✷ EVENTS ✷ GATHERINGS ✷ CONVERSATIONS
✷ EVENTS ✷ GATHERINGS ✷ CONVERSATIONS
Ethnographic Filmmaking (Enrolled Students Only) SESSION 8
What does it mean to document lives in the neighborhoods and communities around us? Since the earliest days of anthropology, filmmakers and ethnographers have reached for the camera as a tool of witness and of visual POWER. How do we inherit that history, and how do we work against it?
Students will engage the methodological and theoretical implications of capturing data and crafting social scientific accounts/narratives in images and sounds. Students will also put this theory into practice by conducting ethnographic research and producing an ethnographic film as their final project.
SEEINGS IS BELIEVING (ENROLLED STUDENTS ONLY) SESSION 8
What does it mean to document lives in the neighborhoods and communities around us? Since the earliest days of anthropology, filmmakers and ethnographers have reached for the camera as a tool of witness and of visual POWER. How do we inherit that history, and how do we work against it?
Students will engage the methodological and theoretical implications of capturing data and crafting social scientific accounts/narratives in images and sounds. Students will also put this theory into practice by conducting ethnographic research and producing an ethnographic film as their final project.
Charting Oceanic Connections
To kick off our year of Pan-Solidarities, we invite you to “Charting Oceanic Connections” where CEE Director Deborah Thomas and CASI Director Nikhil Anand will think tidalectically about the material technologies of empire, the repetition of the fantasies these technologies enable, and the waves of extraction and abandoment that follow in their wake.
How do situated arrangements connect with broader geo-historic movements? How are our senses of self and place both sedimented and unsettled?
Ethnographic Filmmaking (Enrolled Students Only) SESSION 9
What does it mean to document lives in the neighborhoods and communities around us? Since the earliest days of anthropology, filmmakers and ethnographers have reached for the camera as a tool of witness and of visual POWER. How do we inherit that history, and how do we work against it?
Students will engage the methodological and theoretical implications of capturing data and crafting social scientific accounts/narratives in images and sounds. Students will also put this theory into practice by conducting ethnographic research and producing an ethnographic film as their final project.
SEEINGS IS BELIEVING (ENROLLED STUDENTS ONLY) SESSION 9
What does it mean to document lives in the neighborhoods and communities around us? Since the earliest days of anthropology, filmmakers and ethnographers have reached for the camera as a tool of witness and of visual POWER. How do we inherit that history, and how do we work against it?
Students will engage the methodological and theoretical implications of capturing data and crafting social scientific accounts/narratives in images and sounds. Students will also put this theory into practice by conducting ethnographic research and producing an ethnographic film as their final project.
Rethinking Our Political Inheritances
Join us at Public Trust for Rethinking our Political Inheritances, a conversation on Wednesday, October 21, 2026 from 5-6:30pm about listening at the edges of history and the political resonances of non-alignment. This event will feature filmmaker Mila Turajlić and scholar Kristen Ghodsee in conversation, and has been organized in conjunction with A General Assembly, an archival installation on display at Public Trust though December 1, 2026. Presented in partnership with the Center for Experimental Ethnography, the Center for Advanced Research in Global Communication, and the Department of Russian and East European Studies at the University of Pennsylvania.
Ethnographic Filmmaking (Enrolled Students Only) SESSION 10
What does it mean to document lives in the neighborhoods and communities around us? Since the earliest days of anthropology, filmmakers and ethnographers have reached for the camera as a tool of witness and of visual POWER. How do we inherit that history, and how do we work against it?
Students will engage the methodological and theoretical implications of capturing data and crafting social scientific accounts/narratives in images and sounds. Students will also put this theory into practice by conducting ethnographic research and producing an ethnographic film as their final project.
SEEINGS IS BELIEVING (ENROLLED STUDENTS ONLY) SESSION 10
What does it mean to document lives in the neighborhoods and communities around us? Since the earliest days of anthropology, filmmakers and ethnographers have reached for the camera as a tool of witness and of visual POWER. How do we inherit that history, and how do we work against it?
Students will engage the methodological and theoretical implications of capturing data and crafting social scientific accounts/narratives in images and sounds. Students will also put this theory into practice by conducting ethnographic research and producing an ethnographic film as their final project.
Ethnographic Filmmaking (Enrolled Students Only) SESSION 11
What does it mean to document lives in the neighborhoods and communities around us? Since the earliest days of anthropology, filmmakers and ethnographers have reached for the camera as a tool of witness and of visual POWER. How do we inherit that history, and how do we work against it?
Students will engage the methodological and theoretical implications of capturing data and crafting social scientific accounts/narratives in images and sounds. Students will also put this theory into practice by conducting ethnographic research and producing an ethnographic film as their final project.
SEEINGS IS BELIEVING (ENROLLED STUDENTS ONLY) SESSION 11
What does it mean to document lives in the neighborhoods and communities around us? Since the earliest days of anthropology, filmmakers and ethnographers have reached for the camera as a tool of witness and of visual POWER. How do we inherit that history, and how do we work against it?
Students will engage the methodological and theoretical implications of capturing data and crafting social scientific accounts/narratives in images and sounds. Students will also put this theory into practice by conducting ethnographic research and producing an ethnographic film as their final project.
Pan-Africanisms & Exile
In November, the CEE presents Pan-Africanisms and Exile, a film screening, performance reading, and conversation on Thursday, November 5, 2026 from 6:30–9:00pm exploring the cinema of a pioneering avant-garde Sudanese poet, painter, and filmmaker Hussein Shariffe and unexplored questions of exile and displacement in the African continent and its diaspora. The program opens with The Dislocation of Amber (1975), introduced by Shariffe's daughter, Eiman Shariffe, followed by a performance reading by Umniya Najaer and a conversation between Nisrin Elamin, Umniya Najaer, and project curator Mai Eltahir, moderated by Hakimah Abdul-Fattah.
Presented in partnership with the Public Trust, the Center for Africana Studies and the Department of Cinema and Media Studies.
Ethnographic Filmmaking (Enrolled Students Only) SESSION 12
What does it mean to document lives in the neighborhoods and communities around us? Since the earliest days of anthropology, filmmakers and ethnographers have reached for the camera as a tool of witness and of visual POWER. How do we inherit that history, and how do we work against it?
Students will engage the methodological and theoretical implications of capturing data and crafting social scientific accounts/narratives in images and sounds. Students will also put this theory into practice by conducting ethnographic research and producing an ethnographic film as their final project.
SEEINGS IS BELIEVING (ENROLLED STUDENTS ONLY) SESSION 12
What does it mean to document lives in the neighborhoods and communities around us? Since the earliest days of anthropology, filmmakers and ethnographers have reached for the camera as a tool of witness and of visual POWER. How do we inherit that history, and how do we work against it?
Students will engage the methodological and theoretical implications of capturing data and crafting social scientific accounts/narratives in images and sounds. Students will also put this theory into practice by conducting ethnographic research and producing an ethnographic film as their final project.
Ethnographic Filmmaking (Enrolled Students Only) SESSION 13
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO DOCUMENT LIVES IN THE NEIGHBORHOODS AND COMMUNITIES AROUND US? SINCE THE EARLIEST DAYS OF ANTHROPOLOGY, FILMMAKERS AND ETHNOGRAPHERS HAVE REACHED FOR THE CAMERA AS A TOOL OF WITNESS AND ALSO VISUAL POWER. HOW DO WE INHERIT THAT HISTORY, AND HOW DO WE WORK AGAINST IT?
STUDENTS WILL ENGAGE THE METHODOLOGICAL AND THEORETICAL IMPLICATIONS OF CAPTURING DATA AND CRAFTING SOCIAL SCIENTIFIC ACCOUNTS/NARRATIVES IN IMAGES AND SOUNDS. STUDENTS WILL ALSO PUT THIS THEORY INTO PRACTICE BY CONDUCTING ETHNOGRAPHIC RESEARCH AND PRODUCING AN ETHNOGRAPHIC FILM AS THEIR FINAL PROJECT.
SEEINGS IS BELIEVING (ENROLLED STUDENTS ONLY) SESSION 13
What does it mean to document lives in the neighborhoods and communities around us? Since the earliest days of anthropology, filmmakers and ethnographers have reached for the camera as a tool of witness and of visual POWER. How do we inherit that history, and how do we work against it?
Students will engage the methodological and theoretical implications of capturing data and crafting social scientific accounts/narratives in images and sounds. Students will also put this theory into practice by conducting ethnographic research and producing an ethnographic film as their final project.
Ethnographic Filmmaking (Enrolled Students Only) SESSION 14
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO DOCUMENT LIVES IN THE NEIGHBORHOODS AND COMMUNITIES AROUND US? SINCE THE EARLIEST DAYS OF ANTHROPOLOGY, FILMMAKERS AND ETHNOGRAPHERS HAVE REACHED FOR THE CAMERA AS A TOOL OF WITNESS AND ALSO VISUAL POWER. HOW DO WE INHERIT THAT HISTORY, AND HOW DO WE WORK AGAINST IT?
STUDENTS WILL ENGAGE THE METHODOLOGICAL AND THEORETICAL IMPLICATIONS OF CAPTURING DATA AND CRAFTING SOCIAL SCIENTIFIC ACCOUNTS/NARRATIVES IN IMAGES AND SOUNDS. STUDENTS WILL ALSO PUT THIS THEORY INTO PRACTICE BY CONDUCTING ETHNOGRAPHIC RESEARCH AND PRODUCING AN ETHNOGRAPHIC FILM AS THEIR FINAL PROJECT.
SEEINGS IS BELIEVING (ENROLLED STUDENTS ONLY) SESSION 14
What does it mean to document lives in the neighborhoods and communities around us? Since the earliest days of anthropology, filmmakers and ethnographers have reached for the camera as a tool of witness and of visual POWER. How do we inherit that history, and how do we work against it?
Students will engage the methodological and theoretical implications of capturing data and crafting social scientific accounts/narratives in images and sounds. Students will also put this theory into practice by conducting ethnographic research and producing an ethnographic film as their final project.
Ethnographic Filmmaking (Enrolled Students Only) SESSION 14 (Copy)
What does it mean to document lives in the neighborhoods and communities around us? Since the earliest days of anthropology, filmmakers and ethnographers have reached for the camera as a tool of witness and of visual POWER. How do we inherit that history, and how do we work against it?
Students will engage the methodological and theoretical implications of capturing data and crafting social scientific accounts/narratives in images and sounds. Students will also put this theory into practice by conducting ethnographic research and producing an ethnographic film as their final project.
SEEINGS IS BELIEVING (ENROLLED STUDENTS ONLY) SESSION 15
What does it mean to document lives in the neighborhoods and communities around us? Since the earliest days of anthropology, filmmakers and ethnographers have reached for the camera as a tool of witness and of visual POWER. How do we inherit that history, and how do we work against it?
Students will engage the methodological and theoretical implications of capturing data and crafting social scientific accounts/narratives in images and sounds. Students will also put this theory into practice by conducting ethnographic research and producing an ethnographic film as their final project.
SEEINGS IS BELIEVING (ENROLLED STUDENTS ONLY) SESSION 7
What does it mean to document lives in the neighborhoods and communities around us? Since the earliest days of anthropology, filmmakers and ethnographers have reached for the camera as a tool of witness and of visual POWER. How do we inherit that history, and how do we work against it?
Students will engage the methodological and theoretical implications of capturing data and crafting social scientific accounts/narratives in images and sounds. Students will also put this theory into practice by conducting ethnographic research and producing an ethnographic film as their final project.
Ethnographic Filmmaking (Enrolled Students Only) SESSION 7
What does it mean to document lives in the neighborhoods and communities around us? Since the earliest days of anthropology, filmmakers and ethnographers have reached for the camera as a tool of witness and of visual POWER. How do we inherit that history, and how do we work against it?
Students will engage the methodological and theoretical implications of capturing data and crafting social scientific accounts/narratives in images and sounds. Students will also put this theory into practice by conducting ethnographic research and producing an ethnographic film as their final project.
CAMRA 2026 Open House
CAMRA is a space for students interested in integrating multimodality into their research and creative practice—from film, dance, and music to performance, sound, and experimental media. It’s also a great way to connect with Penn’s broader creative community. Please complete this registration form by Thursday, Oct 1st, if you plan to attend.
Food & drinks will be provided. Come ready to connect and to brainstorm!
SEEINGS IS BELIEVING (ENROLLED STUDENTS ONLY) SESSION 6
What does it mean to document lives in the neighborhoods and communities around us? Since the earliest days of anthropology, filmmakers and ethnographers have reached for the camera as a tool of witness and of visual POWER. How do we inherit that history, and how do we work against it?
Students will engage the methodological and theoretical implications of capturing data and crafting social scientific accounts/narratives in images and sounds. Students will also put this theory into practice by conducting ethnographic research and producing an ethnographic film as their final project.
Ethnographic Filmmaking (Enrolled Students Only) SESSION 6
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO DOCUMENT LIVES IN THE NEIGHBORHOODS AND COMMUNITIES AROUND US? SINCE THE EARLIEST DAYS OF ANTHROPOLOGY, FILMMAKERS AND ETHNOGRAPHERS HAVE REACHED FOR THE CAMERA AS A TOOL OF WITNESS AND ALSO VISUAL POWER. HOW DO WE INHERIT THAT HISTORY, AND HOW DO WE WORK AGAINST IT?
STUDENTS WILL ENGAGE THE METHODOLOGICAL AND THEORETICAL IMPLICATIONS OF CAPTURING DATA AND CRAFTING SOCIAL SCIENTIFIC ACCOUNTS/NARRATIVES IN IMAGES AND SOUNDS. STUDENTS WILL ALSO PUT THIS THEORY INTO PRACTICE BY CONDUCTING ETHNOGRAPHIC RESEARCH AND PRODUCING AN ETHNOGRAPHIC FILM AS THEIR FINAL PROJECT.
Experimental Ethnography Workshop SESSION 5
Join us at our capacious weekly gathering at the CEE Lab where we connect with one another, present our projects, build community, and think through works. Low key but high skill ;)
The Legend of the Vagabond Queen of Lagos Film Screening
A co-sponsored screening with the Center for Africana Studies, Lauder Institute and Institute for Urban Research, The Legend of the Vagabond Queen of Lagos tells the story of a young mother from a waterfront slum in Lagos. This film is part of the Lauder Institute’s African Narratives series. Light refreshments and post-film discussion Q&A after the screening!
SEEINGS IS BELIEVING (ENROLLED STUDENTS ONLY) SESSION 5
What does it mean to document lives in the neighborhoods and communities around us? Since the earliest days of anthropology, filmmakers and ethnographers have reached for the camera as a tool of witness and of visual POWER. How do we inherit that history, and how do we work against it?
Students will engage the methodological and theoretical implications of capturing data and crafting social scientific accounts/narratives in images and sounds. Students will also put this theory into practice by conducting ethnographic research and producing an ethnographic film as their final project.
Ethnographic Filmmaking (Enrolled Students Only) SESSION 5
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO DOCUMENT LIVES IN THE NEIGHBORHOODS AND COMMUNITIES AROUND US? SINCE THE EARLIEST DAYS OF ANTHROPOLOGY, FILMMAKERS AND ETHNOGRAPHERS HAVE REACHED FOR THE CAMERA AS A TOOL OF WITNESS AND ALSO VISUAL POWER. HOW DO WE INHERIT THAT HISTORY, AND HOW DO WE WORK AGAINST IT?
STUDENTS WILL ENGAGE THE METHODOLOGICAL AND THEORETICAL IMPLICATIONS OF CAPTURING DATA AND CRAFTING SOCIAL SCIENTIFIC ACCOUNTS/NARRATIVES IN IMAGES AND SOUNDS. STUDENTS WILL ALSO PUT THIS THEORY INTO PRACTICE BY CONDUCTING ETHNOGRAPHIC RESEARCH AND PRODUCING AN ETHNOGRAPHIC FILM AS THEIR FINAL PROJECT.
Experimental Ethnography Workshop SESSION 4
Join us at our capacious weekly gathering where we connect with one another, present our projects, build community, and think through works. Low key but high skill ;)
SEEINGS IS BELIEVING (ENROLLED STUDENTS ONLY) SESSION 4
What does it mean to document lives in the neighborhoods and communities around us? Since the earliest days of anthropology, filmmakers and ethnographers have reached for the camera as a tool of witness and of visual POWER. How do we inherit that history, and how do we work against it?
Students will engage the methodological and theoretical implications of capturing data and crafting social scientific accounts/narratives in images and sounds. Students will also put this theory into practice by conducting ethnographic research and producing an ethnographic film as their final project.
Ethnographic Filmmaking (Enrolled Students Only) SESSION 4
What does it mean to document lives in the neighborhoods and communities around us? Since the earliest days of anthropology, filmmakers and ethnographers have reached for the camera as a tool of witness and of visual POWER. How do we inherit that history, and how do we work against it?
Students will engage the methodological and theoretical implications of capturing data and crafting social scientific accounts/narratives in images and sounds. Students will also put this theory into practice by conducting ethnographic research and producing an ethnographic film as their final project.
Experimental Ethnography Workshop SESSION 3
Join us at our capacious weekly gathering where we connect with one another, present our projects, build community, and think through works. Low key but high skill ;)
Student Mixer
The Center for Experimental Ethnography and CAMRA invites students, faculty, and scholars to our Arts & Experimentation Open House on Wednesday, September 9th, from 6:00-7:30 PM at the Platt Performing Arts House lobby. Come hang out, meet new people, reconnect with friends and enjoy some samosas and chaat!
SEEINGS IS BELIEVING (ENROLLED STUDENTS ONLY) SESSION 3
What does it mean to document lives in the neighborhoods and communities around us? Since the earliest days of anthropology, filmmakers and ethnographers have reached for the camera as a tool of witness and of visual POWER. How do we inherit that history, and how do we work against it?
Students will engage the methodological and theoretical implications of capturing data and crafting social scientific accounts/narratives in images and sounds. Students will also put this theory into practice by conducting ethnographic research and producing an ethnographic film as their final project.
Ethnographic Filmmaking (Enrolled Students Only) SESSIOn 3
What does it mean to document lives in the neighborhoods and communities around us? Since the earliest days of anthropology, filmmakers and ethnographers have reached for the camera as a tool of witness and of visual POWER. How do we inherit that history, and how do we work against it?
Students will engage the methodological and theoretical implications of capturing data and crafting social scientific accounts/narratives in images and sounds. Students will also put this theory into practice by conducting ethnographic research and producing an ethnographic film as their final project.
Experimental Ethnography Workshop SESSION 2
Join us at our capacious weekly gathering where we connect with one another, present our projects, build community, and think through works. Low key but high skill ;)
SEEINGS IS BELIEVING (ENROLLED STUDENTS ONLY) SESSION 2
What does it mean to document lives in the neighborhoods and communities around us? Since the earliest days of anthropology, filmmakers and ethnographers have reached for the camera as a tool of witness and of visual POWER. How do we inherit that history, and how do we work against it?
Students will engage the methodological and theoretical implications of capturing data and crafting social scientific accounts/narratives in images and sounds. Students will also put this theory into practice by conducting ethnographic research and producing an ethnographic film as their final project.
Ethnographic Filmmaking (Enrolled Students Only) SESSION 2
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO DOCUMENT LIVES IN THE NEIGHBORHOODS AND COMMUNITIES AROUND US? SINCE THE EARLIEST DAYS OF ANTHROPOLOGY, FILMMAKERS AND ETHNOGRAPHERS HAVE REACHED FOR THE CAMERA AS A TOOL OF WITNESS AND ALSO VISUAL POWER. HOW DO WE INHERIT THAT HISTORY, AND HOW DO WE WORK AGAINST IT?
STUDENTS WILL ENGAGE THE METHODOLOGICAL AND THEORETICAL IMPLICATIONS OF CAPTURING DATA AND CRAFTING SOCIAL SCIENTIFIC ACCOUNTS/NARRATIVES IN IMAGES AND SOUNDS. STUDENTS WILL ALSO PUT THIS THEORY INTO PRACTICE BY CONDUCTING ETHNOGRAPHIC RESEARCH AND PRODUCING AN ETHNOGRAPHIC FILM AS THEIR FINAL PROJECT.
Anthropology Welcome Back Party
The Anthropology Department invites students, faculty, and friends to a Welcome Back party on Monday, August 31st!
Experimental Ethnography Workshop
Join us at our capacious weekly gathering where we connect with one another, present our projects, build community, and think through works. Low key but high skill ;)
SEEINGS IS BELIEVING (ENROLLED STUDENTS ONLY) SESSION 1
What does it mean to document lives in the neighborhoods and communities around us? Since the earliest days of anthropology, filmmakers and ethnographers have reached for the camera as a tool of witness and of visual POWER. How do we inherit that history, and how do we work against it?
Students will engage the methodological and theoretical implications of capturing data and crafting social scientific accounts/narratives in images and sounds. Students will also put this theory into practice by conducting ethnographic research and producing an ethnographic film as their final project.
Ethnographic Filmmaking (Enrolled Students Only) Session 1
What does it mean to document lives in the neighborhoods and communities around us? Since the earliest days of anthropology, filmmakers and ethnographers have reached for the camera as a tool of witness and of visual POWER. How do we inherit that history, and how do we work against it?
Students will engage the methodological and theoretical implications of capturing data and crafting social scientific accounts/narratives in images and sounds. Students will also put this theory into practice by conducting ethnographic research and producing an ethnographic film as their final project.
Imagining Publics (ii): Five Shorts made with philly communities
Screening of five rough cuts of films made in community with Philadelphia organizations, thinkers, and creatives. This public screening and conversation brings the films to Natural Creativity, the subject of one of the films. Conversation to follow with the organizations and film teams that made it possible.
Interventions in Circulations
Students from Professor Angelantonio Grossi’s ANTH 3673/6673 are exhibit their final works Tuesday, May 5th. Engaging with histories and enacting interventions across the Americas, Asia, Africa, and the Pacific, the pieces draw on archival materials, image repositories, and ethnographic reservoirs. The works on display experiment with a range of expressive forms and mixed-media approaches, including sculpture, video art, photography, painting, and video game art.
Imagining Publics (i): Five Shorts Made with Philly Communities
Join CEE for a free, public screening of five ethnographic films made in community with Philadelphia organizations, icons, and social justice workers in Philadelphia. This first of two screenings is at the Joseph E. Coleman Library and presented in partnership with the Free Library.
Torn Apart Ethnographic Installation
A collaborative art installation calling on the public to donate a stuffed animal to help visually represent children separated from their family due to U.S. Immigration enforcement.
Philadelphia Art History Wiki-pedia Edit-a-thon with Daniel Tucker
A crash course in creating new entries and updating existing articles on Wikipedia, focused on Philadelphia’s local art history and using the research resources of the Central Library. Involves filingl in gaps in the online encyclopedia relating to Philadelphia’s rich visual arts activity. Organized by Sawyer Taylor-Arnold, Daniel Tucker, and Gustavo Valenzuela; supported by CEE, Penn Press, and the Art Department of the Free Library of Philadelphia.
What Does it Mean to Live Exorbitantly?
An event centering on Deborah Thomas’s new book, Exorbitance: A Speculative Ethnography of Inheritance.