From Coffee to Manhood: An Anthropological Inquiry into Tunisia's 'Social Economy'

Pleae join us for a lecture by the 2009-2010 CCAS Qatar Post-Doctoral Fellow, Dr. Rodney W. Collins.

Collins recently received his Ph.D. from the Department of Anthropology at Columbia University. His work analyzes the complex circuitry of market-state-society in North Africa, especially as it irradiates the formation of contemporary male subjectivities.

In his doctoral research, Collins approached this nexus through an examination of the political economic links between the coffee trade, the public coffeehouse (qahwa sha‘abiya), and manhood in Tunis, Tunisia. The research entailed two years of fieldwork in Tunis and resulted in a historical ethnography entitled, “From Coffee to Manhood: Grounds for Exchange in the Tunisian Coffeehouse, ca. 1898-2008.”

During his tenure as the Qatar Post-Doctoral Fellow, Collins is preparing his dissertation for publication in addition to several journal articles and contributions to edited volumes. He is also involved in several innovative editorial initiatives with the journal, Cultural Anthropology, with a focus on the themes of Cities & Urbanism, as well as Gender & Sexuality.

Collins has consulted with the World Monuments Fund, served as an International Relations Officer for the Coptic Evangelical Organization for Social Services in Cairo, Egypt, conducted research amongst intravenous drug users in New York City, and was a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Adamawa province of Cameroon.

Reception will follow the event.

Please RSVP at https://www12.georgetown.edu/sfs/rsvp/index.cfm?Action=View&EventID=2592