The question of how Willem was coping, alone in the big house, had come to concern many of those surrounding him. Over the past couple of months, Willem had been tired, and was showing up at the drop-in centre less and less. His daughter had called on others to help him to prepare warm meals. He himself talked of his …
Tag Archives: Phenomenology
Folding time: walk-talking joint moments in the nursing home
We knew each other from the drop-in centre. Aspects of our daily life concerns had been shared. ‘We’ were drop-in centre participants: the majority had been diagnosed with a form of dementia and were living alone. Others were volunteering, overseeing the daily course of events or, like myself, doing research. We had shared with Willem (74) attempts at keeping up …
Top of the heap: Sarah Willen
This article is part of the series: Top of the heap
For this installment of “Top of the heap,” we spoke to Sarah Willen, Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Human Rights Institute’s Research Program on Global Health and Human Rights at the University of Connecticut.
Sarah Willen
This summer I found myself puzzling deeply over the notion of dignity. In fields like political philosophy, bioethics, law, …
Descombes’ The Institutions of Meaning
The Institutions of Meaning: A Defense of Anthropological Holism
translated by Stephen Adam Schwartz. Harvard University Press, 2014. 392 pp.
How is what is “in” our minds, as thought, also something that we share, communicate, and can understand? This question, however posed, must be fundamental for any anthropological approach to mental life. In the course of …
Top of the heap: Cheryl Mattingly
This article is part of the series: Top of the heap
For this installment of “Top of the heap” we spoke to Cheryl Mattingly, Professor of Anthropology at the University of Southern California. Here’s her list of recent – and upcoming – readings:
Cheryl Mattingly
Lately my favorite reading topic has been in the “anthropology of morality.” While there are many reasons to object that this is not a …
Laurence Kirmayer, “Revisioning Psychiatry: Cultural Phenomenology, Critical Neuroscience, and Global Mental Health”
In late October my department (Comparative Human Development, University of Chicago) hosted a talk by Laurence Kirmayer of McGill University. I’m pleased to present the full video of the lecture here. The talk, titled “Revisioning Psychiatry: Cultural Phenomenology, Critical Neuroscience, and Global Mental Health,” is a broad and synthetic overview of Dr. Kirmayer’s thinking on psychiatry and mental …