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Friday, May 4, 2018 at 4:30pm to 6:00pm
McGraw Hall, 165
141 Central Ave, Ithaca, NY 14850
How to explain glitches in cooperative activities
Alessandro Duranti, Anthropology, UCLA
This talk brings together two strands of my research: the critique of the concept of intention for explaining the meaning of human action and the study of the key role of improvisation in cooperative activities. After presenting a number of interactions in which participants, despite their “best intentions,” fail to adequately perform in a joint activity, I argue that the “glitches” produced in these situations – often resulting in embarrassing and distressing moments – can be explained by means of Wittgenstein’s notion of “aspect.” What remains to be explained are the conditions under which such glitches can be avoided. The case of a jazz player’s incipient error that is promptly concealed by the rest of the band underscores the importance of separating the cultural contexts in which on-the-spot adjustments (or repairs) are likely and expected from those in which they are unlikely and dispreferred.
Alessandro Duranti is a Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at the University of California, Los Angeles.
The Bernd Lambert Memorial Lecture Series was established by the Cornell University Department of Anthropology in honor of one of its most distinguished faculty members. Bernd Lambert, an ethnographer of the Pacific Islands, joined the Cornell faculty in 1964. For over 50 years as both active and emeritus professor of anthropology, his research and teaching ranged widely from issues of kinship and social organization to myth and symbol. The Lambert lectures honor Prof. Lambert’s legacy by bringing similarly broad-minded scholars to the Cornell campus for a series of events that culminate in an evening lecture.
If you need accommodations to participate in this event, please contact Liz Kirk at ek61@cornell.edu as soon as possible.
Liz Kirk
607-255-6479
Alessandro Duranti
UCLA
free and open to the public
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