Event: Apiculture as an Anthropological Study or Interdisciplinarity in Practice
Date: Wednesday 18 October 2023
Time: 17:00-19:00
Venue: LC216, University of Malta, Msida Campus
The is holding another seminar - our second in this series.
The Seminar, "Apiculture as an Anthropological Study or Interdisciplinarity in Practice', will be held on Wednesday 18 October from 17:00 - 19:00 at LC216, delivered by Dr Rafal Beszterda from Nicolaus Copernicus University, Poland.
Blurb:
The coexistence of numerous beings on Earth is a fact, even if one is unaware of it. The relationship between honeybees and the human species is one of the oldest and best documented.
Various cultures glorified, romanticised, and sanctified these insects, seeing them as a visible sign of God’s grace. Additionally, the social insects’ organisation was meant to resemble human society's structure, especially during feudal rules. Saints’ and Gods' protection of honeybees ‘p°ù´Ç±¹±ð’ their cultural and worldwide importance. The honeybee's products are located in a somehow separate sphere, as all of them are excretions or mixed with excretions, and therefore partly tabooed within certain beliefs and religious systems.
In most cases, their medicinal value has lessened the disgust. It seems that the historical, even ancient, knowledge related to bee products was much more elaborate and detailed than the present one, despite the obvious development of biological sciences. Cultural studies centred on honeybees need a wide scope of interdisciplinary knowledge, with appropriate methodology, to begin with history, ethnography, ethnology, art, law, economy, religious and economic studies.
Such a ‘h´Ç±ô¾±²õ³Ù¾±³¦â€™, anthropological view of the topic, can enable a researcher to ask accurate questions.
Speaker Bio:
Dr Rafal Beszterda is an Assistant Prof. in the Department of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology, at Nicolaus Copernicus University, Poland. His scientific interests cover the cultural adaptation of indigenous cultures to high-altitude climatic conditions; cultural changes caused by colonial rules; and cohabitation of human with non-human beings with special reference to honeybees. He is lecturing in the fields of techniques and methodology of fieldwork, ethnic diversity of the world, anthropology of Asia, and contemporary changes in Indian society.
