Celebrating the Work of Stanley J Tambiah

The International Centre for Ethnic Studies (ICES) will celebrate the work life of the late Stanley J Tambiah on 30th November at 4 p.m.

John D. Rogers, Historian and Director of the American Institute for Sri Lankan Studies; Gananath Obeyesekere, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology, Princeton University; and Sarath Amunugama, Minister of Special Assignments, will discuss Tambiah's intellectual vision and some of his major ideas, and reflect upon his lasting impact on Buddhist Studies and Anthropology.

The discussion will be moderated by Tissa Jayatilake, Executive Director, US - Sri Lanka Fulbright Commission.

Stanley J. Tambiah, was the Esther and Sidney Rabb Professor of Social Anthropology Emeritus, and a world-renowned scholar. Author of 10 books and countless articles, Tambiah was known for his brilliance and intellectual generosity, his ability to synthesize multiple intellectual problems across regional and temporal boundaries and for his grand theoretical vision of anthropological theory. His pioneering books and articles span analyses of violence; democracy and communalism in South Asia; a trilogy of books about Buddhism, (pre-modern and modern) state-making and kingship; rural religiosity; the power of religious objects and dogmas in Thailand; and multiple essays in his books culture, Thought and Social Action and Magic, Science, Religion and the Scope of Rationality that reflected upon classical anthropological problems of rationality, ritual, religion, and performance where he rethought them in unique ways.