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January 31: Masterclass on Digital Anthropology and Our Virtual Lives

How have virtual worlds informed the broader culture? What can we learn about the journey of being human from the journey of adapting to a virtual society? Have the lines blurred between the digital and the ‘real’, between our avatar selves and our physical ones?

Join us for a provocative, far-ranging discussion of virtual worlds, anthropology, and meaning as Dusan Writer (Doug Thompson) welcomes renowned anthropologist Tom Boellstorff to Metanomics.

Tom is a pioneer in anthropology. His work in both ‘physical’ and virtual domains is the source of deep insights into how we interact with each other, with our tools, and what this might mean for our evolving understanding of being human.

Author of the acclaimed book “Coming of Age in Second Life”, Tom will share his thoughts on how Second Life has changed and how the broader digital landscape has extended the concepts he first studied in Second Life. He’ll discuss the recent closure of the Teen Grid and talk about how there may be lessons from our journeys through virtual worlds that equate to our journey through the span of life.

Join us as Dusan Writer welcomes Tom for this far-ranging discussion of anthropology, virtual worlds and culture.

You can watch the episode live on Monday, January 31st, 2010 at 12:00 p.m. PT from this Web page. Or join us live in Second Life at the Metanomics Studio.

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Guest Biographies

Tom Boellstorff

Tom Boellstorff (Ph.D., Anthropology, Stanford, 2000) is Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of California, Irvine, and Editor-in-Chief of American Anthropologist, the flagship journal of the American Anthropological Association. His research projects have focused on questions of virtual worlds, sexuality, globalization, nationalism, language, and HIV/AIDS.

He is the author of The Gay Archipelago: Sexuality and Nation in Indonesia (Princeton University Press, 2005), winner of the 2005 Ruth Benedict Award from the Society of Lesbian and Gay Anthropologists; A Coincidence of Desires: Anthropology, Queer Studies, Indonesia (Duke University Press, 2007); and Coming of Age in Second Life: An Anthropologist Explores the Virtually Human (Princeton University Press, 2008).

He is also co- editor of Speaking in Queer Tongues: Globalization and Gay Language (University of Illinois Press, 2004), co-editor of a theme issue of Ethnos, “Bodies of Emotion: Rethinking Culture and Emotion through Southeast Asia” (Volume 69:4, 2004) and co-editor of a theme issue of Anthropological Forum, “East Indies/West Indies: Comparative Archipelagos” (Volume 16:3, 2006). He is the author of publications in many journals, including American Anthropologist, American Ethnologist (twice), Cultural Anthropology, Annual Review of Anthropology, Journal of Asian Studies, Law and Society Review, PoLAR: The Political and Legal Anthropology Review, Journal of Linguistic Anthropology, Games and Culture, and GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies (three times).

He is also a Core Faculty member for the Culture and Theory Ph.D. program at Irvine, as well as a Program Faculty member for the Arts, Computation, and Engineering graduate program. He has worked as a consultant for the Intel Corporation, and sits on the advisory boards of two community-based HIV/AIDS organizations in Indonesia (Gaya Nusantara in the city of Surabaya (East Java province), and Gaya Celebes in the city of Makassar (South Sulawesi province)).

Doug Thompson

Dusan Writer (Doug Thompson in real life) is founder and CEO of Remedy Communications, a leading communications agency; is a founding partner of Startled Cat; and is a blogger at Dusan Writer’s Metaverse.