Angela Pashia


Angela Pashia Entered 2005 apashia@virginia.edu
Sociocultural Anthropology Regional interests: Borneo. Topical interests: Religion, globalization, social and religious change. As an undergraduate, I researched religious skepticism, looking at the social factors that may influence whether a person claims belief in one setting and disbelief (of the same omen, ritual, etc.) in another setting. The central focus in this was an account from the Iban of Borneo, in which a shaman visited a longhouse community and divided it between those who supported his rituals and those who adamantly and publicly proclaimed him a fraud. I plan to work with the Iban. My focus will be the effects of social change on indigenous religious practice. I am leaning toward examining the effects of wage labor migration. While men have traditionally gone on prestige-seeking journeys, the duration of their trips has extended to last several - occasionally 10 or more - years. What impact does this have on the religious practice of those left behind in the longhouse? And what impact does this have on the wage-laborer's religious preference - does he continue traditional rituals or is he more likely to convert to Christianity? As Malaysia seeks to tighten its hard-to-patrol borders in an effort to limit illegal migrant workers, what effects will this have on the Iban living near the Indonesia-Malaysia border and on shamans who may regularly travel to longhouses on either side of the border? At this point, I have more question than answers. Publications 2006. Religious Skepticism and its Social Context: An Analysis of Iban Shamanism. Anthropological Forum 16(1): 41-54. (with R.L. Wadley and C.T. Palmer).

Entered 2005
apashia@virginia.edu

Sociocultural Anthropology

Regional interests: Borneo.

Topical interests: Religion, globalization, social and religious change.

As an undergraduate, I researched religious skepticism, looking at the social factors that may influence whether a person claims belief in one setting and disbelief (of the same omen, ritual, etc.) in another setting. The central focus in this was an account from the Iban of Borneo, in which a shaman visited a longhouse community and divided it between those who supported his rituals and those who adamantly and publicly proclaimed him a fraud.

I plan to work with the Iban. My focus will be the effects of social change on indigenous religious practice. I am leaning toward examining the effects of wage labor migration. While men have traditionally gone on prestige-seeking journeys, the duration of their trips has extended to last several - occasionally 10 or more - years. What impact does this have on the religious practice of those left behind in the longhouse? And what impact does this have on the wage-laborer's religious preference - does he continue traditional rituals or is he more likely to convert to Christianity? As Malaysia seeks to tighten its hard-to-patrol borders in an effort to limit illegal migrant workers, what effects will this have on the Iban living near the Indonesia-Malaysia border and on shamans who may regularly travel to longhouses on either side of the border?

At this point, I have more question than answers.

Publications

2006. Religious Skepticism and its Social Context: An Analysis of Iban Shamanism. Anthropological Forum 16(1): 41-54. (with R.L. Wadley and C.T. Palmer).