March 13, 2007. The Apple Store in the Shinsaibashi district of Osaka played host to the DESIGN MATTERS meeting.
The Design of Visual Anthropology in Japan
Visual anthropology deals with the presentation and representation of culture through the use of film, photography, art and other graphic media. How can visual media be used (and abused) in cultural descriptions? How have visual methodologies changed since the advent and availability of digital technology and the internet? These questions were discussed in the Japanese context, using research on Japanese Sign Language and the development of a new university course on visual anthropology as examples.
Steven Fedorowicz is Associate Professor of Anthropology at Kansai Gaidai University in Hirakata, Osaka, Japan. He has lived and worked in the Kansai area for nine years. Fedorowicz has conducted research on cross-cultural deafness, sign language, performance and social organization in Bali, Hawaii and Japan. His latest research project deals with the HIV/AIDS situation in Japan, especially concerning deaf communities.
