CoursesCrafting an Ethnography of Vulnerability
ANTH 3666-401

Crafting an Ethnography of Vulnerability

Wednesdays, 1:45 pm-4:44 pm

Crafting an Ethnography of Vulnerability What if we could practice a radical ethnography of vulnerability because we believe that truly democratized, ethical engagement requires the unconditional vulnerability of the ethnographer: the relinquishing of all academic, professional, and project power bullying through a humble transparency and personal permeability that immediately triggers trust by de-enshrining the intellectual, by bravely including the emotional and spiritual life of the empathic ethnographer.

Most of reality is invisible; the deeper communal paths are psychic. I am a veteran, multi-disciplinary social choreographer who has intuitively employed ethnographic tools and strategies for the past 30 years, collectively producing transformative performative portraits of threatened communities. For this graduate and undergraduate seniors workshop, I wish to invite students into my field process, in terms of my readings and roamings through the world.

The workshop experience will culminate in a field trip to San Juan under the auspices of the Conservation Trust of Puerto Rico, to visit historic colonial sites and contemporary model projects such as El Departamento de la Comida, a queer farming collective. Travel over the week of spring break is required for our course, with airfare, in-country travel, room and board covered completely for all students (thanks to generous support from the Padeia program).

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URBS 2110-301

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Instructor(s)

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Restorative Justice (RJ) is a new term to describe ancient ways of dealing with harm and being in community which centers our relationships and obligations to one another, as opposed to punishment and retribution. Increasingly popular as a response to a plethora of urban issues, from mass incarceration to gun violence to education inequality, RJ is also sometimes misunderstood or applied without fidelity.

This course explores the theory, history, and practice of RJ in the urban environment. The course intersperses practical communication and facilitation skills, visits from local practitioners and advocates, and in-depth discussion of texts and media. Through readings, discussions, activities, and projects we will develop a solid theoretical basis from which to understand RJ and its implementation, including a focus on holistic engagement with self, other, and community.

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PPE 4903

Policy Task Force on U.S.-China Relations (New)

Instructor(s)

  • Neysun Mahboubi
  • Neysun Mahboubi

Semester

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More than forty years after the normalization of relations between the United States and China, the relationship faces new and fundamental challenges with global implications. Designed as a policy task force, taught in coordination with a similar course to be taught at Tsinghua University in Beijing, this course will introduce students to the most pressing issues in U.S.-China relations –– including security, trade, climate, tech competition, and human rights. Each student will be required to complete a policy paper on some aspect of U.S.-China relations.

At the end of the course, students will travel to China to meet in-person with their Chinese counterparts at Tsinghua University, and to present their policy papers and recommendations to relevant interested Chinese audiences in Beijing and Shanghai. Travel to China will take place Wednesday, May 14 – Sunday, May 25, 2025.

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