[Public Lecture] Towards the Anthropology of the Vertical

SAO PAULO, BRAZIL - On December 4, 2019, as part of my duties as visiting faculty here at the University of Sao Paulo's Department of Anthropology, I delivered a public lecture based on my PhD dissertation entitled "Towards the Anthropology of the Vertical". I presented historical and ethnographic findings from my research, including the imbrication of height with colonialism, race, gender, and identity. I also sketched possible research directions of this approach, including the ways in which 'verticality' characterize modernity: from our high-rise buildings and elevators to 'body projects' that involve human height. 

After the lecture, Prof. Joao Gonçalves of USP gave a reaction, referencing counter-examples that celebrate not just height but depth, stressing that verticality can mean not just "up" but "down".

A summary of some of the findings from my PhD research can be found in this article.