Anthropologist David Samuels: “Interrogative Genres”
Date: Monday, March 31, 2008
Time: 3:00 - 5:00 p.m.
Place: Toy Lounge, 4th Floor of Dey Hall, UNC-CH
The Curriculum in Folklore is proud to host a presentation by anthropologist David Samuels on
Monday, March 31, at 3:00 p.m. in Toy Lounge, on the fourth floor of UNC's Dey Hall. Currently a
fellow at the National Humanities Center, Samuels will be speaking about “Interrogative Genres,”
tackling the thorny problem of genre in the study of folklore. In his presentation, Dr. Samuels
will discuss his innovative work in Native American language and song, exploring how attention to
voice might yield more productive ways of grappling with the difficult questions of genre mixing.
An associate professor of Anthropology at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Dr. Samuels
is the author of the much-acclaimed ethnography, “Putting a Song on Top of It: Expression and
Identity on the San Carlos Apache Reservation” (Univ. of Arizona Press, 2004). This work offers a
nuanced exploration of how Apaches on the San Carlos reservation use popular music to construct and
articulate their cultural identity. Heralded as “a classic” by anthropologist Eric Lassiter,
Samuels' work challenges essentialist notions of Indian-ness by exploring the ways that identity is
negotiated within the turbulent complexities of contemporary reservation life.