Jessica Falcone | Kansas State University (original) (raw)
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Papers by Jessica Falcone
Interpreting Religion: The Meanings of Religious Belief and Practice, edited by Erin Johnston and Vikash Singh, 199-227. Bristol, UK: Bristol University Press. , 2022
Journal of the Japanese Association for Digital Humanities, 2020
This paper explores the ephemerality of digital spaces by paying special ethnographic attention t... more This paper explores the ephemerality of digital spaces by paying special ethnographic attention to removed or deleted spaces-what I call no-longer-places-from the Buddhist corners of the virtual world of Second Life. While some Buddhist informants in Second Life tended to attribute the virtual disappearances to the Buddhist truth of impermanence, the Buddhist communities of Second Life were built to endure for some time. Therefore, the instances of failed no-longer-places continue to have cultural significance in their own meaningful and haunting ways.
Critical Research on Religion, 2019
Second Life, a virtual world, has been heralded by some scholars and transhumanists as a sacred, ... more Second Life, a virtual world, has been heralded by some scholars and transhumanists as a sacred, "heavenly" space. Through detailed ethnographic work on Buddhist religious spaces in Second Life, this article argues instead that just as in actual life, virtual life is comprised of both sacred and profane spaces. By demonstrating different types of Buddhist spaces, community-practice-oriented and individual-practice-oriented, and the meaning that these spaces hold for practitioners, readers come to understand that the sacrality in Second Life is just as contingent and constructed as it is in the actual, physical world.
Buddhisms in Asia: Traditions, Transmissions, and Transformations, 2019
Revue d’Etudes Tibétaines, 2017
n this article, I will discuss the unique case of the largely nonheritage Tibetan Buddhist commun... more n this article, I will discuss the unique case of the largely nonheritage Tibetan Buddhist community, 1 the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), and their young non-heritage reincarnation, Lama Ӧsel. 2 I will discuss how FPMT and Ӧsel have both spun Geertzian webs of signification about complexities of tulkus, lineage, guru devotion, and faith that have themselves ensnared and enabled one another in turn.
Buddhism, the Internet and Digital Media: The Pixel in the Lotus, 2015
Cross-disciplinary perspectives on a contested Buddhist site: Bodh Gaya jataka, 2012
Michigan Discussions in Anthropology, 2010
Diaspora: a journal of transnational studies, 2010
After the events of9/11, Sikh Americans were victims of specific hate crimes and more generalized... more After the events of9/11, Sikh Americans were victims of specific hate crimes and more generalized discrimination and distrust. This essay draws on participant observation and interviews conducted in the immediate aftermath of9/11 with the Sikh community of the greater Washington, DC, area to examine the range of their responses to the pressures confronted by the community. It examines both the creativ ity and the anxiety surrounding the intersubjective efforts of Sikh communities to redefine together diasporic Sikh identity in the eyes of a hostile non-Sikh public; this was achieved through the actions undertaken by a joint committee of the leadership of gurdwaras and advocacy groups. Vigils, charity work (sewa), public meetings, and advertisements in support of the 9/11 victims and their families were significant not only insofar as they professed American patriot ism but also because the backstage planning for them made clear the depth of diversity and difference within the Sikh-American communities of the region. Joint action was achieved even as, in certain pockets of the Sikh-American community of Washington, DC, Khalistani American activists conflated their patriotism for America with their patriotism for Khalistan by creating a discourse in which their two "homelands" were seen as simultaneously under attack by outside terrorists (Al Qaeda and the Indian state, respectively).
Anthropology and Humanism, 2013
In this essay, I deploy anthropological theories of exchange to trace contemporary practices of t... more In this essay, I deploy anthropological theories of exchange to trace contemporary practices of theory exchange in the academy, most specifically in anthropology. I examine participation in various sites of theory exchange from classroom to conference, from citer to cited, and from writer to reader and back again. By explicitly deploying the theoretical toolkit of anthropology that we have at our disposal, we can and should simultaneously examine our own knowledge production practices with more deliberateness even as we seek to understand our subjects' varied worldviews. [academic culture, gift exchange, fame]
Ethos, 2012
Some Hindu immigrants to America-those who subscribe to Hindutva values-desire full rights and re... more Some Hindu immigrants to America-those who subscribe to Hindutva values-desire full rights and recognition in their adopted homeland even as they simultaneously demand that so-called "migrants" to India (that is, Muslims and Christians whose communities have flourished in India for hundreds of years) acquiesce to their vision of India as a "Hindu state." In an American racial landscape that structurally privileges whites, I argue that the cultural categorization of Hindu immigrants into a "lesser-than-whites" minority has only served to fuel the growth of Hindu supremacist groups in the United States. In this article, I draw on fieldwork with two Hindu American summer camps in order to show that some Hindu immigrants misrecognize and repress their own current alienation in a manner that has subsequently aggravated latent antipathies towards Muslim and Christian communities in India.
Journal of Asian American Studies, 2013
Books by Jessica Falcone
Writing Anthropology: Essays on Craft and Commitment, 2020
In Writing Anthropology, fifty-two anthropologists reflect on scholarly writing as both craft and... more In Writing Anthropology, fifty-two anthropologists reflect on scholarly writing as both craft and commitment. These short essays cover a wide range of territory, from ethnography, genre, and the politics of writing to affect, storytelling, authorship, and scholarly responsibility. Anthropological writing is more than just communicating findings: anthropologists write to tell stories that matter, to be accountable to the communities in which they do their research, and to share new insights about the world in ways that might change it for the better. The contributors offer insights into the beauty and the function of language and the joys and pains of writing while giving encouragement to stay at it—to keep writing as the most important way to not only improve one’s writing but to also honor the stories and lessons learned through research. Throughout, they share new thoughts, prompts, and agitations for writing that will stimulate conversations that cut across the humanities.
Interpreting Religion: The Meanings of Religious Belief and Practice, edited by Erin Johnston and Vikash Singh, 199-227. Bristol, UK: Bristol University Press. , 2022
Journal of the Japanese Association for Digital Humanities, 2020
This paper explores the ephemerality of digital spaces by paying special ethnographic attention t... more This paper explores the ephemerality of digital spaces by paying special ethnographic attention to removed or deleted spaces-what I call no-longer-places-from the Buddhist corners of the virtual world of Second Life. While some Buddhist informants in Second Life tended to attribute the virtual disappearances to the Buddhist truth of impermanence, the Buddhist communities of Second Life were built to endure for some time. Therefore, the instances of failed no-longer-places continue to have cultural significance in their own meaningful and haunting ways.
Critical Research on Religion, 2019
Second Life, a virtual world, has been heralded by some scholars and transhumanists as a sacred, ... more Second Life, a virtual world, has been heralded by some scholars and transhumanists as a sacred, "heavenly" space. Through detailed ethnographic work on Buddhist religious spaces in Second Life, this article argues instead that just as in actual life, virtual life is comprised of both sacred and profane spaces. By demonstrating different types of Buddhist spaces, community-practice-oriented and individual-practice-oriented, and the meaning that these spaces hold for practitioners, readers come to understand that the sacrality in Second Life is just as contingent and constructed as it is in the actual, physical world.
Buddhisms in Asia: Traditions, Transmissions, and Transformations, 2019
Revue d’Etudes Tibétaines, 2017
n this article, I will discuss the unique case of the largely nonheritage Tibetan Buddhist commun... more n this article, I will discuss the unique case of the largely nonheritage Tibetan Buddhist community, 1 the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), and their young non-heritage reincarnation, Lama Ӧsel. 2 I will discuss how FPMT and Ӧsel have both spun Geertzian webs of signification about complexities of tulkus, lineage, guru devotion, and faith that have themselves ensnared and enabled one another in turn.
Buddhism, the Internet and Digital Media: The Pixel in the Lotus, 2015
Cross-disciplinary perspectives on a contested Buddhist site: Bodh Gaya jataka, 2012
Michigan Discussions in Anthropology, 2010
Diaspora: a journal of transnational studies, 2010
After the events of9/11, Sikh Americans were victims of specific hate crimes and more generalized... more After the events of9/11, Sikh Americans were victims of specific hate crimes and more generalized discrimination and distrust. This essay draws on participant observation and interviews conducted in the immediate aftermath of9/11 with the Sikh community of the greater Washington, DC, area to examine the range of their responses to the pressures confronted by the community. It examines both the creativ ity and the anxiety surrounding the intersubjective efforts of Sikh communities to redefine together diasporic Sikh identity in the eyes of a hostile non-Sikh public; this was achieved through the actions undertaken by a joint committee of the leadership of gurdwaras and advocacy groups. Vigils, charity work (sewa), public meetings, and advertisements in support of the 9/11 victims and their families were significant not only insofar as they professed American patriot ism but also because the backstage planning for them made clear the depth of diversity and difference within the Sikh-American communities of the region. Joint action was achieved even as, in certain pockets of the Sikh-American community of Washington, DC, Khalistani American activists conflated their patriotism for America with their patriotism for Khalistan by creating a discourse in which their two "homelands" were seen as simultaneously under attack by outside terrorists (Al Qaeda and the Indian state, respectively).
Anthropology and Humanism, 2013
In this essay, I deploy anthropological theories of exchange to trace contemporary practices of t... more In this essay, I deploy anthropological theories of exchange to trace contemporary practices of theory exchange in the academy, most specifically in anthropology. I examine participation in various sites of theory exchange from classroom to conference, from citer to cited, and from writer to reader and back again. By explicitly deploying the theoretical toolkit of anthropology that we have at our disposal, we can and should simultaneously examine our own knowledge production practices with more deliberateness even as we seek to understand our subjects' varied worldviews. [academic culture, gift exchange, fame]
Ethos, 2012
Some Hindu immigrants to America-those who subscribe to Hindutva values-desire full rights and re... more Some Hindu immigrants to America-those who subscribe to Hindutva values-desire full rights and recognition in their adopted homeland even as they simultaneously demand that so-called "migrants" to India (that is, Muslims and Christians whose communities have flourished in India for hundreds of years) acquiesce to their vision of India as a "Hindu state." In an American racial landscape that structurally privileges whites, I argue that the cultural categorization of Hindu immigrants into a "lesser-than-whites" minority has only served to fuel the growth of Hindu supremacist groups in the United States. In this article, I draw on fieldwork with two Hindu American summer camps in order to show that some Hindu immigrants misrecognize and repress their own current alienation in a manner that has subsequently aggravated latent antipathies towards Muslim and Christian communities in India.
Journal of Asian American Studies, 2013
Writing Anthropology: Essays on Craft and Commitment, 2020
In Writing Anthropology, fifty-two anthropologists reflect on scholarly writing as both craft and... more In Writing Anthropology, fifty-two anthropologists reflect on scholarly writing as both craft and commitment. These short essays cover a wide range of territory, from ethnography, genre, and the politics of writing to affect, storytelling, authorship, and scholarly responsibility. Anthropological writing is more than just communicating findings: anthropologists write to tell stories that matter, to be accountable to the communities in which they do their research, and to share new insights about the world in ways that might change it for the better. The contributors offer insights into the beauty and the function of language and the joys and pains of writing while giving encouragement to stay at it—to keep writing as the most important way to not only improve one’s writing but to also honor the stories and lessons learned through research. Throughout, they share new thoughts, prompts, and agitations for writing that will stimulate conversations that cut across the humanities.