I am sure that many on this list have been influenced by Clifford Geertz and would wish to know about the passing of this amazing scholar. He will be missed by many, I am certain.
From the Institute for Advanced Study: http://www.ias.edu/Newsroom/announcements/Uploads/view.php?cmd=view&id=354
PRINCETON, N.J., October 31, 2006 -- Clifford Geertz, an eminent scholar in the field of cultural anthropology known for his extensive research in Indonesia and Morocco, died at the age of 80 early yesterday morning of complications following heart surgery at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Geertz was Professor Emeritus in the School of Social Science at the Institute for Advanced Study, where he has served on the Faculty since 1970. Dr. Geertz's appointment thirty-six years ago was significant not only for the distinguished leadership it would bring to the Institute, but also because it marked the initiation of the School of Social Science, which in 1973 formally became the fourth School at the Institute. Dr. Geertz's landmark contributions to social and cultural theory have been influential not only among anthropologists, but also among geographers, ecologists, political scientists, humanists, and historians. He worked on religion, especially Islam; on bazaar trade; on economic development; on traditional political structures; and on village and family life. A prolific author since the 1950s, Dr. Geertz's many books include *The Religion of Java* (1960); *Islam Observed: Religious Development in Morocco and Indonesia* (1968); *The Interpretation of Cultures: Selected Essays* (1973, 2000); *Negara: The Theatre State in Nineteenth Century Bali* (1980); and *The Politics of Culture, Asian Identities in a Splintered World *(2002). At the time of his death, Dr. Geertz was working on the general question of ethnic diversity and its implications in the modern world. Peter Goddard, Director of the Institute, said, "Clifford Geertz was one of the major intellectual figures of the twentieth century whose presence at the Institute played a crucial role in its development and in determining its present shape. He remained a vital force, contributing to the life of the Institute right up to his death. We have all lost a much loved friend." Dr. Geertz's deeply reflective and eloquent writings often provided profound and cogent insights on the scope of culture, the nature of anthropology and on the understanding of the social sciences in general. Noting that human beings are "symbolizing, conceptualizing, meaning-seeking animals," Geertz acknowledged and explored the innate desire of humanity to "make sense out of experience, to give it form and order." In *Works and Lives: The Anthropologist as Author* (1988), Geertz stated, "The next necessary thing...is neither the construction of a universal Esperanto-like culture...nor the invention of some vast technology of human management. It is to enlarge the possibility of intelligible discourse between people quite different from one another in interest, outlook, wealth, and power, and yet contained in a world where tumbled as they are into endless connection, it is increasingly difficult to get out of each other's way." Dr. Geertz is survived by his wife, Dr. Karen Blu, an anthropologist retired from the Department of Anthropology at New York University; his children, Erika Reading of Princeton, NJ, and Benjamin Geertz of Kirkland, WA; and his grandchildren, Andrea and Elena Martinez of Princeton, NJ. He is also survived by his former wife, Dr. Hildred Geertz, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Anthropology at Princeton University. A Memorial will be held at the Institute for Advanced Study. Details will be announced at a future date. -- Florence Chee PhD Candidate School of Communication, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada Bloggings and bio @ Constructing Amusement: http://florencechee.blogspot.com