CASCA 2015 panel CfP: Revisiting the Role of Anthropologist as the Starting Point for Anthropological Investigation

CASCA 2015 panel CfP: Revisiting the Role of Anthropologist as the
Starting Point for Anthropological Investigation

Contemporary anthropological research reflects important shifts
generated in our discipline in recent decades. While these exciting
turns include increased attention to genealogical approaches, new
approaches to space and place, and the incorporation of novel
theoretical and ontological concerns, this panel asks in what ways
does anthropological investigation continue to be fundamentally
influenced by the researcher as a socially-situated subject? As the
walls and boundaries between faculties come down, how are
anthropologists (re)envisioning their role as researchers and their
discipline within broader contexts in and beyond the academy?

A key question we wish to explore in this panel is how our own
perspectives as researchers and otherwise socially-situated subjects
present a key thread, starting point, or lens of understanding in our
ethnographic research. We are also interested in understanding how
these perspectives have influenced our position on interdisciplinary
teams or, in applied research settings.

We invite abstracts that consider how the anthropologist as a
particularly situated subject impacts the point(s) from which projects
may begin, or profoundly influences the direction or outcome of the
investigation. Proposals may consider the anthropologist's:

- positionality relative to key research questions and participants;
- disciplinary background (for instance, coming to anthropology from
another discipline);
- prior or current career experience outside of the academy;
- personal or political associations;
- unexpected turns unique to the researcher.


Please send an abstract of no more than 150 words (+ author contact
information, title, keywords) by February 1st, 2015 to the panel
organizers:

Jennifer Long (Wilfrid Laurier University): jplong79@gmail.com
Rhiannon Mosher (York University): rhiannon.mosher@gmail.com