Jim Weil

Talk Summary: An alternative title might be posed as a question: Can Memoir Writing Be a Distinctive Project of the Association of Senior Anthropologists? The presentation begins with reference to several inspirational anthropological memoirists. This serves as a background for proposing autoethnohistory as kind of memoir falling between autobiography and autoethnography. Early formative influences are distinguished from professional training and ongoing life experiences in the shaping and channeling of careers. Assessments of “degrees of belonging” demonstrate the relevance of reflexivity for comparisons of otherwise unique professional identities. Past ASA contributions to the living history of the discipline are reviewed as preliminary forays into memoir writing (Weil 2019). Jim’s own efforts at “compiling fragments of a memoir” illustrate additional variations in the forms and styles of presentation (Weil 2023a, Weil 2023b). In the ensuing discussion, colleagues are invited to give examples from their own lives and, as the case may be, their own writing.

Bio: Following his childhood in the suburbs of Los Angeles, Jim completed undergraduate studies at UC-Berkeley with a generalist social science major. He worked in a rural health development program as a Peace Corps volunteer in Thailand and earned an MPH degree at the University of Hawaii. He served as associate director of the Waikiki Drug Clinic before plunging into doctoral studies emphasizing human ecology and political economy in the Columbia University anthropology department. Research in Bolivia and Costa Rica focused his interests in the anthropology of work and its manifestations in material culture and expressive culture, also raising issues of personal engagement in the field (see Weil 2020). While temporary and adjunct positions prevailed in his teaching career, Jim’s affiliation as a research associate at the Science Museum of Minnesota continues.