Hallwalls is the perfect setting for a sixth year of the Humanities Institute's Scholars@Hallwalls lecture series. These monthly presentations feature one fellow's research in an engaging lecture with lively follow-up conversation. This year's lineup highlights the interdisciplinary range of humanities research at UB.
Talks are on Friday afternoons at 4 pm and are free and open to the public. Complimentary wine and hors d'oeuvres are served. Please join us for any or all of the Scholars@Hallwalls talks!
Captain Cook's Tools for Ethnography
English professor Ruth Mack explores the relation between Cook's navigational experience on the Endeavour Voyage (1768-71) and the descriptions of societies Cook offered in his journal. How does Cook, the technical navy man, comfortable with terse entries in the captain's log, come to write in a fashion we might now call "ethnographic"? Mack argues that navigation does not merely accompany but provides the very basis for Cook's self-conscious and experimental writing about culture.
