Immutable: Anti/racism in teaching: How could an anthropology department be racist? Session 10 of the digital lecture series „Decolonizing Anthropology: A Self-Critical Appraisal of the Current State of Research and Teaching"; German speaking departments of social and cultural anthropology
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Resource ID
20
Access
Open
Title
Anti/racism in teaching: How could an anthropology department be racist?
Session 10 of the digital lecture series „Decolonizing Anthropology: A Self-Critical Appraisal of the Current State of Research and Teaching"; German speaking departments of social and cultural anthropology
Author
Gielge, Magnus
Editor
boasblogs
Other contributor
Zillinger, Martin
Publishing institution
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Date of publication
25 January 2024
Terms of use
(CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) Namensnennung + nicht kommerziell + keine Bearbeitung
Abstract
In January 2023, students at the department of Anthropology at the University of Vienna hung up satirical posters suggesting anti-racist new year’s resolutions for the department. The posters were hung in the hallways, lecture rooms, and on two office doors at the department. While the response from lecturers was varied overall, with some praising the actions taken by students, many were upset. As I had been seen putting up posters, I ended up defending my actions in a number of meetings with staff, and, in one case, being warned of potential lawsuits (for an excellent analysis of warnings, see Ahmed 2021, 70). In one such meeting, a lecturer, exasperated at what they saw as a demand for performative anti-racism, exclaimed, “How could an anthropology department be racist?”
This talk is informed by the research I am conducting with student representatives of other departments. Through my research, I explore whether and how student unions at German-speaking Anthropology departments perceive and engage with issues of racism in their departments. My writing is also a reflection of my own experiences as a student and student representative. I recognize that I am not an expert on theories of education, or anthropology, or racism, or colonialism. Yet, as I will argue, I believe that something is currently getting lost in the process of becoming an academic. The conventions and notions of “objective” research which many academic institutions seem to expect and teach fall short of enabling students to adequately express their experiences.
My aim is to raise some questions about the way anthropology is being taught today, and about the spaces in which it is being taught. What does it mean to become an anthropologist? How can departments engage responsibly with their own whiteness? How can we work towards a better future without losing sight of the present?
Keywords
Decolonizing Anthropology
Cultural Anthropology
Social Anthropology
Ethnologie
Decolonization
History of Ideas
Methodology
Epistemology
GND Keywords
Ethnologie; http://d-nb.info/gnd/4078931-7
Kulturanthropologie
Deutsches Sprachgebiet
Universität Wien. Institut für Ethnologie, Kultur- und Sozialanthropologie
Antirassismus
Didaktik
Postkolonialismus
Rassismus
Entkolonisierung
Hochschulbildung
DDC
300 Sozialwissenschaften/301 Soziologie und Anthropologie
300 Sozialwissenschaften/303 Soziale Prozesse
300 Sozialwissenschaften/305 Personengruppen
300 Sozialwissenschaften/306 Kultur und Institutionen
300 Sozialwissenschaften/370 Bildung und Erziehung/378 Hochschulbildung (Tertiärbereich)
RVK
LB 28010
LB 31960
LB 53010
LB 47010
Language
eng
Publication type
CourseMaterial
File format
MP4
Publisher DOI
Duration
00:31:06