"Human Sciences Happy Hour in Phnom-Penh"
Once a month - 6pm – Baitong Restaurant
(7 Street 360/ Norodom Bd, Beung Keng Kang I)
On Thursday 28, April 2011
The Spirits of Cambodia: New Research into Current Practice
presented by, Courtney Work
The villagers in the newly settled village of Damnak Klung in Kompong Chhnang Province articulate a number of relationships with spirits. Some of these are economic relationships, some confirm and support special talents – like healing or playing music, some influence interpersonal relationships and still others constitute relationships with physical space. These spirits are at once a part of Buddhist practice and are separate from it; as one woman told to the researcher, "the spirits are connected to Buddhism because we use the tools and the language of Buddhism to talk to the spirits, but they are different –they are older."
Courtney Work's research project is to explore and document village life and religious practice in rural Cambodia in the early twenty-first century. In this presentation she will discuss the work of spirits in everyday rural life, highlighting the various social and physical connections mediated by spirit beliefs and practices.
Courtney Work is a PhD Candidate, Anthropology at Cornell University. She received my Master's Degree from Brandies University in Anthropology and Gender Studies. Her thesis examined violent masculine performance at Cambodian dance parties. Her current research project is village centered. She is asking questions about Buddhism and contemporary religious practice and also looking into the political and economic structures of village life in early twenty-first century Cambodia.
