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<div><font face="Times" size="+3" color="#000000"><b>Cultural Intimacy
and Social Poetics: a new agenda for cultural research<br>
A Master Class with Michael Herzfeld<br>
<br>
</b></font><font face="Times" size="+2" color="#000000"><b>The Centre
for Cultural Research, Parramatta campus, University of Western
Sydney, 8-10 August<br>
<br>
</b>The Centre for Cultural Research and the Cultural Research Network
(Centre for Critical and Cultural Studies, University of Queensland),
invite postgraduate students to a Master Class with Michael
Herzfeld.<br>
<br>
Michael Herzfeld is Professor of Anthropology at Harvard University
and author of many books, including<i> The Social Production of
Indifference</i> (1993),<i> Cultural Intimacy</i> (1997) and<i> Body
Impolitic</i> (2003).<br>
<br>
The Master Class will address the place of empirical research in
analysing cultural dynamics in the transnational contexts in which we
live. It will explore the continuing relevance, or otherwise, of
disciplinary specialisation and its relationship to methodology in the
study of culture, identity and relations.<br>
<br>
Herzfeld's work offers an innovative approach to fieldwork defined
against both the textualism of postmodern theory and the positivism of
the conventional social sciences. Herzfeld offers an anthropology -
which he defines as the critical appraisal of common sense - that is
comparative and reflexive. It entails a politically engaged grounding
in experience that is neither reductive nor romantic. It occupies the
'militant middle ground' between simple binaries of theory and
practice.<br>
<br>
In one of his most provocative books -<i> Cultural Intimacy: Social
Poetics in the Nation-State</i> - Herzfeld draws on wide-ranging
fieldwork to explore the 'dirty laundry', the collective secrets,
that sustain a nation-state by securing the loyalty of its citizens.
His approach, which he calls a 'social poetics', examines the
disjuncture between official models of national culture and the
experience of ordinary citizens. This social poetics is an attempt to
connect the minutiae of everyday life to cultural change in the longue
durée, utilizing a semiotics of cultural form to explain how social
norms not only inform everyday interaction but also draw from its
accidents and distortions. <br>
<br>
Herzfeld's work invites us to consider a new agenda for cultural
research and to think about the ways a social poetics might inform our
own projects. In this seminar, we will focus on the ways
interdisciplinarity and empirical work form the basis for cultural
research, teasing out what we might mean by the 'militant middle
ground' of theoretical and political engagement. A range of
readings, centring on Herzfeld's own writing, will be provided to
initiate debate. Participants will be invited to give brief
presentations to bring their own specific intellectual interests into
play in this discussion, reflecting on the relation between
anthropology and broader cultural research, and what that might mean
in terms of the kinds of methodologies that cultural research might
develop.<br>
<br>
Students will find the Master Class beneficial in developing the
methodological, theoretical and conceptual dimensions of their own
research projects. To this end, you will be expected to contribute
actively to the Master Class, relating your research to the ideas and
methods discussed. A book of readings will be distributed prior to the
Class.<br>
<br>
Numbers for the Master Class will be kept low, and you need to apply
for entry. The application will include a 300-word rationale outlining
the relevance of the Master Class to your research, accompanied by a
brief CV. Registration for the Master Class will be $120. The Cultural
Research Network will provide funds to cover travel and accommodation
for postgraduate students outside Sydney. Your application will need
to indicate whether you need these funds to attend the Master
Class.<br>
<br>
The deadline for applications is June 30. Applications can be
downloaded from the Centre for Cultural Research website, at:<br>
http://www.uws.edu.au/research/researchcentres/ccr/herzfeld<br>
<br>
For further information, contact Greg Noble at</font></div>
<div><font face="Times" size="+2"
color="#000000">g.noble@uws.edu.au</font><br>
<font face="Times" size="+2" color="#000000"></font></div>
<x-sigsep><pre>--
</pre></x-sigsep>
<div><font color="#000000">Dr Greg Noble<br>
<br>
School of
Humanities <span
></span> <x-tab>
</x-tab>ph: (02) 47 360 365<br>
University of Western Sydney<br>
C Bldg, Kingswood campus<br>
Locked Bag
1797 <span
></span> <x-tab
> </x-tab>email: g.noble@uws.edu.au<br>
Penrith South DC<br>
NSW 1797<br>
Australia<br>
<br>
Researcher, Centre for Cultural Research</font></div>
<div><font color="#000000">Parramatta Campus, UWS</font></div>
<div><font color="#000000"><br></font></div>
<div><font color="#000000">Co-author of<i> Bin Laden in the Suburbs:
Criminalising the Arab Other</i> (Sydney Institute of Criminology,
2004)</font></div>
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