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 - Biography
8:38 - Field Work in Sumba / Romantic Ideals in Anthropology
10:32 - Field Work like Returning to Childhood
16:32 - What we can learn from Anthropology
19:47 - Time Keeping Across Cultures
23:23 - On Cultural Relativism
29:34 - On Ethnography / Visual Anthropology
40:55 - On Hybridization vs Globalization
43:47 - How cultural anthropology affected her parenting
50:04 - On the indigenous and the non-indigenous
52:55 - On Cao Daoism - Discovering this new religion in Southern California
1:01:00 - On Phoenix Baskets / Spirit Writing in Cao Dao / Religious Plurality
1:12:23 - On Being an American
1:14:45 - Connecting with Dr Janet Hoskins
1:16:09 - PhD Students of Note
1:17:09 - Take Away Lessons
More information
Dr. Janet Hoskins @ USC
Headshot Credit: Janet Chauvet cave
Other photos: Dr Janet Hoskins
Music Sample:
MARAPU - WELCOME TO SUMBA
Author: Feryanto Pekabanda (Yanto Marapu) & Arnaud Mariani
Composition: Marapu Band
Headshot Credit: Janet Chauvet cave
Other photos: Dr Janet Hoskins
Dr Hoskins in Sumba, Indonesia (1980)
Sumba Meat Distribution (1980)
Janet Syl Mis Tay Ninh (2005)