Leah Lowthorp
University of Oregon, Anthropology, Faculty Member
- Harvard University, Folklore and Mythology, Department Memberadd
- Kutiyattam, Performance Studies, Body in Performance, Cultural Heritage, Unesco, UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of ICH, and 11 moreKerala, Cultural Politics, Globalization And Postcolonial Studies, Folklore, Anthropology of Performance, Anthropology Of Dance, Heritage Studies, Assisted Reproductive Technologies, Critical Bioethics, Science and Technology Studies, and Social Science Approaches to Social and Ethical Issues In Reproductive, Stem Cell and Genetic Technologiesedit
Widely known among Indian theatre forms for its historical inclusion of female performers, the Kutiyattam theatre complex of Kerala encompasses three related performance forms – Kutiyattam, the enactment of Sanskrit drama with multiple... more
Widely known among Indian theatre forms for its historical inclusion of female performers, the Kutiyattam theatre complex of Kerala encompasses three related performance forms – Kutiyattam, the enactment of Sanskrit drama with multiple actors and actresses; Chakyar Koothu, men’s solo verbal performance; and Nangiar Koothu, women’s solo acting performance. While women were nearly erased from the Kutiyattam stage through a variety of techniques over time, the postcolonial period has seen a dramatic revival of both Nangiar Koothu and women’s roles onstage in Kutiyattam, reflecting a wider democratisation of the art in terms of both performers’ bodies and performance spaces. This article considers the contemporary performance by professional Kutiyattam actresses of both Nangiar Koothu and Kutiyattam. While the two forms belong to a single overarching performance complex, they are remarkably different in terms of women’s performance. Drawing from nearly two years of ethnographic research...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
In the United States, the recently reignited debate about inheritable genetic modification has been strongly shaped by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and the National Academy of Medicine (NAM), non-governmental organizations whose... more
In the United States, the recently reignited debate about inheritable genetic modification has been strongly shaped by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and the National Academy of Medicine (NAM), non-governmental organizations whose funding comes mostly from the federal government. In February 2017, a committee formed by NAS and NAM released a much-anticipated report, Human Genome Editing: Science, Ethics, and Governance [1]. The 310-page document, which made headlines in daily newspapers as well as scientific publications, recommended limitations on using gene editing for human reproduction, yet also concluded – in a striking departure from current widespread policy agreement, including legal prohibitions in dozens of countries as well as the Council of Europe’s Oviedo Convention – that “clinical trials using heritable germline genome editing should be permitted”. In this commentary, we briefly outline some of the main problems of the NAS/NAM report, and argue that it throws the door wide open for reproductive human gene editing, with serious implications.
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Research Interests: Engineering, Ethics, Human Genetics, Bioethics, Computational Biology, and 15 morePolitical Science, Critical Bioethics, Medicine, Genetic Engineering, Embryo, Public Engagement, Biological Sciences, Eugenics, Ethics of Human Genetic Engineeting, Designer Babies, Human Genome, Public Engagement with Science and Technology, Germline, Gene Editing, and Genome Editing
ABSTRACT In recent decades, scholars of South Asian folklore have increasingly engaged the politics of folklore, interrogating its role in a number of political agendas, but less has been written about the connection within South Asian... more
ABSTRACT In recent decades, scholars of South Asian folklore have increasingly engaged the politics of folklore, interrogating its role in a number of political agendas, but less has been written about the connection within South Asian folklore studies. This study makes a national and global intervention in the relationship between folklore and the state in South Asia. Through the lens of Kutiyattam Sanskrit theatre of Kerala state, it considers the role of expressive culture in both internal and external nation-building in postcolonial India. In so doing, the study traces state heritage discourse and practice over a 60-year period, exploring the production and reproduction of the Indian state’s role as arts patron and cultural educator, as well as a sustained state-level promotion of artistic continuity through creative adaptation and change.
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Digital folklore offers unique insight into how the wider public is grappling with complex scientific developments in the world today. This paper explores the relationship between scientific hyperbole and public skepticism of scientific... more
Digital folklore offers unique insight into how the wider public is grappling with complex scientific developments in the world today. This paper explores the relationship between scientific hyperbole and public skepticism of scientific claims in an age of fake news, in an examination of a joke cycle, #CRISPRfacts, that emerged on Twitter in response to hype about the new gene-editing tool CRISPR-Cas9.
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Research Interests:
In the spring of 2001, I came to Professor Dundes' office as an undergraduate student to discuss the folklore fieldwork I wanted to undertake while studying abroad in Ireland the following year. After waiting my tum in the usual long... more
In the spring of 2001, I came to Professor Dundes' office as an undergraduate student to discuss the folklore fieldwork I wanted to undertake while studying abroad in Ireland the following year. After waiting my tum in the usual long line of students eager to bask in his vast wisdom, I pitched my topic to him, an evaluation of contemporary Irish fairylore and belief. "No, don't do that," he immediately groaned. "You should work on the Kerryman joke. It's much more interesting, and something I've been meaning to look into for years." Following his advice, instead of interviewing Irish youth about their fairy belief the following year, I found myself engaged in joke telling sessions about the stupid Kerryman. While in intervening years my research focus has shifted farther afield to UNESCO intangible cultural heritage in India, I am pleased to revisit this topic in homage to my mentor, Alan Dundes, who inspired this project and my subsequent doctora...
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My goal within the confines of this short commentary is to outline an approach for evaluating the impact of the 2001 recognition of Kutiyattam as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH), and in the process to stress the complex,... more
My goal within the confines of this short commentary is to outline an approach for evaluating the impact of the 2001 recognition of Kutiyattam as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH), and in the process to stress the complex, multifaceted nature of such an ...
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UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) program, with its emphasis on the intergenerational transmission of expressive culture, has been characterized as part of an emergent “East Asian paradigm” of heritage at the international... more
UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) program, with its emphasis on the intergenerational transmission of expressive culture, has been characterized as part of an emergent “East Asian paradigm” of heritage at the international organization. Through an examination of the cultural dynamics of Kutiyattam Sanskrit theater in both policy and practice, this article stakes a claim for India within this global heritage paradigm shift. In so doing, it suggests the possibility of a wider “pan-Asian” heritage paradigm at work, distinguished by an emphasis on the intergenerational transmission of expressive culture as well as a recognition of its continually changing nature.
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As public interest advocates, policy experts, bioethicists, and scientists, we call for a course correction in public discussions about heritable human genome editing. Clarifying misrepresentations, centering societal consequences and... more
As public interest advocates, policy experts, bioethicists, and scientists, we call for a course correction in public discussions about heritable human genome editing. Clarifying misrepresentations, centering societal
consequences and concerns, and fostering public empowerment will support robust, global public engagement and meaningful deliberation about altering the genes of future generations.
consequences and concerns, and fostering public empowerment will support robust, global public engagement and meaningful deliberation about altering the genes of future generations.
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This Statement originated at a Workshop at the Brocher Foundation (Switzerland), co-organized by the Center for Genetics and Society (Berkeley, Cal.) and Dr. Roberto Andorno (University of Zurich) in January 2019. Written by an... more
This Statement originated at a Workshop at the Brocher Foundation (Switzerland), co-organized by the Center for Genetics and Society (Berkeley, Cal.) and Dr. Roberto Andorno (University of Zurich) in January 2019. Written by an international group of social scientists, ethicists, life scientists, policy experts, and public interest advocates, the statement calls for course correction in the public discussion of heritable human genome editing along three dimensions: clarifying several misconceptions and misrepresentations that have taken hold, draw attention to the societal consequences of human germline engineering, and foster public empowerment and deliberation around the potential uses of this technology.
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‘Mitochondrial replacement’ and ‘germline gene editing’ are relatively new techniques that represent a significant moral, technological, and legal threshold, as they would introduce permanent and heritable changes to the human gene pool.... more
‘Mitochondrial replacement’ and ‘germline gene editing’ are relatively new techniques that represent a significant moral, technological, and legal threshold, as they would introduce permanent and heritable changes to the human gene pool. This article examines the close relationship between these two technologies over time, considering what regulatory lessons can be learned from the former as attention turns to the latter. It argues that the UK’s ‘mitochondrial replacement’ approval process should not be taken as a model for the wider regulation of germline gene editing, and that policy-making needs to contend with a comprehensive picture of the social and political meaning of these technologies in the world.
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In recent decades, scholars of South Asian folklore have increasingly engaged the politics of folklore, interrogating its role in a number of political agendas, but less has been written about the connection within South Asian folklore... more
In recent decades, scholars of South Asian folklore have increasingly engaged the politics of folklore, interrogating its role in a number of political agendas, but less has been written about the connection within South Asian folklore studies. This study makes a national and global intervention in the relationship between folklore and the state in South Asia. Through the lens of Kutiyattam Sanskrit theatre of Kerala state, it considers the role of expressive culture in both internal and external nation-building in postcolonial India. In so doing, the study traces state heritage discourse and practice over a 60-year period, exploring the production and reproduction of the Indian state’s role as arts patron and cultural educator, as well as a sustained state-level promotion of artistic continuity through creative adaptation and change.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Widely known among Indian theatre forms for its historical inclusion of female performers, the Kutiyattam theatre complex of Kerala encompasses three related performance forms – Kutiyattam, the enactment of Sanskrit drama with multiple... more
Widely known among Indian theatre forms for its historical inclusion
of female performers, the Kutiyattam theatre complex of Kerala encompasses three related performance forms – Kutiyattam, the enactment of Sanskrit drama with multiple actors and actresses; Chakyar Koothu, men’s solo verbal performance; and Nangiar Koothu, women’s solo acting performance. While women were nearly erased from the Kutiyattam stage through a variety of techniques over time, the postcolonial period has seen a dramatic revival of both Nangiar Koothu and women’s roles onstage in Kutiyattam, reflecting a wider democratization of the art in terms of both performers’ bodies and performance spaces. This article considers the contemporary performance by professional Kutiyattam actresses of both Nangiar Koothu and Kutiyattam. While the two forms belong to a single overarching performance complex, they are remarkably different in terms of women’s performance. Drawing from nearly two years of ethnographic research among the Kutiyattam community in Kerala from 2008-10, it highlights the perspectives of actresses themselves. In examining whether actresses prefer performing Kutiyattam or Nangiar Koothu and why, the article explores questions of gender and creative agency in women’s contemporary Kutiyattam performance.
of female performers, the Kutiyattam theatre complex of Kerala encompasses three related performance forms – Kutiyattam, the enactment of Sanskrit drama with multiple actors and actresses; Chakyar Koothu, men’s solo verbal performance; and Nangiar Koothu, women’s solo acting performance. While women were nearly erased from the Kutiyattam stage through a variety of techniques over time, the postcolonial period has seen a dramatic revival of both Nangiar Koothu and women’s roles onstage in Kutiyattam, reflecting a wider democratization of the art in terms of both performers’ bodies and performance spaces. This article considers the contemporary performance by professional Kutiyattam actresses of both Nangiar Koothu and Kutiyattam. While the two forms belong to a single overarching performance complex, they are remarkably different in terms of women’s performance. Drawing from nearly two years of ethnographic research among the Kutiyattam community in Kerala from 2008-10, it highlights the perspectives of actresses themselves. In examining whether actresses prefer performing Kutiyattam or Nangiar Koothu and why, the article explores questions of gender and creative agency in women’s contemporary Kutiyattam performance.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Kutiyattam Sanskrit theater of Kerala state was recognized as India’s first UNESCO Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity in 2001. Looking back a decade later, how has UNESCO recognition impacted both the art and the... more
Kutiyattam Sanskrit theater of Kerala state was recognized
as India’s first UNESCO Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage
of Humanity in 2001. Looking back a decade later, how has UNESCO
recognition impacted both the art and the lives of its artists? Based upon
two years of ethnographic research from 2008–10 among Kutiyattam
artists in Kerala, India, this essay follows the art’s post-recognition trajectory through its increasing mediatization, institutionalization, and
liberalization. Drawing on extended interviews with over fifty Kutiyattam
actors, actresses, and drummers, it focuses on reclaiming the voices of
affected artists on the ground.
as India’s first UNESCO Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage
of Humanity in 2001. Looking back a decade later, how has UNESCO
recognition impacted both the art and the lives of its artists? Based upon
two years of ethnographic research from 2008–10 among Kutiyattam
artists in Kerala, India, this essay follows the art’s post-recognition trajectory through its increasing mediatization, institutionalization, and
liberalization. Drawing on extended interviews with over fifty Kutiyattam
actors, actresses, and drummers, it focuses on reclaiming the voices of
affected artists on the ground.
Research Interests:
I would really like to share this paper with interested readers and researchers, so if you don't have access to JSTOR and would like the pdf, please contact me! This article explores the emergence and swift decline of the Kerryman... more
I would really like to share this paper with interested readers and researchers, so if you don't have access to JSTOR and would like the pdf, please contact me!
This article explores the emergence and swift decline of the Kerryman joke, a late modern fool region joke told by the Irish about their fellow countrymen from Ireland’s south-westernmost county of Kerry. In so doing, it both contextualizes the joke cycle within a rapidly modernizing, late twentieth century Ireland, and examines tensions between the emic interpretations of joke tellers and the etic interpretations of scholars of stupidity jokes more generally.
This article explores the emergence and swift decline of the Kerryman joke, a late modern fool region joke told by the Irish about their fellow countrymen from Ireland’s south-westernmost county of Kerry. In so doing, it both contextualizes the joke cycle within a rapidly modernizing, late twentieth century Ireland, and examines tensions between the emic interpretations of joke tellers and the etic interpretations of scholars of stupidity jokes more generally.