Seminar description
Anthropology has much to say about death. There is foundational literature on sacrifice, suicide, and the rites surrounding the end of life. Anthropology also has a lot to say about violence: war, conflict, revolution. But at the nexus of death and violence lies murder, a culturally and socially salient phenomenon that garners less scholarly attention. This seminar will explore what constitutes murder in different cultural and historical contexts, by reading across anthropology, cultural studies, and film studies.
Get to know your professor
Naisargi N. Davé
You can call me…
Paul or Professor He or Dr. He.
I just can't live without…
American football
I just can't live without…
American football
My hometown is…
Atlanta, Georgia
For my undergraduate degree…
Anthropology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA.
I am surprisingly good at…
Sleeping
Fun fact:
I’ve trained in Hindustani classical vocals.
If I wasn't teaching, I would be a…
Totally useless, or a comedic actor.
What I'm working on now is…
A book about murder and true crime storytelling in contemporary India.
Lately, something that has been exciting me about my research/scholarship is…
Working with a team of five fabulous undergrads in the JHI Scholars in Residence program.
A fun fact about my field of study is…
Raman, the elephant, is both the tallest captive elephant in the world, and the only elephant in India to have been arrested for… murder!
I was inspired to get into this field because…
Of observing my mother’s satisfaction with lurid Indian merder cases when I was young.
My first-year seminar in five words:
- Murder
- blood
- Media
- Scandal
- Spectacle
In a sentence, what you’ll learn in my course:
How stories we tell about violent death shape and reflect the life of our societies.
One of my favourite things about teaching first-year students is…
Your bright-eyed enthusiasm.
My best advice for those starting their first year…
The best way to learn something is to teach it to others.
NAME: Chelsea Rochman.