Experiential and Performative Anthropology in the Classroom

The contributors gathered here revitalize “ethnographic performance”—the performed recreation of ethnographic subject matter pioneered by Victor and Edith Turner and Richard Schechner—as a progressive pedagogy for the 21st century. They draw on their experiences in utilizing performances in a classroom setting to facilitate learning about the diversity of culture and ways of being in the world. The editors, themselves both students of Turner at the University of Virginia, and Richard Schechner share recollections of the Turners’ vision and set forth a humanistic pedagogical agenda for the future. A detailed appendix provides an implementation plan for ethnographic performances in the classroom.

Pamela R. Frese is Professor of Anthropology at the College of Wooster, USA. A graduate student of Victor Turner, she has continued to use ethnographic performance in her teaching. Susan Brownell is Professor of Anthropology at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, USA. As an undergraduate student of Victor Turner, she learned the value of ritual reenactments in education; she traces these foundational experiences through to her current research on sport and ritual.