Department Member, Sociology
Brandeis University, Anthropology
Brandeis University, Latin American and Latino Studies
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Elizabeth Ferry
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About
I have vested interests in the contemporary, well-being, identity formation, ways of being, violence, religion, and existentialism-phenomenology. Through these fields of study I seek to look at what anthropology as a discipline studies and counts as anthropological knowledge in relation to how we as anthropologists use pedagogy - or how we teach anthropology to others (and in turn, ourselves). I see anthropology not just as a social science that coldly seeks to 'understand' all facets of humanity, but as one of many tools we humans have forged to name our existence and to find meaning and place for ourselves.
For me, anthropology represents a 'professional' commitment to exploring the myriad ways humanity configures itself, to better understand how and why community works and is necessary while we each maintain an individual existence. Anthropology as a discipline commands reflexivity and contemplation of not only our chosen fields of study, but also of ourselves as part of the study - our place, position and power. The world and universe are not 'made' for humanity, but as we know, humanity seeks to always make the world for itself. That, I believe, is worth studying.
Most recently I have begun teaching Cultural Anthropology and Archaeology to undergraduate students at Framingham State University. My research now includes activism and indigenous movements in Bolivia, based on notions of "comunalidad" and "interculturalidad". Additionally, I maintain an interest in political and economic anthropology. Finally, I am much influenced by anthropologist Michael Jackson's work on Existential Anthropology, Intersubjectivity, and Storytelling.
Contact Information
| IM: | Skype - gamwella |
