Ruth Behar Workshop and Talk, April 6, 2016

Workshop - 9:30AM - 11:30AM in Hale 450, Anthropology. 

Workshop Description:

Ruth Behar will work with a small group of participants around the theme and practice of ethnographic writing. We've come a long way since Clifford Geertz proposed that all that was required to produce good ethnographic writing was “thick description.” In this workshop we will consider a wide range of textual strategies that ethnographers have used and address the complexity of writing ethnography that matters in the world today. Writing samples will be provided for discussion and participants can bring extracts from their writing to analyze with the group. 

Interested in Participating?

The workshop is open to all CU affiliated faculty, students, and staff, with an interest in ethnographic writing. Registration required by March 17, 2016, and will be confirmed thereafter. Participation is free, but limited capacity. Register at http://blackbirdarts.org/beharworkshop

Talk - Between Two Cubas - 5PM in the Center for British and Irish Studies, 5th Floor of Norlin Library

About Ruth Behar:

Ruth Behar was born in Havana, Cuba, and grew up in New York. She is the Victor Haim Perera Collegiate Professor of Anthropology at the University of Michigan. Her honors include a MacArthur “Genius” Award, a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship, a Distinguished Alumna Award from Wesleyan University, and an Excellence in Education Award from the University of Michigan. Known for her writing about the search for home in our global era, her books include The Presence of the Past in a Spanish Village;Translated Woman: Crossing the Border with Esperanza’s Story, a New York Times Notable Book of the Year; and The Vulnerable Observer: Anthropology That Breaks Your Heart. She is the co-editor of Women Writing Culture, which has become a classic text on women’s literary contributions to anthropology.

Ruth frequently visits and writes about her native Cuba and is the author of An Island Called Home: Returning to Jewish Cuba and Traveling Heavy: A Memoir in between Journeys. She is the editor of the pioneering anthology, Bridges to Cuba, and co-editor ofThe Portable Island: Cubans at Home in the World. She has written editorials about Cuba for the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, and the Huffington Post. Her documentary, Adio Kerida/Goodbye Dear Love: A Cuban Sephardic Journey, has been shown in film festivals all over the world.

For information about the workshop and talk, visit http://blackbirdarts.org/news

Convener: Lara Stein Pardo

Presented by the Laboratory for Race and Popular Culture and Blackbird Arts and Research

Co-sponsored by: Graduate Committee on the Arts and Humanities, Anthropology, Film Studies, University Libraries, English, Latin American Studies Center, Art and Art History, Geography, Sociology, Critical Media Practices, History, Writing and Rhetoric, Ethnic Studies, and Jewish Studies