Mascha Gugganig

PhD Student

Magister of Philosophy (Master’s equivalent) in Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of Vienna

Supervisor: Dr. John Barker

Email: mascha28@interchange.ubc.ca

Research interests: anthropology of childhood and education, Pacific islands, visual anthropology, museum studies, environmental anthropology, anthropology of science (genetic engineering), plant-human relations, kinship studies

Current project: My research explores filmmaking and photography as tool of knowledge transmission, especially for children and youth. I am interested in cultural knowledge that students learn at schools following a culturally-embedded curriculum, and how this knowledge is subsequently renegotiated with adults. My interest lies furthermore in competing discourses between Native Hawaiians, and biotechnology companies as well as academic institutions with their interest in genetically modifying Hawaiian taro, kalo. In the creation story, the first kalo, Hāloa, is the elder brother of all Native Hawaiians. Genetic engineering raises issues concerning kinship, food, and land relations.

Visual Productions:
Gugganig, M. 2011. Hidden practices, 7 minutes video.

Gugganig, M.; Breckon S., Jacob Slosberg. 2011. Bread & Baking, 12 minutes video. Ethnographic Film Unit, UBC.

Conference Presentations:
2008     A lesson for the student called “anthropologist”. American Anthropology Association Annual Meeting, San Francisco

2008     The Ethnographer’s Advocacy: Working Together with Children and Youth. After Ethnography? Anthropology, Education and the Knowledge Economy, Oxford University

2009     Native Hawaiian Charter Schools – Schools without Walls: Indigenous
Education in the Formal Learning Institution. Talking Anthropology, MASN-Austria, Vienna

Associations:
American Anthropology Association
Council on Anthropology and Education
Society for Visual Anthropology
Ethnographic Film Unit, UBC
MASN-Austria: Moving Anthropology Social Network