A world-renowned anthropologist, whose influential research into the world’s cultures and their taboos, will visit the University of Aberdeen next week.
Professor Mary Douglas, who is emeritus professor at University College, London, will make the trip north to Aberdeen next Tuesday (November 7) to deliver a talk to anthropology and divinity students and academics. Her visit is part of the University’s Old Testament/Hebrew Bible and Jewish Studies Research Seminar, which welcomes different speakers on a weekly basis.
Professor Douglas, who is now in her 80s, will talk on ‘The Book of Numbers as a Political Statement, the Reading guided by its Structure.’ She is best known for her writings on human culture and symbolism.
Her area is social anthropology and her most well-known book is the collection of essays entitled, Purity and Danger, first published in 1966 and still in print today. In this book, she argues that a culture’s taboos can tell us a great deal about its sense of its own identity. For instance, she analyses the dietary restrictions listed in the Biblical book of Leviticus – the laws that eventually led to the system of kashrut – better known in English as kosher law.
Professor Joachim Schaper, Chair in Hebrew, Old Testament and Early Jewish Studies, said he was delighted to be welcoming a scholar of Mary Douglas’ stature to the University of Aberdeen. He said: “Mary Douglas is an internationally renowned anthropologist with a wealth of knowledge to share.
“She is highly respected for her work and research and her visit to Aberdeen is very much anticipated by students and staff at the University. I would encourage anyone, whether they have an academic or general interest in anthropology or in the Old Testament, to join us for what is sure to be a fascinating event.”
Professor Douglas’ presentation at 2.00pm on Tuesday, November 7, is free and open to all to attend. The venue is yet to be announced. Further information on this term’s series of talks is available by contacting Professor Schaper at: J.Schaper@abdn.ac.uk
Professor Douglas was born in 1921 in San Remo, Italy, as her parents were returning from colonial service in Burma, but she was raised and education in England. She studied anthropology at Oxford University under the famous E.E. Evans-Pritchard, doing her fieldwork among the Lele tribe in the Kasai region of Africa. She earned her Ph.D. from Oxford in 1951.
For further information about the University of Aberdeen’s Old Testament/Hebrew Bible and Jewish Studies Research Seminar, log on to: http://www.abdn.ac.uk/~wad005/pgrad/OTSeminar.shtml
To find out more about studying Divinity at the University, log on to http://www.abdn.ac.uk/divinity or visit the Student Recruitment and Admissions Service website at: www.abdn.ac.uk/sras