.
Readers who are unfamiliar with Iranian culture may be surprised to discover that Iran has any significant performance traditions at all. In fact, as readers will discover, Iranian performance traditions strike deep to the roots of Iranian culture, and reveal truths about Iran that are profound and fascinating.
These performance traditions, including the epic drama, ta’ziyeh and the comic improvisatory ruhozi, have continued down to the present. They are aesthetically complex, subtle and uniquely reflective of Iranian culture and thought, enriching all Iranian cultural expression, including literature, art, architecture and film.
In the years since the Iranian Revolution of 1978-79, some people have worried that these traditions, which have been a venerable part of Iranian life for many centuries may disappear. Though there has been a reduction of traditional performance in some areas, much has still remained under the Islamic Republic.
These performance traditions remain an exceptionally powerful part of Iranian life. Even highly Westernized individuals appreciate them and watch them regularly. They remain an essential part of Iranian cultural heritage, and a key element in Iranian identity. Moreover, their strength extends to the rest of the “Persianate” world in Iraq, Afghanistan, Central Asia and beyond. They also affect the Shi’a world in Arab speaking regions such as Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Azerbaijan, India and Pakistan.
Professor Beeman shows the close association between the symbolism and structure of these performance forms with Iranian core culture. He argues in anthropological terms that this close association remains one of the most important reasons these traditions should be studied and revered. He also maintains that Iranian performance constitutes an assemblage of profoundly important aesthetic institutions worthy of the most elevated attention among the cultural expressions of the world.
Even for those who do not have a primary interest in Iran, this book will reveal a fascinating world of performative art that has engaged and inspired all who have experienced it.
Research Interests: Theatre Studies, Persian Literature, Performance Studies, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Anthropology of Performance, and 10 moreIranian Studies, Theater and film, Cultural Anthropology, Iran, Epic Theatre, Taziyeh, Iranian Theatre, History of the Theater, Iranian Traditional Performance, and Improvisatory Theater
By showing the reader the intricacies of face-to-face sociolinguistic interaction, William Beeman provides a key to understanding Iranian social and political life. Beeman's study in cross-cultural linguistics will clearly be a model for... more
By showing the reader the intricacies of face-to-face sociolinguistic interaction, William Beeman provides a key to understanding Iranian social and political life. Beeman's study in cross-cultural linguistics will clearly be a model for the study of different languages and cultures.
Research Interests:
This book takes the position that singers must take responsibility for their own interpretation. It shows many techniques for analyzing opera and other vocal scores and developing effective acting and stage movement. It also contains... more
This book takes the position that singers must take responsibility for their own interpretation. It shows many techniques for analyzing opera and other vocal scores and developing effective acting and stage movement. It also contains extensive information on developing a career in vocal performance, especially for the opera stage.
Research Interests:
This book is the result of extensive interviews with some of the most prominent art historians in the world to document their research practices. This study was funded by the Getty Art History Information Project and contains many images.
Research Interests:
A collection of papers and essays on Iranian language, performance and communication, including ta'ziyeh, ru-hozi comic theater and other forms of theater and music. Iranian Performance Traditions (Costa Mesa: Mazda Publishers, 2011)... more
A collection of papers and essays on Iranian language, performance and communication, including ta'ziyeh, ru-hozi comic theater and other forms of theater and music. Iranian Performance Traditions (Costa Mesa: Mazda Publishers, 2011) incorporates some of these papers as well as new material.
Research Interests: Anthropological Linguistics, Theatre Studies, Languages and Linguistics, Ethnomusicology, Middle East Studies, and 8 morePerformance Studies, Linguistic Anthropology, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Iranian Studies, Persian Language, Culture and Communication, Cultural Anthropology, and Middle Eastern and North African theatre
The United States on the eve of the Second World War was still a society largely isolated from the world. Facing enemies with unfamiliar cultural traditions, the U.S. government turned to anthropologists for insight. The result was a... more
The United States on the eve of the Second World War was still a society largely isolated from the world. Facing enemies with unfamiliar cultural traditions, the U.S. government turned to anthropologists for insight. The result was a research effort that continued long after the war, aimed, in the words of Margaret Mead, at analyzing the cultural regularities in the characters of individuals who are members of societies that are inaccessible to direct observation. In 1953, Margaret Mead and Rhoda Métraux produced The Study of Culture at a Distance, a compilation of research from this period. This remarkable work, long unavailable, presents a rich and complex methodology for the study of cultures through literature, film, informant interviews, focus groups, and projective techniques. The book also provides fascinating insights into such diverse cultures as China, Thailand, Italy, Syria, France, Germany, Russia, Romania, and Great Britain, and includes some highly original analysis such as that of the Soviet style of chess, a study of Jean Cocteau's classic film La Belle et la Bête, and the cultural interpretations of Rorschach tests administered to Chinese subjects.
Research Interests: Cultural Studies, Media Studies, Social Anthropology, Social Sciences, Foreign Policy Analysis, and 18 moreFilm Studies, Social and Cultural Anthropology, History of Social Sciences, Literature and Society, Philosophy of Social Science, Post-Soviet Studies, Cultural Anthropology, U.S. Foreign Policy, Methodology (political theory, typology, social science research methods), United States Foreign Policy, Humanities and Social Sciences, Soviet Studies, Jean Cocteau, Margaret Mead, Methodology of the social sciences, Advanced Research Methodology in Social Sciences, Rhoda Metraux, and Public Policy
""" Few anthropologists today realize the pioneering role Margaret Mead played in the investigation of contemporary cultures. This volume collects and presents a variety of her essays on research methodology relating to contemporary... more
""" Few anthropologists today realize the pioneering role Margaret Mead played in the investigation of contemporary cultures. This volume collects and presents a variety of her essays on research methodology relating to contemporary culture. Many of these essays were printed originally in limited circulation journals, research reports and books edited by others. They reflect Mead's continuing commitment to searching out methods for studying and extending the anthropologist's tools of investigation for use in complex societies. Essays on American and European societies, intergenerational relations, architecture and social space, industrialization, and interracial relations are included in this varied and exciting collection.
"""
"""
Research Interests: Cultural Studies, Social Theory, American Studies, Media and Cultural Studies, Social Anthropology, and 13 moreSocial Sciences, Social and Cultural Anthropology, American Culture, Theory (Anthropology), Cultural Anthropology, Contemporary Society, Cultural and Social Anthropology, Margaret Mead, Methodology of the social sciences, Racism In Western Society, Fieldwork Methodology, Gender Roles In Western Society, and Donation. Hospitality. Research. Theory. Applied Social Sciences
Born in the first year of the 20th century, it is fitting that Margaret Mead should have been one of the first anthropologists to use anthropological analysis to study the future course of human civilization. This volume collects, for the... more
Born in the first year of the 20th century, it is fitting that Margaret Mead should have been one of the first anthropologists to use anthropological analysis to study the future course of human civilization. This volume collects, for the first time, her writings on the future of humanity and how humans can shape that future through purposeful action. For Mead, the study of the future was born out of her lifelong interest in processes of change. Many of these papers were originally published as conference proceedings or in limited-circulation journals, testimony before government bodies and chapters in works edited by others. They show Mead's wisdom, prescience and concern for the future of humanity.
Reviews:
"“…a gem of a book…[that] should prove to be an instant classic…This is a captivating and provocative collection and now my favorite futures book of the new century. It is a fun volume that looks at the past, present, and future, all at once… This book is highly recommended to both students and professionals in foresight work and futures studies, and for general audiences.” · Christopher B. Jones in Futures
"Occasionally, a book comes along that towers above others. The World Ahead is such a book.... Textor shows how Mead was a generation ahead of almost all her contemporaries in understanding the importance of studying the sociocultural future of learning what is possible, probable, and preferable in order to know how life could and should be made better...." · Wendell Bell, Yale University
"As protégé and friend of Margaret Mead for the last thirty years of her illustrious life, I welcome Textor's showcase of her various views of the future. Mead was at her best in planning for future generations." · Wilton S. Dillon, Senior Scholar Emeritus, Smithsonian Institute
"[Mead] sought to clarify images of the future as they were current and to articulate images that would be preferable.... Textor's commentaries connect these papers and articles in a way that establishes 'the future' as a proper central focus in anthropology...." · Reed D. Riner, Northern Arizona University
"A valuable contribution that shows Mead's broad range of future-oriented interests." · Future Survey""
Reviews:
"“…a gem of a book…[that] should prove to be an instant classic…This is a captivating and provocative collection and now my favorite futures book of the new century. It is a fun volume that looks at the past, present, and future, all at once… This book is highly recommended to both students and professionals in foresight work and futures studies, and for general audiences.” · Christopher B. Jones in Futures
"Occasionally, a book comes along that towers above others. The World Ahead is such a book.... Textor shows how Mead was a generation ahead of almost all her contemporaries in understanding the importance of studying the sociocultural future of learning what is possible, probable, and preferable in order to know how life could and should be made better...." · Wendell Bell, Yale University
"As protégé and friend of Margaret Mead for the last thirty years of her illustrious life, I welcome Textor's showcase of her various views of the future. Mead was at her best in planning for future generations." · Wilton S. Dillon, Senior Scholar Emeritus, Smithsonian Institute
"[Mead] sought to clarify images of the future as they were current and to articulate images that would be preferable.... Textor's commentaries connect these papers and articles in a way that establishes 'the future' as a proper central focus in anthropology...." · Reed D. Riner, Northern Arizona University
"A valuable contribution that shows Mead's broad range of future-oriented interests." · Future Survey""
Research Interests:
This volume brings together two classic works on the culture of the Russian people which have been long out of print. Gorer's Great Russian Culture and Mead's Soviet Attitudes towards Authority: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Problems... more
This volume brings together two classic works on the culture of the Russian people which have been long out of print. Gorer's Great Russian Culture and Mead's Soviet Attitudes towards Authority: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Problems of Soviet Character were among the first attempts by anthropologists to analyze Russian society.
Reviews:
"These texts expose ... the impoverishing effect of recent emphases on critical virtuosity. The phenomenological status, processes, and practices involved (in our culture) in terms such as "character" are fascinating to study." · Journal of Anthropological Research
"Regardless of the dated theoretical approach of these classics, their valuable factual material and the ability of the authors to inspire further reflection still make them worth reading." · Ethnos
They were influential both for several generations of anthropologists and in shaping American governmental attitudes toward the Soviet Union during the Cold War period. Additionally they offer fascinating insights into the early anthropological use of psychological data to analyze cultural patterns. Read as part of the history of the anthropology of complex contemporary societies, they are as fascinating for their more questionable conclusions as for their accurate characterizations of Russian life.
""
Reviews:
"These texts expose ... the impoverishing effect of recent emphases on critical virtuosity. The phenomenological status, processes, and practices involved (in our culture) in terms such as "character" are fascinating to study." · Journal of Anthropological Research
"Regardless of the dated theoretical approach of these classics, their valuable factual material and the ability of the authors to inspire further reflection still make them worth reading." · Ethnos
They were influential both for several generations of anthropologists and in shaping American governmental attitudes toward the Soviet Union during the Cold War period. Additionally they offer fascinating insights into the early anthropological use of psychological data to analyze cultural patterns. Read as part of the history of the anthropology of complex contemporary societies, they are as fascinating for their more questionable conclusions as for their accurate characterizations of Russian life.
""
Research Interests: Cultural Studies, Russian Studies, Social Anthropology, Social Sciences, Social and Cultural Anthropology, and 13 moreRussian History, Soviet Union (History), Culture in the Soviet Union, Russian culture, Russia, Soviet Studies, Child-Rearing Practices, Soviet Union, Margaret Mead, Contemporary Russian Society, Geoffrey Gorer, Sergei Aruitnov, and Cultural Anthropol
Margaret Mead collaborated with her long-time colleague Rhoda Métraux in this unique study of French culture. The Hoover Institute at Stanford University originally published this volume, which grew out of the Columbia University project... more
Margaret Mead collaborated with her long-time colleague Rhoda Métraux in this unique study of French culture. The Hoover Institute at Stanford University originally published this volume, which grew out of the Columbia University project on Research of Contemporary Cultures in 1954. It is one of the few works by American social scientists dealing with broad themes of French life.
Mead and Métraux present a vivid picture of the French starting with the organization of the house and its architecture, and drawing original conclusions for the structure of French families and overall cultural values. This work, long out of print, is a fascinating and penetrating portrait of a contemporary European society.
Mead and Métraux present a vivid picture of the French starting with the organization of the house and its architecture, and drawing original conclusions for the structure of French families and overall cultural values. This work, long out of print, is a fascinating and penetrating portrait of a contemporary European society.
Research Interests: Cultural Studies, French Literature, Media and Cultural Studies, Social Anthropology, French Studies, and 13 moreSocial and Cultural Anthropology, Cultural Anthropology, 19th c French visual culture, France, French, French Film, French Society, French Culture, Margaret Mead, French Architecture, Nineteenth- and twentieth-century French architecture, Contemporary French Society, and Rhoda Metraux
" Margaret Mead wrote this comprehensive sketch of the culture of the United States - the first since de Tocqueville - in 1942 at the beginnning of the Second World War, when Americans were confronted by foreign powers from both Europe... more
" Margaret Mead wrote this comprehensive sketch of the culture of the United States - the first since de Tocqueville - in 1942 at the beginnning of the Second World War, when Americans were confronted by foreign powers from both Europe and Asia in a particularly challenging manner. Mead's work became an instant classic. It was required reading for anthropology students for nearly two decades, and was widely translated. It was revised and expanded in 1965 for a second generation of readers. Among the more controversial conclusions of her analysis are the denial of class as a motivating force in American culture, and her contention that culture is the primary determinant for individual character formation. Her process remains lucid, vivid, and arresting. As a classic study of a complex western society, it remains a monument to anthropological analysis.
"
"
Research Interests:
Review of Mousavian and Shahidsaless' extraordinarily timely book, Iran and the United States, based on Mousavian's direct experience working with Iranian leaders over several decades.
Research Interests: Social and Cultural Anthropology, Iranian Studies, George W Bush adminstration, Iran, United States Foreign Policy, and 13 moreIranian Foreign Policy, Iranian politics and history, Iran nuclear program, Iranian Nuclear Program, U.S.-Iran, Cultural and Social Anthropology, US-Iran Relations, Khomeini, U.S.-Iran Relations, U.S Foreign Policy towards Iran, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Ayatollah Khomeini, and Hashemi Rafsanjani
Beeman's book is an outstanding performance in the field of mind/society and language/society problems, problems that bear on the question 'Is there a relationship between local speech habits and social behavior?' It is to be hoped that... more
Beeman's book is an outstanding performance in the field of mind/society and language/society problems, problems that bear on the question 'Is there a relationship between local speech habits and social behavior?' It is to be hoped that on the basis of works like Beeman's, a profound culture study may begin. So much hot air is blown into the field of East West
problems by para-political cultural councils, notably UNESCO,
treating too lightly that which cannot be overcome easily. We in the West are in some mysterious way different; we just can't help it, and no amount of highfaluting talk of semi-political projects can deny that.
But we in the West are not necessarily better. Studies on the
problems by para-political cultural councils, notably UNESCO,
treating too lightly that which cannot be overcome easily. We in the West are in some mysterious way different; we just can't help it, and no amount of highfaluting talk of semi-political projects can deny that.
But we in the West are not necessarily better. Studies on the
Research Interests: Discourse Analysis, Semiotics, Cultural Studies, Anthropology, Social Anthropology, and 18 moreLanguages and Linguistics, Persian Literature, Sociolinguistics, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Iranian Studies, Language and Power, Persian Language, Language and Culture, Ethnography of Communication, Anthropology of Iran, Linguistics, Cultural Anthropology, Iranian Languages, Iran, Cultural and Social Anthropology, Language and society, Iranian Domestic Politics, Society, Culture, and Language and Social Hierarchy
Review of Language and the Politics of Emotion. Catherine A. Lutz and Lila Abu-Lughod. eds. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990. 217 pp. $44.50 (cloth)
Research Interests:
"Gareth Porter has been the most conscientious follower of the fantasy danger of Iran’s purported “nuclear weapons program.” In this new, meticulously documented book, he exposes the many lies and half-truths that have been promulgated... more
"Gareth Porter has been the most conscientious follower of the fantasy danger of Iran’s purported “nuclear weapons program.” In this new, meticulously documented book, he exposes the many lies and half-truths that have been promulgated over more than two decades to try and convince the American public and the world that Iran is the chief danger to international peace.
Before plunging into the details of the book, let me state its conclusions unequivocally: Iran has never been proven to have a nuclear weapons program. Any claim to the contrary is absolutely false. The attempt to claim that such a weapons program exists was the result of a decades-long effort on the part of American neoconservatives allied with right-wing forces in Israel to legitimize hostile actions against Iran designed to effect regime change there.
Porter’s account is fascinating and appalling reading. It is fascinating because he has created a compelling narrative showing how the framework for attacking Iran in this way evolved over decades."
Before plunging into the details of the book, let me state its conclusions unequivocally: Iran has never been proven to have a nuclear weapons program. Any claim to the contrary is absolutely false. The attempt to claim that such a weapons program exists was the result of a decades-long effort on the part of American neoconservatives allied with right-wing forces in Israel to legitimize hostile actions against Iran designed to effect regime change there.
Porter’s account is fascinating and appalling reading. It is fascinating because he has created a compelling narrative showing how the framework for attacking Iran in this way evolved over decades."
Research Interests: International Relations, Nuclear Weapons, Iranian Studies, Nuclear Energy, Foreign Relations and Cross-Cultural contact, and 9 moreIran, Iran nuclear issue, Foreign relations, Iran nuclear program, Atomic Energy, Politics and International relations, Netanyahu, United States and Iran, and United States International Relations
"The workings and functions of play have been fascinating research topics throughout the 20th Century and in the first decade of the 21st. Peter G. Stromberg adds some welcome new insights to a topic for which the foundations have been... more
"The workings and functions of play have been fascinating research topics throughout the 20th Century and in the first decade of the 21st. Peter G. Stromberg adds some welcome new insights to a topic for which the foundations have been laid for some time. This entertaining ramble through a variety of areas of human engagement not always associated with play and entertainment -- reading romantic novels, advertising,
and smoking and drug use among the most interesting -- should provide readers with an expanded palate of interest from which to view this material anew.
The title of the book tells Professor Stromberg’s orientation. His view of entertainment as a human activity is seen through the lens of play. This is in contrast to looking at this activity as ritual, a frequent approach that he eschews. I do have an issue
with this stark contrast, but for the purposes of his argument, Stromberg is able to get good mileage out of this framework for his discussion."
and smoking and drug use among the most interesting -- should provide readers with an expanded palate of interest from which to view this material anew.
The title of the book tells Professor Stromberg’s orientation. His view of entertainment as a human activity is seen through the lens of play. This is in contrast to looking at this activity as ritual, a frequent approach that he eschews. I do have an issue
with this stark contrast, but for the purposes of his argument, Stromberg is able to get good mileage out of this framework for his discussion."
Research Interests: Cultural Studies, Media Studies, Media and Cultural Studies, Theatre Studies, Social Anthropology, and 9 moreSocial Sciences, Performance Studies, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Ritual, Cultural Anthropology, Entertainment, Religious Studies, Cultural and Social Anthropology, and Mass Entertainment Theory
Marianna Torgovnick in this book makes a second run at the involvement of intellectuals with the "primitive " following her earlier Gone Primitive: Savage Intellects, Modern Lives. This work contains some marvelous narrative sketches o f... more
Marianna Torgovnick in this book makes a second run at the involvement of intellectuals with the "primitive " following her earlier Gone Primitive: Savage Intellects, Modern Lives. This work contains some marvelous narrative sketches o f some major cultural figures of our time , most notably D. H. Lawrence , Georgia O'Keeffe , and Diane Fossey , wedded with observations about New Age movements involving drumming , body piercing , an d non-Western religious tradi-tions .
Research Interests: Cultural Studies, Social Anthropology, Romanticism, Ethnography, User Experience (UX), and 17 moreSocial and Cultural Anthropology, Spirituality, Magic and the Occult (Anthropology Of Religion), Cultural Anthropology, Religious Experience, New Age spirituality, Religion and Popular Culture, Religious Studies, Georgia O'Keefe, Georgia O'Keeffe, Intellectualism, Cultural and Social Anthropology, Ecstasy, Anthropology and Humanism, Contemporary Poetry, Anthropology, Anthropology of Religion, D.H.Lawrence; Postmodernism; Translation Studies, and Diane Fossey
Review of Kazemi's study of political consciousness of impoverished workers in Iran in the years before the Revolution of 1978-79
Research Interests:
The Iranian revolution of 1978-79 has had an unintended salutary result-a virtual flood of works in English of extraordinarily fine quality on modern Iranian history and politics by Iranian scholars now living abroad, works that... more
The Iranian revolution of 1978-79 has
had an unintended salutary result-a virtual
flood of works in English of extraordinarily
fine quality on modern Iranian
history and politics by Iranian scholars
now living abroad, works that would
probably never otherwise have been written.
H. E. Chehabi's book is one of these.
The book deals with the history of the
Liberation Movement of Iran (Nehzat-e
azadi-ye Iran), the political organization
that, with its forerunner organizations,
Chehabi credits with the responsibility
for laying the political and ideological
foundations for the Revolution.
had an unintended salutary result-a virtual
flood of works in English of extraordinarily
fine quality on modern Iranian
history and politics by Iranian scholars
now living abroad, works that would
probably never otherwise have been written.
H. E. Chehabi's book is one of these.
The book deals with the history of the
Liberation Movement of Iran (Nehzat-e
azadi-ye Iran), the political organization
that, with its forerunner organizations,
Chehabi credits with the responsibility
for laying the political and ideological
foundations for the Revolution.
Research Interests: International Relations, Islamic Contemporary Studies, Iranian Studies, Islamic Studies, Modern Iranian Historiography, and 11 moreIranian History, Iranian Modern History, Iranian politics and history, Shiism, Shiite Islam, Shii Islam, 1979 Iranian Revolution, Bazargan, Iranian Politics, Iranian Revolution, Iranian Domestic Politics, IMAM KHOMEINI AND THE ISLAMIC REVOLUTION OF IRAN IN 1979, and Ayatollah Khomeini
Review of a museum publication to accompany an exhibition of material cultural about the Qashqa'i tribe in Iran. The Qashqa'i tribe is one of the most important indigenous tribes in the Middle East.
Research Interests: Social Anthropology, Museum Studies, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Iranian Studies, Iranian History, and 7 moreIranian Modern History, Cultural Anthropology, Iran, Cultural and Social Anthropology, Prevalence and Quality of Life in Qashqai Migrating Nomads with Irritable Bowel Syndrome in Southern Iran, Iranian Tribes, and Middle Eastern Tribes
Research Interests:
Review of *From Grammar to Politics: Linguistic Anthropology in a Western Samoan Village.*
Alessandro Duranti. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994.208 pp.
Alessandro Duranti. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994.208 pp.
Research Interests: Discourse Analysis, Anthropological Linguistics, Linguistic Anthropology, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Critical Discourse Analysis, and 5 moreLanguage and Culture, Ethnography of Communication, Cultural Anthropology, Speech codes theory, Ethnography of Communication, online education, and Samoan Culture
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Janet Shibamoto's important book demonstrates convincingly that syntactic structures in Japanese vary significantly depending on the sex of the speaker. The book eschews the current sociolinguistic overemphasis on formal structures... more
Janet Shibamoto's important book demonstrates
convincingly that syntactic structures
in Japanese vary significantly depending on
the sex of the speaker.
The book eschews the current sociolinguistic
overemphasis on formal structures and
meaningless statistical compilation in favor of
clear exposition of the internal logic of real
language functioning in contexts witnessed by
Shibamoto herself in a rigorous fieldwork routine.
Her achievements are the more admirable
because she has focused on casual speech,
requiring that she attend with the utmost care
to the extralinguistic support systems underlying Japanese
language use.
Japanese is often cited as one language that
has "true female speech," as opposed to "male
speech"; however, the parameters that delimit
these speech varieties have not been described
with much success. Superficial differences include variation in lexicon, morphology, pitch and intonation, use of honorifics, use of Sino-Japanese lexical items, avoidance of"vulgar" speech by women, and differences in self-reference and address.
convincingly that syntactic structures
in Japanese vary significantly depending on
the sex of the speaker.
The book eschews the current sociolinguistic
overemphasis on formal structures and
meaningless statistical compilation in favor of
clear exposition of the internal logic of real
language functioning in contexts witnessed by
Shibamoto herself in a rigorous fieldwork routine.
Her achievements are the more admirable
because she has focused on casual speech,
requiring that she attend with the utmost care
to the extralinguistic support systems underlying Japanese
language use.
Japanese is often cited as one language that
has "true female speech," as opposed to "male
speech"; however, the parameters that delimit
these speech varieties have not been described
with much success. Superficial differences include variation in lexicon, morphology, pitch and intonation, use of honorifics, use of Sino-Japanese lexical items, avoidance of"vulgar" speech by women, and differences in self-reference and address.
Research Interests: Japanese Studies, Anthropological Linguistics, Social Anthropology, Languages and Linguistics, Japanese Language And Culture, and 13 moreSociolinguistics, Linguistic Anthropology, Language and Gender, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Anthropological Linguistics (Languages And Linguistics), Linguistics, Japan, Cultural Anthropology, Japanese Language, Gender and Language, Women's Language, Cultural and Social Anthropology, and Japanese Women's Language
Excerpt from the Review This book in its way is a landmark publication. It is a collection of extremely useful essays on modern media culture in Iran by active Iranian social science researchers teaching at Iranian institutions of... more
Excerpt from the Review
This book in its way is a landmark publication. It is a collection of extremely useful essays on modern media culture in Iran by active Iranian social science researchers teaching at Iranian institutions of higher education (with only four exceptions: the well-known scholars Hamid Naficy, Laudan Noushin, Babak Rahimi and Majid Tehranian. The editor, Mehdi Semati, is also located in the United States). There is nothing else quite like it.
This book in its way is a landmark publication. It is a collection of extremely useful essays on modern media culture in Iran by active Iranian social science researchers teaching at Iranian institutions of higher education (with only four exceptions: the well-known scholars Hamid Naficy, Laudan Noushin, Babak Rahimi and Majid Tehranian. The editor, Mehdi Semati, is also located in the United States). There is nothing else quite like it.
Research Interests: Media Studies, Media and Cultural Studies, Globalization, Visual Culture, Iranian Studies, and 6 moreIslamic Studies, Mass media, culture and society, East Asian Studies, Foreign Policy and Diplomacy, Borderland Anthropology., Foreign Policy of Islamic Republic of Iran, Media and Culture, and Islamic republic of Iran
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Media Studies, Film Studies, Media History, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Iranian Studies, and 13 moreFilm History, Middle Eastern Studies, Anthropology of Iran, Cinema, Tribal studies, Cinema history, History of Cinema, film Reviews, Bakhtiari Nomads, Iranian Tribes, History of Film Theory and Criticism, Merrian Cooper, and Middle East Tribes
Review of Brinkley Messick's now classic study of the centrality of writing and calligraphy in Yemen.
Research Interests: Islamic Law, Anthropological Linguistics, Social Anthropology, Languages and Linguistics, Middle East Studies, and 20 moreSociolinguistics, Linguistic Anthropology, Arabic Language and Linguistics, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Anthropological Linguistics (Languages And Linguistics), Islamic Studies, Yemen, Cultural Anthropology, History and anthropology, Yemen Ethnography, Caligraphy, Cultural and Social Anthropology, Islamic caligraphy, Arabic Studies, Islamic Laws, Yemen Ethnography;, Middle East Literature, Medieval Arabic Writings, Islamic law and jurisprudence, and Arabic Writing Systems
There has been a need for several years for a comprehensive, yet readable survey of research on language and the brain that would take into account findings of the past two decades. Corballis's book admirably fulfills that function and... more
There has been a need for several years for a comprehensive, yet readable survey of research on language and the brain that would take into account findings of the past two decades. Corballis's book admirably fulfills that function and adds a few surprises to boot. Corballis is a psychologist, but his book will be appreciated by
anthropologists for its holism in treating the brain not as an isolated organ seen through narrow laboratory experiments, but as an aspect of the total human soma with a history and a functional integration with complex human behavior.
The central theme of this book is a comparative investigation of the dual functions of the human split brain. The first half of the book (7 ofl2 chapters) is devoted to a general discussion of human biological evolution focusing on the evolution of the brain and a general discussion of the brain's function in human language capabilities, including a review of chimpanzee and other language-teaching experiments.
A welcome part of this discussion is a full chapter on the cultural and cognitive implications of human handedness—a topic not often addressed in anthropological literature.
anthropologists for its holism in treating the brain not as an isolated organ seen through narrow laboratory experiments, but as an aspect of the total human soma with a history and a functional integration with complex human behavior.
The central theme of this book is a comparative investigation of the dual functions of the human split brain. The first half of the book (7 ofl2 chapters) is devoted to a general discussion of human biological evolution focusing on the evolution of the brain and a general discussion of the brain's function in human language capabilities, including a review of chimpanzee and other language-teaching experiments.
A welcome part of this discussion is a full chapter on the cultural and cognitive implications of human handedness—a topic not often addressed in anthropological literature.
Research Interests: Cognitive Science, Anthropology, Biological Anthropology, Anthropological Linguistics, Linguistic Anthropology, and 8 moreHandedness, Physical Anthropology, Cognitive Anthropology, Cognitive Anthropology In Prehistory, Language and Cognition, Brain Science, Brain and cognitive sciences, and Language and the Brain
Review of *Choreophobia: Solo Improvised Dance in the Iranian World* by Ph.D. dance researcher, Anthony Shay. Shay's book is the first full-length study of Iranian dance and the first to address this subject at all since Rezvani's Le... more
Review of *Choreophobia: Solo Improvised Dance in the Iranian World* by Ph.D. dance researcher, Anthony Shay. Shay's book is the first full-length study of Iranian dance and the first to address this subject at all since Rezvani's Le Theatre et la Dance en Iran.
Professional dancers have short careers, usually retiring from the stage around the age of 30. Shay made a successful transition in his career from active dancer to dance researcher. We are extremely fortunate that he turned his attention to Iranian dance. His study is far more than a description of dance movements.
It is a full-fledged, penetrating study of the role of dance in Iranian life and in the Iranian psyche. The title, Choreophobia, is admittedly odd. However, it expresses the essence of the work, which documents the "negative and ambiguous reactions of Iranians to certain performances and performers of solo improvised dancing in both public performance and social contexts" (2). The fascinating fact that dance in Iranian life is both ever-present and yet disapproved is a cultural mystery that more than deserves investigation, and Shay has done this admirably.
Professional dancers have short careers, usually retiring from the stage around the age of 30. Shay made a successful transition in his career from active dancer to dance researcher. We are extremely fortunate that he turned his attention to Iranian dance. His study is far more than a description of dance movements.
It is a full-fledged, penetrating study of the role of dance in Iranian life and in the Iranian psyche. The title, Choreophobia, is admittedly odd. However, it expresses the essence of the work, which documents the "negative and ambiguous reactions of Iranians to certain performances and performers of solo improvised dancing in both public performance and social contexts" (2). The fascinating fact that dance in Iranian life is both ever-present and yet disapproved is a cultural mystery that more than deserves investigation, and Shay has done this admirably.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Review essay covering these works: The Making of E& Cultures: Iranian Television in Los Angeles. Hamid Naficy. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1993.284 pp. Torture and Modernity: Self; Society and State in Modern... more
Review essay covering these works:
The Making of E& Cultures: Iranian Television in Los
Angeles. Hamid Naficy. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota
Press, 1993.284 pp.
Torture and Modernity: Self; Society and State in Modern
Iran. Darius M. Rejali. Boulder, CO Westview Press,
1993.290 pp.
The task of making sense of Iran has not been
rendered easier by these two recent books, which
cover extraordinarily disparate themes: one deals with
the culturally situated practice of institutionalized torture
in Iran and the other analyzes the postrevolutionary
Iranian exile television industry of Los Angeles.
The two topics could hardly be more different. Neither
of these books was written by an anthropologist.
Darius M. Rejali is a political scientist, and Hamid
Naficy is a specialist in media studies. Yet reading the
books in tandem, I was struck by a communality of
themes that not only provides additional insight into
Iranian cultural dynamics but also speaks powerfully
to current concerns in American anthropology.
The Making of E& Cultures: Iranian Television in Los
Angeles. Hamid Naficy. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota
Press, 1993.284 pp.
Torture and Modernity: Self; Society and State in Modern
Iran. Darius M. Rejali. Boulder, CO Westview Press,
1993.290 pp.
The task of making sense of Iran has not been
rendered easier by these two recent books, which
cover extraordinarily disparate themes: one deals with
the culturally situated practice of institutionalized torture
in Iran and the other analyzes the postrevolutionary
Iranian exile television industry of Los Angeles.
The two topics could hardly be more different. Neither
of these books was written by an anthropologist.
Darius M. Rejali is a political scientist, and Hamid
Naficy is a specialist in media studies. Yet reading the
books in tandem, I was struck by a communality of
themes that not only provides additional insight into
Iranian cultural dynamics but also speaks powerfully
to current concerns in American anthropology.
Research Interests:
This is an indispensable book for anyone whose work concerns Persian cul\ture. Miller's study will likely never be repeated in the lifetime of anyone reading this review. Those who do not acquire this book will be deeply regretful once it... more
This is an indispensable book for anyone whose work concerns Persian cul\ture. Miller's study will likely never be repeated in the lifetime of anyone reading this review. Those who do not acquire this book will be deeply regretful once it goes out of print.
Miller has devoted his life to the study of Persian music, and we are lucky to have the benefit of his study in this work.
The book is a tribute to the Iranian artists who have worked to preserve Persian music throughout the twentieth century. The book is dedicated to Dariush Safvat, head of the Center for the Preservation and Propagation of Iranian Music, where Miller
studied for many years. However, the true heroes of this work are cAbdollah Khan Davami and particularly his student Mahmud Karimi, the master teachers of all Persian vocal artists. Their lifework might have been tragically lost without Miller's book.
Indeed, Miller provides enough resources here that a dedicated student with the help of some recordings might actually be able to learn to sing Persian classical music with it. A second hero (or heroine) is the master vocalist Parisi, whom Miller clearly reveres.
Miller has devoted his life to the study of Persian music, and we are lucky to have the benefit of his study in this work.
The book is a tribute to the Iranian artists who have worked to preserve Persian music throughout the twentieth century. The book is dedicated to Dariush Safvat, head of the Center for the Preservation and Propagation of Iranian Music, where Miller
studied for many years. However, the true heroes of this work are cAbdollah Khan Davami and particularly his student Mahmud Karimi, the master teachers of all Persian vocal artists. Their lifework might have been tragically lost without Miller's book.
Indeed, Miller provides enough resources here that a dedicated student with the help of some recordings might actually be able to learn to sing Persian classical music with it. A second hero (or heroine) is the master vocalist Parisi, whom Miller clearly reveres.
Research Interests:
It has become a commonplace in the twentieth century to view opera as the most hopeless of theatrical genres, impossible to deal with in any fresh or original way. Then comes Andrei Serban ready to tackle a whole series of classic operas... more
It has become a commonplace in the twentieth century to view opera as the most hopeless of theatrical genres, impossible to deal with in any fresh or original way. Then comes Andrei Serban ready to tackle a whole series of classic operas and treat them like Chekhov, drawing out the most dramatic aspects of their essence, staging them in imaginative ways, and in general causing audiences to see them anew. After dealing in this way with The Marriage of Figaro and Traviata, Serban seemed to be taking on an impossible task in trying to bring freshness to Handel's ultra-Baroque Alcina, almost quintessentially a non-dramatic work with vast stretches of florid music sung by lone singers planted solidly stage center. Nevertheless, his rendering of this work at the New York City Opera, in con- junction with musical director Raymond Leppard, manages to be continually interesting, with surprising theatrical novelty throughout.
Research Interests:
On this podcast from PRI's THE WORLD/SOUND WORKS (on NPR) talking about accents (or lack of them) when we sing. My little segment occurs approximately from minutes 10 to 13. (I am singing Osmin's aria from Mozart's The Abduction from the... more
On this podcast from PRI's THE WORLD/SOUND WORKS (on NPR) talking about accents (or lack of them) when we sing. My little segment occurs approximately from minutes 10 to 13. (I am singing Osmin's aria from Mozart's The Abduction from the Seraglio). But the whole broadcast is very interesting dealing with all kinds of "faked" accents in singing. The broadcast will take place at various times depending on local MPR stations. Please click on the URL link to hear this broadcast. Academia.edu does not support uploading mp3 files
Research Interests:
The link below leads to a YouTube video of an extensive interview on the Iran nuclear agreement from August 7, 2015 in Minneapolis, broadcast on cable TV.
Research Interests:
William Beeman and Koichiro Tanaka discuss upcoming nuclear talks of the P5+1 nations and Iran over Iran's nuclear program and its implications for Japan
Research Interests:
William O. Beeman, Professor and Chair of the Department of Anthropology at the University of Minnesota and President of the Middle East Section of the American Anthropological Association, delivered a Center for International and... more
William O. Beeman, Professor and Chair of the Department of Anthropology at the University of Minnesota and President of the Middle East Section of the American Anthropological Association, delivered a Center for International and Regional Studies (CIRS) Monthly Dialogue on "The Khalijis: Iranian-Arabian Biculturalism in the Gulf Region" on October 22, 2012.
Read more about this Distinguished Lecture at http://cirs.georgetown.edu/327845.html
The video is too large to upload. Please follow the link below to YouTube
An academic paper covering much of the same material is available on this site. Please search for "The Khalijis"
Read more about this Distinguished Lecture at http://cirs.georgetown.edu/327845.html
The video is too large to upload. Please follow the link below to YouTube
An academic paper covering much of the same material is available on this site. Please search for "The Khalijis"
Research Interests:
This wide ranging talk on Iraq, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Israel and Palestine delves into historical roots of the current conflicts in the Middle East and current approaches to solving these dilemmas. The file is too large to upload here,... more
This wide ranging talk on Iraq, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Israel and Palestine delves into historical roots of the current conflicts in the Middle East and current approaches to solving these dilemmas. The file is too large to upload here, but it can be downloaded from the link below.
Research Interests:
Anthropologists of Iran have had difficulties pursuing fieldwork there since the revolution of 1978–79. For this reason, many recent works relying on recent fieldwork have been welcomed for their fine-grained contemporary ethnographic... more
Anthropologists of Iran have had difficulties pursuing fieldwork there since the revolution of 1978–79. For this reason, many recent works relying on recent fieldwork have been welcomed for their fine-grained contemporary ethnographic content. Shahram Khosravi's book Precarious Lives is one of these.
Professor Khosravi has provided detailed, well-written accounts of the lives of ordinary Iranians, as well as analysis of some contemporary film and artistic endeavors. His narrative gives welcome prominence to the Iranian middle and lower economic classes, with some additional material from areas outside of Tehran, including his native Bakhtiari region, where members of his family still reside. This book thus departs from other recent works that have focused on more elite populations and have paid heavy attention to the wealthier residents of northern Tehran.
Professor Khosravi has provided detailed, well-written accounts of the lives of ordinary Iranians, as well as analysis of some contemporary film and artistic endeavors. His narrative gives welcome prominence to the Iranian middle and lower economic classes, with some additional material from areas outside of Tehran, including his native Bakhtiari region, where members of his family still reside. This book thus departs from other recent works that have focused on more elite populations and have paid heavy attention to the wealthier residents of northern Tehran.
Research Interests: Cultural Studies, Anthropology, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Iranian Studies, Precarity, and 7 moreIranian Modern History, Cultural and Social Anthropology, Contemporary history of Iran, Shahram Khosravi, POVERTY AND FINANCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE IRANIAN ECONOMY (1973-2007), Iranian Economy, and William Beeman
Why does an oppressed and beleaguered majority population, bureaucratically tortured by the dominant minority authoritarian government in its own nation, still continue staunchly to support that government? This is the intriguing... more
Why does an oppressed and beleaguered majority population, bureaucratically tortured by the dominant minority authoritarian government in its own nation, still continue staunchly to support that government? This is the intriguing paradoxical question addressed by Smadar ILavie in her remarkable study of the Mizrahi Jewish population in Israeli society.
Research Interests: Social Anthropology, Israel Studies, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Israeli Society, Israeli Culture, and 17 moreIsraeli-Arab Relations, Sephardi/Mizrahi Studies, Ashkenazic Judaism, Modern Israel, Mizrahi Jews, Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Cultural and Social Anthropology, Sephardi-Ashkenazi relationship, Mizrahim, Arab Jews, Mizrahi Jews, Qehilot Yisrael be-Mizrah, Mizrahi, Arab Jews, Critique of Zionism, Israeli Culture Society and Political Psychology, Mizrahi Democratic Rainbow, Israeli Politics and Society, Sephardic-Mizrahi Studies, and Israeli Civil Society
Once-respected Middle East scholar, Bernard Lewis, has in retirement written a number of distorted attacks on the Islamic world. Holy War and Unholy Terror is one such. There are many specious and misleading arguments in this book... more
Once-respected Middle East scholar, Bernard Lewis, has in retirement written a number of distorted attacks on the Islamic world. Holy War and Unholy Terror is one such. There are many specious and misleading arguments in this book designed to put the Islamic world in the most negative light. In this review many of these errors of fact and interpretation are detailed.
Research Interests: Islamic Contemporary Studies, Iranian Studies, History of Iran, Islamic Studies, Islamic History, and 11 moreIslam, Iranian History, Islamophobia, Neoconservatism (American Foreign Policy), George W Bush adminstration, U.S. Foreign Policy, Modern Islamic Thought, Bernard Lewis, Arabic and Islamic Studies, Anti Arabism, and Mossadegh
Information and Scholarship (IRIS). Brown's innovative computer environment is now widely recognized. At IRIS we are developing many new tools for teaching and learning. Because Brown is a liberal arts institution the tools that we are... more
Information and Scholarship (IRIS). Brown's innovative computer environment is now widely recognized. At IRIS we are developing many new tools for teaching and learning. Because Brown is a liberal arts institution the tools that we are trying to develop are not confined to engineering or comput€r science but extend throughout the entire spectrum of the University curriculum. Some of the most enthusiastic users at Brown, actually some of the best academic computer specialists, are in humanities departments, such as Classics and English. Brown's IRIS has as part of its charge finding new ways to enhance research and learning through computer technology and information systems. We feel that intense computerization vrill have far-reaching social and educational consequences, and will eventually result in fundamental changes in the patterns of work in the institution. It will change social relationships at Brown, and will also alter basic definitions of teaching and learning there. Given these feeiings, the Office of Program Analysis was established as a self reflective component of our IRIS. Our charge is to conduct studies of the social, educational, and economic effects of the increased use of computers on campus. Research in the Office of Program Analysis is first concerned with analysis of the basic activity structures in higher education. Research focus centers on two areas: 1) institutions in the higher education environment and 2) work and social activity within the academic community. Secondly, OPA research is directed toward looking at change in these institutions and processes as they are affected by technologl,. We are discovering an interesting, unintended consequence of the study of change. We find that we are not only studying institutions and technological impact on those institutions. We are also studying epistemology-the very structure of knowledge itself. In a way it is not surprising that epistemology becomes the real basis for our studies, because if we are really serious about trying to develop new technologies for education we're also talking about changing the structure of knowledge. Thus we have to examine the original structure of knowledge before we can talk about changing it in any way. Our methodology combines quantitative methods rn'ith intensive ethnography. I'm an anthropologist by training, and our research designs include, alongside traditional surveys, participant observation, intensive interviews, and a great deai of self recording of time use and activities in "diaries" so that we're able to determine exactiy what it is that people are doing on a day-today , sometimes on an hourly basis. Many of our research designs are before-and-after studies. We're trying to record activity patterns before they change and then document them following technological intervention. In the case of educational soft'ivare, for instance, we try to look at a classroom situation
Research Interests: Organizational Behavior, Cultural Studies, Computer Science, Teaching and Learning, Organizational Culture, and 19 moreLearning and Teaching, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Software Development, Technology And Culture, Learning And Teaching In Higher Education, Computers and Computing Cultures, Cultural Anthropology, Computing, Computers and Society, Cyber Anthropology, Educational computing, Technology, Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, Management Information Systems, Organizational Learning and Performance Improvement, Cultural and Social Anthropology, Educational Technology and Computing, Role of anthropology in education and social development perceptions; The development and application of cybernetic systems, Cyber-anthropology, Anthropology of Science and Technology, and Brown University
The key to understanding Iranian social and political institutions lies in an understanding of the dynamics of interpersonal communicative behavior. It is through the intricacies of face-to-face interaction that power is negotiated,... more
The key to understanding Iranian social and political institutions lies in an understanding of the dynamics of interpersonal communicative behavior. It is through the intricacies of face-to-face interaction that power is negotiated, alliances are made, action is made incumbent on individuals and choices of strategy are decided .
Research Interests: Anthropological Linguistics, Interpersonal Communication, Pragmatics, Performance Studies, Sociolinguistics, and 21 moreLinguistic Anthropology, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Reciprocity (Social and Cultural Anthropology), Anthropological Linguistics (Languages And Linguistics), Iranian Studies, Symbolic Interaction, Language and Culture, Symbolic Anthropology (Anthropology), Culture and Communication, Performance Theory, Persian Culture, Symbolic Interactionism, Iranian Islamic Revolution, Cultural and Social Anthropology, Modern Persian Poetry, 1979 Iranian Revolution, History and theory of sequential art, comics and graphic novels, Iranian Revolution, Symbolic Interactionist Theory, Hierarchy In Languages, and Iranian Traditional Performance
Design anthropology is an emerging field in which ethnographic research informs the design process. Design anthropologists provide insights into the cultural worlds of the consumers of design processes , elucidating their true needs and... more
Design anthropology is an emerging field in which ethnographic research informs the design process. Design anthropologists provide insights into the cultural worlds of the consumers of design processes , elucidating their true needs and desires, rather than superficial reportage as derived from questionnaires and focus groups, as the first stage of design activity. In this presentation, several classic design process methods are reviewed: QFD (House of Quality). Kano methodology, the Sensys® system , and Design Thinking as promulgated at the Stanford Design School. In each case the positive intervention of ethnographic techniques embodied in Design Anthropology are shown as potential improvements in the quality of design activity.