BA, MA, PhD
Senior Lecturer
- About
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- Email Address
- n.wachowich@abdn.ac.uk
- Telephone Number
- +44 (0)1224 273203
- Office Address
G03, Edward Wright Building, Dunbar Street, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, Scotland, UK, AB243QY
- School/Department
- School of Social Science
Biography
I am a social anthropologist with ethnographic research experience primarily in the Canadian High Arctic drawing on fields of historical anthropology, visual anthropology, oral histories, museum and material culture & the anthropology of food and health. I have written on the history of Arctic colonialism & historiography, the interplay between western and Indigenous knowledge systems, Arctic research cultures and Inuit media. My first book, Saqiyuq: Stories from the Lives of Three Inuit Women was written in collaboration with Apphia Agalakti Awa, Rhoda Kaukjak Katsak & Sandra Pikujaq Katsak documented Inuit colonial history through the autobiographical stories of three generations from the same family. I continue have an interest in colonial historiography & the politics, practice and ethics of research and representation.
I enjoy collaboration with academic & non-academic partners. From 2014-2022 I was Co-Investigator on a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) collaborative project entitled Mobilising Inuit Cultural Heritage http://mich.info.yorku.ca/ working with Inuit seamstresses & media-makers in Mittimatalik, developing a women’s sealskin sewing co-opThe Mittimatalik Arnait Miqsuqtuit Collective (MAMC) & creating a community digital visual archive of Inuit seal skin sewing arts & skills (https://vimeo.com/mamc). https://arnaitmiqsuqtuit.wixsite.com/mamc
Since 2019 I have been working with partners in the Qikiqtaaluk communities of Mittimatalik and Kinngait as UK PI on a UKRI/Polar funded project 'Inuksiutit: Food Sovereignty in Nunavut & the Co-production of Country Food Knowledge'' https://www.abdn.ac.uk/socsci/research/inuksiutit/index.php https://www.cinuk.org/projects/ifsnu/
I welcome postgraduate student supervision in themes around: anthropology of food, visual & historical anthropology, collaborative decolonizing methodologies, environmental justice & other topics.
Qualifications
- PhD Social Anthropology2001 - University of British Columbia, Canada
- MA Symbolic Anthropology1992 - University of Western Ontario, Canada
- BA Anthropology1989 - University of Alberta, Canada
Memberships and Affiliations
- Internal Memberships
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Department of Anthropology PhD Programme Coordinator
- External Memberships
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Faculty and Steering Committee Member, International PhD School for the Study of Arctic Societies (IPSSAS)
External Examiner, Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge (2006-2009)
External Examiner, MA Visual Cultures, MRes Visual Anthropology, Goldsmiths, University of London (2019-2022)
Prizes and Awards
Oral History Association (USA), Award for Best Project, 2000
Canadian Historical Society Clio Award for the North, 2000
- Research
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Research Overview
arctic anthropology, ethnohistory, oral traditions, museums and material culture, visual anthropology, anthropology of colonialism, anthropology of art, indigenous media, collaborative methodologies, anthropology of food
Research Specialisms
- Social Anthropology
Our research specialisms are based on the Higher Education Classification of Subjects (HECoS) which is HESA open data, published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
Current Research
Inuit oral traditions, material culture, historical anthropology, digital archiving, collaborative methodologies, media anthropology, visual anthropology, cultural heritage, anthropology of art, anthropology of food
Collaborations
Mobilizing Inuit Cultural Heritage (MICH): a multi-media, multi-platform re-engagement of voice in visual arts and performance, York University, Canada
Mittimatalik Arnait Miqsuqtuit Collective: a women’s seal skin sewing and digital archiving collective based in the Inuit community of Mittimatalik (Pond Inlet), Nunavut Canada. See: https://vimeo.com/mamc. https://arnaitmiqsuqtuit.wixsite.com/mamc
I am currently Co-PI (with Prof Anna Hudson, York University Canada) on a collaborative POLAR/UKRI funded project 'Inuksiutit: Food Sovereignty in Nunavut and the Co-production of Country Food Knowledge' addressing Inuit food security and Elders/youth advocacy in the context of climate change.
Supervision
Current students:
Qingyang Li, Doctorate. Dissertation topic: dance and NGOs in a Chinese village
Marie Saunders, Doctorate, Dissertation topic: Trinidadian historiographies
Ursula Obrusnik, Doctorate, Thesis topic: The politics of belonging in a Czech-Polish border town.
Former students:
Peter Lawrence Bates, Doctorate, Thesis title: Knowing caribou: Inuit, ecological science and traditional ecological knowledge in the Canadian Arctic.
Sophie Caecilie Elixhauser, Doctorate, Thesis title: Nammeq: Personal autonomy and everyday communication in East Greenland
Hiroko Ikuta, Doctorate, Thesis title: Sociality of Dance: Eskimo Dance among Yupiget on St. Lawrence Island and Iñupiat in Barrow, Alaska
Irena Leisbet Connon, Doctorate, Thesis title: Oral narratives and the reaffirmation of native Alutiiq identity
Lidia Joanna Jendzjowsky, Masters of Philosphy, Dissertation Title: Photographs of landscape and indigenous peoples along the Skeena River, Canada
Amber Anne Lincoln, Doctorate, Thesis title: Things of use, things of life: coordinating lives through material practices in Northwest Alaska
Katrin Annemarie Simon-Sakurai, Doctorate, Thesis title: Never alone: Narratives of spirits in an Alaskan Yup’ik community
Anna C MacLennan, Masters of Research, Dissertation title: Layers in the Cold: the potential of an anthropological study of Inuit skin clothing
Martina Anne Tyrrell, Doctorate, Thesis title: Inuit perception, knowledge and use of the sea in Arviat, Nunavut
Silvije Habulinec, Masters of Research, Dissertation Title: Material histories of Military Sites in Kangirlussuaq, Greenland, 2015.
Ursual Obrusnik, Masters of Research, Dissertation title: Urban Aboriginal media in Winnipeg, Canada, 2015.
Zoe Todd, Doctorate, Thesis title: ‘You Never Go Hungry’: Fish pluralities, human-fish relationships, Indigenous legal orders and colonialism in Paulatuuq, Canada.
Tara Joly, Doctorate, Thesis title: The Social Life of Wetlands: wetland reclamation in the western subarctic of Canada, 2017
Frederique Manceau, Masters of Research, Dissertation topic: The lingerie industry and lace craftsmanship in France.
Tamara Ranspot, Doctorate, Thesis topic: Ethnomusicology and animal-human relationships in the Yukon, Canada, 2019
Gioia Barnbrook, Doctorate, Thesis title: Continuing the Hunt: Environmental Change, Ecological Knowledge and Provision in Wemindji, Northern Quebec. 2019
Kirsty Kernohan, Doctorate, Thesis title: Leisured Colonialism: objects, archives and family ties in the Keith- Falconer collection at the University of Aberdeen 1873-1945. 2021.
Funding and Grants
Skin sewing segment of 'Mobilizing Inuit Cultural Heritage: a multi/media platform re-engagment of voice in visual art and performance, Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), Anna Hudson, York University, PI
'Inuit video art', British Academy Small Grant, 2004-2008
'Material Histories: Social Relationships between Scots and Aboriginal Peoples in the Canadian Fur Trade , c. 1870-1930', Art and Humanities Research Council, 2005-2007, (with Professor Tim Ingold and Dr. Alison Brown)
- Teaching
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Teaching Responsibilities
Anthropology 1003, Introduction to Anthropology, Peoples of the World
Anthropology 5032, Research in Social Anthropology I
Anthropology 2511, Colonialism Re-imagined
Anthropology 3523, Ethnography
Anthropology 3006, Methods in Anthropological Research
Anthropology 4522, Oral Traditions
Anthropology 4528 Anthropology of the North (subsistence hunting module)
Anthropology 4010, Indigenous Media
Anthropology 3018, Society and Nature (animal rights module)
Anthropology 5534: Methods training (evidence module)
School of Social Science Postgraduate Training 5055, (Academic writing skills module)
- Publications
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Page 1 of 3 Results 1 to 10 of 30
Anaanavut Ilisaijigiqaaqtavut Iliniarutigijavut Qisiliritigluttat: (Our Mothers, Our First Teachers: Lessons from Sealskin Sewing)
Qummut Qukiria!: Art, Culture, and Sovereignty Across Inuit Nunaat and Sápmi: Mobilizing the Circumpolar North. Hudson, A., Igloliorte, H., Lundström, J. (eds.). Goose Lane, pp. 395-407, 13 pagesChapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: ChaptersWith or without the camera running: the work of Inuit film‐making
Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, vol. 26, no. 1, pp. 105-125Contributions to Journals: ArticlesInuit Women’s Sealskin Sewing: a film for the British museum exhibition 'Arctic: Culture and Climate'
Non-textual Forms: Digital or Visual ProductsWorking with nalua: the most delicate of sealskins
Arctic: Culture and Climate. Lincoln, A., Cooper, J., Loovers, J. P. L. (eds.). Thames & Hudson, in collaboration with The British Museum, pp. 142-148, 7 pagesChapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: ChaptersDigitalisation of crafts: Comparative approaches to Arctic fur
Nordisk Museologi: The Journal of Nordic Museology, vol. 2018, no. 2-3, pp. 30-44Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.5617/nm.6651
Leah Aksaajuq Otak: The Measure of a Stitch & the Art of Translation
The Hands' Measure: Essays Honouring Leah Aksaajuk Otak's Contribution to Arctic Science. Wachowich, N., MacDonald, J. (eds.). Inhabit Media, pp. 16-34, 18 pagesChapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: ChaptersIntimate Clips: Sealskin Sewing, Digital Archives and the Mittimatalik Arnait Miqsuqtuit Collective
Museum Anthropology Review, vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 75-99Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.14434/mar.v12i2.22478
- [OPEN ACCESS] http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/2164/10900/1/document.pdf
Anaanavut Qisingit: a meditation on sealskin sewing
Non-textual Forms: Digital or Visual ProductsThe Hands' Measure: Essays honouring Leah Aksaajuq Otak's Contribution to Arctic Science
Nunavut Arctic College Media, Iqaluit. 396 pagesBooks and Reports: BooksIrnivik: Airing Frame
Non-textual Forms: Digital or Visual Products