The CBCD presents guest lectures on 40 years of Ethnobotanical Research in China, Linguistics and the conservation of Biocultural Diversity, and the integration of traditional and scientific knowledge.
Friday, October 13th (2:30-4:30 pm) Stirling Library, Marlowe Building, University of Kent
Yanfei Geng (CBCD, Visiting Research Fellow): 40 years of Ethnobotanical research in China
Yanfei discusses her research in light of the history of modern ethnobotanical research in China, especially that emanating from the Institute for Botany in Yunnan, and suggests future directions research in China is likely to take.
Yanfei Geng is an ethnobotanist from the College of Tea Sciences at Guizhou University in China, with a PhD in Botany from Yunnan University. She will be at Kent for 2023 working on “The Ethnobotany of Edible Medicinal Plants used by Buyi people, Shui people and Gelao people of Guizhou province”.
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Friday, November 3rd (3 -5 pm) Stirling Library, Marlowe Building, University of Kent
David Stringer (Indiana University): Folkbiology in Endangered Languages: The Cultural Classification of Living Kinds
Recent calls for the indigenization of knowledge highlight the need to illuminate parallel and complementary knowledge systems, in line with efforts to decolonize academic research. Despite admirable rigor and significant insights, research that attempts to interlock folk taxonomies across languages underestimates the fundamental importance of lexical relativity. David will present a range of examples from indigenous taxonomies that provide lexical windows into local ecology and belief systems. Implications are drawn for the role of language in ethnobiological documentation and biocultural diversity conservation.
David Stringer is Associate Professor of Second Language studies in Indiana University. He has a PhD in Linguistics from University of Durham. He spent a year studying anthropology at the University of Quindío, Colombia, and at PUC in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, while studying Latin American Literature at Manchester.
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Tuesday, November 14th (5- 6:30 pm) 24th Kent-Kew Distinguished Ethnobotanist
Lecture, Lisa Sainsbury Lecture Hall, RBG Kew, London
Sarah Edwards (Oxford): Ethnobotany: The Sacred and the Science.
As an ethnobotanical practitioner, Sarah will discuss her journey integrating cross-cultural teachings from traditional knowledge holders and colleagues from across the globe with scientific understandings. As a bridge between different knowledge systems, Ethnobotany can offer insights to help address current ecological crises. Copies of her new book The Ethnobotanical will be available for signing before and after the talk.
Sarah Edwards is currently based at the University of Oxford Botanic Garden and Arboretum and teaches Ethnobiology for the Institute of Human Sciences. She has a PhD in Medical Ethnobotany from the London School of Pharmacy.
Book to attend in person: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/728091771087
To follow online: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/728105201257