The Global Studies Program and the Dean’s Office at Lesley will host a screening of the documentary, Savage Memory, followed by a discussion with the filmmakers, Zachary Stuart and Kelly Thomson.
The film looks at the legacy of one of the most prominent anthropologists of the 20th century — Bronislaw Malinowski — from the perspective of his great-grandson Zachary Stuart.
In 1915, Bronislaw Malinowski set out to document the ‘exotic’ practices of a small group of islanders off the coast of Papua New Guinea. With extensive data on sex, magic and spirits of the dead, his work would set the stage for anthropologists for decades to come and bring him fame as one of the founding fathers of anthropology.
Four generations and almost one hundred years later, his great grandson sets out to Papua New Guinea to piece together the story of this legendary figure and to unravel the controversial legacy he left behind within the field of anthropology, within his own family, and among the descendants of the people he studied in New Guinea.
The screening will take place in the second floor Amphitheater of University Hall, 1815 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge. Light refreshments will be served.