quijada publishes new book

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Buddhists, Shamans, and Soviets by Justine Buck QuijadaCongrats to Assistant Professor of Religion and COE fellow Justine Quijada, whose new book, Buddhists, Shamans, and Soviets: Rituals of History in Post-Soviet Buryatia, will be published in March by Oxford University Press.

In an early review, Laurel Kendall, chair, division of anthropology at the American Museum of Natural History says, “In Justine Buck Quijada’s thoroughly engaging ethnography of contemporary Buryatia, a miraculously preserved Buddhist corpse counters the artificiality of Lenin’s ‘scientifically preserved’ remains and the body of a Russian Orthodox saint visits the local Cathedral where celebratory bells drown out the drum beats inaugurating a new urban center for shaman practice. Simultaneously inhabiting the chronotypes of multiple historic pasts-indigenous, Buddhist, Russian Orthodox, Soviet-the rituals and celebrations of Quijada’s subjects blur and blend and defy any attempt to effectively categorize them by religion, ethnicity, or nationality politics. The result is a provocative read for anyone interested in these subjects.” –Laurel Kendall, Chair, Division of Anthropology, American Museum of Natural History

Click here to read more about Justine’s work and to watch her presentation, “Is Animism Good to Think With?” from this year’s Where on Earth Are We Going seminar.

ucsb’s kuris discusses research

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Schistosomiasis (a disease caused by parasitic worms) affects 200 to 300 million people worldwide. On December 3, the COE welcomed evolutionary biologist Dr. Armand Kuris of University of California, Santa Barbara to campus, for a discussion about his research on the disease in Kenya and Senegal. Dr. Kuris’s work has shown that transmission control through predation on snail intermediate hosts may be necessary to achieve elimination of schistosomiasis in Africa. More photos can be found here.

wes students, physical plant workers collaborate on performance project

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Six students in Barry Chernoff’s ENVS197 (Introduction to Environmental Studies) course worked side-by-side with members of Wesleyan’s Physical Plant this semester, as part of a collaborative project with Forklift Danceworks,  an organization that employs performance to activate communities through a collaborative creative process. The Austin-based organization was founded by choreographer Allison Orr, a former Menakka and Essel Bailey ’66 Distinguished Visiting Scholar here at the COE, who lead the project, with help from Forlift’s assistant choreographer Gretchen LaMotte ’18.

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coe celebrates the schumann institute

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On October 26, 2018, foundation advisors David and Ford Schumann and foundation trustee Timothy Crowley joined COE Director Barry Chernoff, the Robert F. Schumann Professor of Environmental Studies, and Antonio Machado-Allison, the Menakka and Essel Bailey ’66 Distinguished Visiting Scholar in the COE, on a tour of Wesleyan University’s student-run Long Lane Farm. 

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