CSC visiting scholars lectures set for next week

CSC visiting scholars lectures set for next week

BY LINDSEY FIELDER
Rice News staff

Anthropologists Jean and John Comaroff will visit Rice University as part of the Center of the Study of Cultures (CSC) Distinguished Visiting Scholars Program.

Jean Comaroff, the Bernard E. and Ellen C. Sunny Distinguished Service Professor of Anthropology and Social Sciences at the University of Chicago, will give an independent public lecture, titled “Criminal Ac/counting: Quantifacts and the Production of the Unreal,” at 8 p.m. March 28 in 100 Herring Hall.

John Comaroff, the Harold H. Swift Distinguished Service Professor of Anthropology and Social Sciences at the University of Chicago, will also give a public lecture, titled “Ethnicity Inc.: On the Commodification Consumption and Construction of Cultural Identify in a Brave Neo World,” at 8 p.m. March 29 in 100 Herring Hall.

The couple will then give two joint seminars on neoliberalism for faculty and students March 30 and 31 at 4 p.m. in 117 Humanities Building.

CSC director Werner Kelber said having the Comaroffs come in to speak together is an excellent opportunity. “Both Jean and John Comaroff are distinguished in his and her own right,” he said. “It’s a natural fit in the joint seminars for faculty and students. The interaction is stimulating.”

Born in South Africa, the Comaroffs each received their undergraduate degrees at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. They earned their doctorate degrees at the London School of Economics. They have both taught at the University of Chicago since 1978. They have co-authored seven books together and co-edited 11 books.

Jean’s current research pertains to issues of public order, state sovereignty and policing in postcolonial states, and the threat of disorder in postcolonial contexts. In the past, her research subjects have included the religion of Southern Tswana people, Christian evangelism, liberation struggles in South Africa, healing and bodily practices, global modernity and commodification.

John has conducted extensive research among the Tswana people in South Africa, focusing on politics and law, the cultural dimension of economic development and occult-related violence. His scholarly interests include colonialism and postcolonialism, social theory and the history of consciousness.

The Distinguished Visiting Scholars Program was conceived to enrich the intellectual life of faculty, students and alumni by providing access to the world’s most renowned and innovative scholars in the humanities and social sciences. Initiated and administered by the CSC, the program is funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities and various other donors.

For more information, call 713-348-2770 or visit <http://culture.rice.edu>.