On November 6th, with the wind howling outside of Hallock Auditorium, Timothy Choy described his research and methods of approach on the politics of atmosphere, beginning in regards to the overlap and challenges of a western environmental background with relation to area studies and East Asian conceptions of the environment. He discussed the encompassing but particular nature of air and atmosphere, and his methodology in examining analyses of the sensory aspects of atmosphere, in emphasis on matsutake mushroom foraging as a nature culture overlap. Choy’s training as a natural scientist, as well as a cultural linguist, give him an ability to speak on scientific terminology almost in verse, applying later an anthropological perspective to the interdisciplinary matter of atmosphere.
For a crowd of 30 Oberlin students and faculty, Choy detailed the logistics of prized matsutake mushroom foraging and harvesting, and the olfactory senses necessary to sniff down these mushroom’s sought after scent. The cultural desire for these mushrooms creates an immense political economy to feed demand in East Asia, one that has led to scientific research on the particularly sensory qualities surrounding the mushrooms. He carefully described the process by which the smell of these mushrooms is quantified, and uses this as framing of an ultimately scientific approach to a non-western topic in considering air and atmosphere. Choy’s anthropological narrative in the discussions of atmosphere in the Hong Kong region contrast with but incorporate a scientific mindset, and his book Ecologies of Comparison: An Ethnography of Endangerment in Hong Kong, demonstrates his unique approach on anthropological study. Many of the students set to travel to Hong Kong for the LIASE winter term 2019 were present for this discussion, and have read his book for the module seminar class.
This event was sponsored by LIASE, the East Asian Studies, and Environmental Studies Departments. LIASE would also like to give special thanks to Tania Boster, for working with Timothy Choy to include these texts and narratives in the winter term module class.