Yu-Chien Huang


Yu-Chien Huang entered: 2007 yh5x@virginia.edu
Sociocultural Anthropology Regional focus: Taiwan (Formosan Austronesians), Micronesia, Yap. Topical interests: economic anthropology, kinship studies, hierarchy and equality, personhood, value, money, property. I am interested in how the 'economy' may be culturally conceptualized, specifically in exchange theory and value formation. Ethnographically, I am interested in how 'green money' has become a sign of economic value in Yap society, which is known as the 'island of stone money' since the colonial era. How did the US dollar become indigenously categorized? How are ideas of private ownership and property configured by different understandings of personhood? What is the influence of the introduction of the new nation-state on a former chiefitan society? What are the consequences of egalitarian ideals, especially once it has become institutionalized, in a hierarchical culture? MA, BA, Department of Anthropology, National Taiwan University MA Thesis: 2005 'Exchange' and 'Individualism:' A Case Study at Ivalinu, Lanyu (Orchid Island). Department of Anthropology, National Taiwan University. (In Chinese) Publication and Presentations: 2006 — Silent Competition: A Preliminary Research into The Spatial Expansion of Yami (Tao)'s Cement House. Paper presented at the conference on Tradition and Innovation: Traditional Ceremonies and Cultural Change of Lanyu (Orchid Island),Institute of Austronesian Studies, National Taitung University, Orchid Island, Taiwan, Oct 20-21. 2005 — Exchange and the Construction of Social Categories. Presented at Institute of Ethnology, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan, Oct 5. 2004 — From Production to Exchange: An Investigation of the Yami (Tao)'s Economy. Paper presented at the workshop of training local fieldworkers, Eastern Taiwan Studies Association, Orchid Island, Taiwan, Nov 13. 2002 — The Migrant Labor Force at the Uneven Regional Development: A Case Study in Wan-Jin Village, Pingtung County. Man and Culture (35, 36):146-166. (In Chinese)

entered: 2007
yh5x@virginia.edu

Sociocultural Anthropology

Regional focus: Taiwan (Formosan Austronesians), Micronesia, Yap.

Topical interests: economic anthropology, kinship studies, hierarchy and equality, personhood, value, money, property.

I am interested in how the 'economy' may be culturally conceptualized, specifically in exchange theory and value formation. Ethnographically, I am interested in how 'green money' has become a sign of economic value in Yap society, which is known as the 'island of stone money' since the colonial era. How did the US dollar become indigenously categorized? How are ideas of private ownership and property configured by different understandings of personhood? What is the influence of the introduction of the new nation-state on a former chiefitan society? What are the consequences of egalitarian ideals, especially once it has become institutionalized, in a hierarchical culture?

MA, BA, Department of Anthropology, National Taiwan University

MA Thesis: 2005 'Exchange' and 'Individualism:' A Case Study at Ivalinu, Lanyu (Orchid Island). Department of Anthropology, National Taiwan University. (In Chinese)

Publication and Presentations:

2006 — Silent Competition: A Preliminary Research into The Spatial Expansion of Yami (Tao)'s Cement House. Paper presented at the conference on Tradition and Innovation: Traditional Ceremonies and Cultural Change of Lanyu (Orchid Island),Institute of Austronesian Studies, National Taitung University, Orchid Island, Taiwan, Oct 20-21.
2005 — Exchange and the Construction of Social Categories. Presented at Institute of Ethnology, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan, Oct 5.
2004 — From Production to Exchange: An Investigation of the Yami (Tao)'s Economy. Paper presented at the workshop of training local fieldworkers, Eastern Taiwan Studies Association, Orchid Island, Taiwan, Nov 13.
2002 — The Migrant Labor Force at the Uneven Regional Development: A Case Study in Wan-Jin Village, Pingtung County. Man and Culture (35, 36):146-166. (In Chinese)