Interview: Dr Janet Hoskins

Dr. Janet Hoskins is a professor of Anthropology and Religion at the University of Southern California. She has conducted extensive field research in Indonesia, Vietnam, and California. Dr. Hoskins holds an MA and PhD in anthropology from Harvard University, and a BA in anthropology from Pomona College.

Her current research interests include the emerging field of Transpacific Studies, post-colonial studies, transnational religions, visual anthropology and ethnography, material culture, theories of time and history, gender, exchange, and ritual.

We discuss her long career in anthropology, her fieldwork, her thoughts on anthropological pessimism vs. optimism, globalization vs. hybridization, the role of photography in visual anthropology, the anthropology of tourism, and ultimately what people can take away from the study of anthropology and more.

Time Stamps:

3:00 - Anthropological Optimism vs. Pessimism 7:32 - Biography8:38 - Field Work in Sumba / Romantic Ideals in Anthropology10:32 - Field Work like Returning to Childhood16:32 - What we can learn from Anthropology19:47 - Time Keeping Across Cultures23:23 - On Cultural Relativism 29:34 - On Ethnography / Visual Anthropology40:55 - On Hybridization vs Globalization 43:47 - How cultural anthropology affected her parenting50:04 - On the indigenous and the non-indigenous52:55 - On Cao Daoism - Discovering this new religion in Southern California1:01:00 - On Phoenix Boxes / Spirit Writing in Cao Dao / Religious Plurality 1:12:23 - On Being an American 1:14:45 - Connecting with Dr Janet Hoskins1:16:09 - PhD Students of Note 1:17:09 - Take Away Lessons

More information

Dr. Janet Hoskins @ USC

Headshot Credit: Janet Chauvet caveOther photos: Dr Janet Hoskins

Music Sample:MARAPU - WELCOME TO SUMBA Author: Feryanto Pekabanda (Yanto Marapu) & Arnaud MarianiComposition: Marapu Band

Headshot Credit: Janet Chauvet caveOther photos: Dr Janet Hoskins

Dr Hoskins in Sumba, Indonesia (1980)

Sumba Meat Distribution (1980)

Janet Syl Mis Tay Ninh (2005)

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