Self-Introduction
Hello everyone! I am Shan Qi, and I am from SILS at Waseda. I obtained my Ph.D. degree in anthropology from Peking University in July 2023. SILS will be my first station as an anthropological researcher and a lecturer. Even though these roles involve different ways of interacting with people, they share similar approaches: being sincere, treating everyone as equals, and integrating with others.
Driven by my genuine curiosity for human cultures, being plurilingual and multicultural is the thread of my exploration over the years. My journey of becoming plurilingual over the years led me to realize that language is not only a means of communication but also a way of thinking or even the particular organ of local people. That means we should learn languages from linguistic aspects and how they are linked with respective cultures. With the guidance of SILS’s idea of a “language-integrated” teaching method, I look forward to feeling the unique charm of Chinese with you.
Based on this understanding, being multicultural calls for further acquirement of approaches
about “how to understand others fully,” which is pursued continuously by anthropology.
Anthropology is a captivating discipline situated at the intersection of science and art, and it represents an essential way of thinking and a lifestyle in today’s world. The courses I teach at SILS will show different sides of anthropology, including discussing the study of Chinese culture in anthropology, regarding some classic topics from an anthropological perspective, and also the crucial method of anthropology——fieldwork, which will lead you to explore anything that you are curious about. I sincerely hope for the opportunity to continue this adventure with more young students.
Recent Research Interests
【Doing fieldwork in a firework factory in China】
Due to the particular danger of the firework labor, I am forbidden to step into the workshop of firework workers, as you can see in the picture. My current focus is Marxism anthropology and political anthropology, which concerns multiple laborers’ conditions and power dynamics in daily life from the perspective of anthropology. In the context of the Anthropocene, it is imperative to consider how to enable the harmonious and sustainable coexistence of multiple species, cultures, and lifestyles. Utilizing anthropological methods to get first-hand materials and deeply know the world’s complexity is beneficial.
Regarding “fireworks” as the glue, my research is also related to material culture study in anthropology. Poetic ethnographic writing/filming is another direction that I am exploring. It requires researchers to have the sensibility and imagination of scientific and artistic aspects to build the bridge between theories and materials, abstract and concrete, macro and micro. Anthropologists always have broad interests, and we usually would like to encourage and guide students to reflect on the“common sense” they are already used to, to be engaged in various social fields, or to create a work ethnographically.
Profile
I have a diverse educational background in financial management and English language (two bachelor’s degrees in 2015), journalism and communication (master’s degree in 2018), and anthropology(Ph.D. degree in 2023). I have obtained The 10th Chinese Anthropology Graduate thesis fieldwork grant and relative publishing support for my doctoral research. As a journalist and anthropological researcher in the past years, I focused on multiple social issues. I conducted different fieldwork, including the workers’ literature group and the ecology of an urban village. In the coming spring semester at Waseda, I will be an assistant professor at SILS, and I am expected to start the fascinating journey with you all together.
