Published: March 7, 2022

CAS is sponsoring two events this week:

The first is an Indonesian Nongkrong - or conversation table, where anyone interested can practice using Indonesian and possibly make a new friend.

Tuesday, March 8 at 2pm (in person)

The Hive @ ALTEC
Hellems 159

Additionally, en event that is part of our Introduction to the Anthropology of Japan Public Lecture Series - Fragility and Loss in Japan's Aging Society - is on Friday.

Fri, Mar 11, 12:20 PM - 01:10 PM MT

Dr. Jason Danely, Reader in Anthropology, Oxford Brookes University

Abstract:

While later life in Japan remains strongly framed by western-style biomedical and social care institutions, recent years have seen a renewed interest in alternative approaches to aging, that incorporate the processes of both aging and dying. In this talk, I will discuss how Japan's aging population has given rise to a new sensibility concerning the processual fluidity between aging, illness, death, and the afterlife, in ways that challenge dominant gerontological paradigms based on notions of resilience and independence. This rethinking of the process of aging and dying involves an ordinary aesthetics of fragility and loss, that draws upon broader reconsiderations of the relationships between person, society, and nature. I show that this new aesthetic sensibility also draws upon cultural narratives of interdependence, mutuality, ecology and spirituality. On the anniversary of the 3.11 disaster and with the pandemic still impacting us, this talk offers a reflection on what it means to grow older, to mourn, and to be in the world with others.

We hope you join us!