By consulting a network of international contacts, Expeditions can provide a variety of lectures and presentations about many subjects related to anthropology and cultural sciences. It is our firm belief that it is possible to make complicated academic knowledge understandable, accessible and applicable to public actors.
Contact us for more info.
Tourism as ethnic relations.
A challenge for globalisation.
Following topics are discussed. Culture from an anthropological perspective. The anthropology of tourism. The study of the integration and the socio-economical impact of tourism in host cultures. Tourists as an ethnic group in the host culture. Guest-host relations and confrontations. Different interactions between tourists and groups of host culture with reactions of local ethnicity and a renewed cultural identity. Theoretical outlines are illustrated with many examples of own fieldwork in the Azores, Caribbean, Belgium, Crete (Greece), Egypt and Malta.
Duration: 80 minutes with discussion round afterwards
Language: English/Dutch
Art and archaeology: a difficult marriage?
This lecture will present an interdisciplinary research towards the relation between art history, anthropology and archaeology. Starting from the question whether archaeological and ethnographic objects can, or can not, be considered, and thus named, as art, the speaker will shed light on the meaning of the art in the previous centuries and now, with a special focus on the use of this term within anthropology and archaeology, and the conflicting opinions of scholars on this issue.
Duration: 60 minutes with discussion round afterwards
Language: English/Dutch
The quipu: a mysterious writing system?
Around the time that Europe sailed out to discover the new world, in Peru an empire flourished which was governed by the famous Inca’s. One of their tools to manage an empire this expansive was the quipu. ‘Quipu’ means ‘knot, and is a system of cords with knots in different colours. It is already known for a long time that this cord-system was used to record information on payments and censuses, but the use of these quipu’s as means to record history, songs and poems is still debated by scholars. Now, some recent discovered manuscripts in Italy have l ed to the development of a theory that states quipu’s can be read as a genuine writing system. But although these documents could be a Rosetta-stone for the quipu’s, their authenticity is heavily questioned. Too good to be true?
Duration: 90 minutes with discussion round afterwards
Language: English/Dutch
Lectures on Chechnya
The Chechen diaspora, following the last two wars in the North-Caucasian region, has left many Chechens stranded in our country. After enduring hardship and human rights violations, numerous Chechen families are trying to establish a new life in Belgium and other European countries.
Expeditions has conducted an intensive survey of al the aspects in this debacle:
- up close and personal interviews with numerous Chechens living in Flanders
- extensive research on the historical background of the ever turbulent region
- anthropological evaluation of a forced clash of cultures
In a broad cooperation with the primary governmental and non-governmental organisations involved in the matter, national as well as international, we were able to compare our findings and improve the quality of our study. Through this process, we can boast a unique insight in the Chechen question.
Today we offer our expertise in the form of a lecture, cut to size for your organization. Do not hesitate to contact us for further details.
Duration: 50 to 120 minutes with discussion round afterwards
Language: English/Dutch/French
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