Fri 13 June 13:00
Online and Pervasive Media Studio, Watershed
This is a free event, but you still need to book tickets.
In this talk, Professor Shawn Sobers explores why Small Anthropology is a powerful and necessary methodology for interdisciplinary research, using his book Black Everyday Lives, Material Culture and Narrative: Tings in de House as a key example.
Through this approach, he examines Black British cultural history by studying the family home—room by room, object by object—revealing how personal experiences are deeply intertwined with broader historical, cultural, and political narratives. Drawing from his work as a visual anthropologist, he demonstrates how Small Anthropology foregrounds storytelling, transparency, and sensory knowledge, offering a richer, more nuanced way to engage with material culture.
This talk highlights the power of interdisciplinary methods to uncover unearthed histories and challenge dominant narratives, showing how everyday objects can be profound carriers of memory, identity, and resistance.
About Professor Shawn Sobers
Shawn is Professor of Cultural Interdisciplinary Practice at University of the West of England. He is a filmmaker, photographer and anthropologist, and his work has been published, exhibited and screened nationally and internationally, and has directed and produced documentaries for BBC1, ITV and Channel 4. He has produced projects on a broad range of topics, including youth homelessness, legacy of the region’s trade in enslaved Africans, youth creativity, Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, and Ethiopian historical connections with the UK. His book Black Everyday Lives, Material Culture and Narrative: Tings in de House was published by Routledge in 2023.