FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2008
Contact: Dave Wellman, Director of Communications, (304) 696-7153
 

Director of Graduate Humanities Program edits journal
of collaborative research in anthropology

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – The first volume of a journal edited by Dr. Luke Eric Lassiter, director of the Graduate Humanities Program at the Marshall University Graduate College and professor of humanities and anthropology, has been published by the University of Nebraska Press.

The journal will be published annually. Volume 2 is scheduled to be released in October 2009, according to Lassiter.

He said “Collaborative Anthropologies” is a forum for dialogue on collaborative research in anthropology and closely related fields.

“But, importantly, the journal goes beyond the kind of interdisciplinary collaboration that implies ‘collaborative research’ as that between academic colleagues or two or more professional researchers,” Lassiter said. “Although it includes discussion about these kinds of collaborative research, the journal has a special focus on the complex collaborations between and among researchers and the communities with which they work – such as when an ethnographer designs a project with research participants who are engaged not as ‘subjects’ or ‘informants’ but as partners in a collaborative research effort.”

He said many anthropologists have done this kind of collaborative research for a long time, and there are lots of examples, such as his “Other Side of Middletown” book, written by a team of faculty, students, and members of the African American community in Muncie, Ind.

“This journal will provide a collective space for featuring descriptions of such partnerships and projects (as well as many others kinds, including those that don’t fit neatly into this type); ultimately, however, it is concerned with charting new theoretical terrains, ones that address broader philosophical questions about the collaborative (and ethical) production of knowledge, the role of community engagement in scholarly production and dissemination, and, importantly, the value of collaborative research to a wider public,” Lassiter said.

Dr. David Pittenger, dean of Marshall’s College of Liberal Arts, said the new journal is an important contribution to the discipline and “a considerable achievement” for Lassiter.

“Interesting problems in science are best answered from many perspectives rather than from a single academic discipline,” Pittenger said. “Eric’s work should do much to help social scientists use interdisciplinary perspectives when examining complex human behavior.

“Of course, all of us in the College of Liberal Arts are proud of Eric’s many accomplishments. The University is dedicated to promoting scholarship at the highest level. Eric’s work demonstrates that the College has much to offer the academic community.”

The journal is available for $61 for institutions and $36 for individuals. Checks should be made payable to the University of Nebraska Press and mailed to:

The University of Nebraska Press
P.O. Box 84555
Lincoln, NE 68501-4555

For more information, contact Lassiter at 304-746-1923.

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