Anthropology & Sociology at Williams
News about faculty
Films, books, buildings, and programs. The ANSO faculty continued its diverse activities in 2005-2006, both in class and beyond. Prof. James Nolan completed his second and final year as director of the Williams-Exeter Programme at Oxford. We are looking forward to his return to Williamstown this summer. Robert Jackall successfully led the fledgling Williams in New York program through its first year of operation. (W@NY was featured in a recent article in the Williams Alumni Review. If you're using broadband, you can download a large pdf file of the article by clicking here.) |
Scene from Kabul Transit |
| The long-awaited documentary about Afghanistan directed by David B. Edwards and Greg Whitmore, Kabul Transit, made its world debut at the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival in Durham, N.C. in April. Edwards has taken the film on the road to a number of university venues, including Princeton, UC-Santa Cruz, and USC. The film will also be featured in the LA Film Festival this summer. |
In March, Michael F. Brown published the article "Faut-il breveter les cultures en danger?" in Sciences Humaines, Paris. (Francophilic alums may download a copy here.) Along with Peter Just, a long-time member of the Stetson-Sawyer Building Committee, Brown continues to co-chair the Stetson-Sawyer project, which will break ground early in 2007. The project's North Academic Building will include an archaeology teaching lab, something the college has promised the department since Prof. Antonia Foias was hired a decade ago.
| Computer-graphic rendering of two new academic buildings to be constructed starting in 2007. The rendering shows the site after Sawyer Library has been razed in 2011. New Sawyer Library will be attached to Stetson Hall. Courtesy Bohlin Cywinski Jackson Architects. |
| Bob Jackall's latest book, Street Stories, received a glowing review in the Times Literary Supplement. The reviewer, Mark Kamine, describes the book as a "fascinating peek into a world most of us would not want to inhabit--but can't resist wanting to hear about." |
Some of you may remember Prof. Troy Duster (right), who taught in the department as a Bernhard Professor more than a decade ago. He returned to Williams in February 2006 to participate in a panel discussion on the subject of genomic research and changing concepts of race. |
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New faces in 2006-2007. Next fall, the department will be joined by two visiting sociologists. Danielle Bessett, a student of Troy Duster's who is completing her doctorate at NYU, will offer courses on gender, family, and medical sociology, among other things. John Downey, who teaches at Loughborough University in the UK, will offer two courses in the department in Spring term, 2007. A familiar face, Prof. Antonia Foias, will chair the department when she returns from her sabbatical in Guatemala in August.