National Association for the Practice of Anthropology
AnthroCurrents–September 6, 2016
Welcome back to the academy, students and faculty! As we watch Labor Day in the rearview mirror, the northern hemisphere’s colleges and universities are all in full operation. Our “back to school special” is a list of all the subfields of, or application of, cultural “anthropology” that we found published during the month of August (without duplicating our posts on August 9th and August 23rd). We hope these provide inspiration for research papers, lecture anecdotes, and career choices. Enjoy!
Ethnography is growing as a market research tool in corporations and women in corporations find corporate anthropology to be an asset.
See interviews with an anthropology & women’s studies double major who became a midwife and a research anthropologist studying the social context of depression among women in Appalachia.
Anthropologist Wade Davis (U. of British Columbia) joins other scholars to discuss indigenous people’s rights, while Takeyuki Tsuda (Arizona State U.) examines the Japanese American ethnic experience in a new book, and an ethnography symposium hears about transnational migration and urbanization.
Ethnicity in urban America receives a full treatment from urban anthropology in Milwaukee, WI, over 15 years, producing oral histories of 60 ethnic, video documentaries, an academic treatise, and popular books. A new website on ethnic histories is directed at K-12 teachers and students. Another public anthropology project, Anthropology Alive!, focusing on the Appalachian region, opened its doors to the public for a day last June.
Around the globe, anthropologists curate a modern art exhibit, pursue film-making without borders, explore the history of dance, conduct ethnography of sport, and open an exhibit on body art and fashion across cultures.
Blogging is becoming a steady outlet for commentary and research notes by anthropologists:
- Takami Delisle (Pure Language Services, Inc.) describes her work as a medical interpreter, writes about the Coalition of Anthropology Students of Color and the pedagogy of race in anthropology.
- Elizabeth Durham (Ph.D. Candidate, Princeton U.), writes about the application of “anthropology” by non-anthropologists in response to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, wondering is it “good-enough” anthropology?
- Richard Bargielski (Ph.D. Candidate, U. of S. Florida) reflects on political populism in this election season, based on his ethnographic research of political activism in Ashtabula County, Ohio.
- Dona Davis (U. of S. Dakota), and anthropologist and twin discusses identity and twins.
- Beth Halowell (American Friends Service Committee) describes her research on media and society; specifically the way American media portrays violence and war.
- Markus Bell (U. of Sheffield) describes anthropology of tourism in Italy.
We are still wrapping up coverage of the 2016 Olympic games with an interview of Erika Larkins (U. of Oklahoma) on the success of the Olympic Games and observations on political speech and sportswear by Zareena Grewal (Yale U.).
Ryan Schacht (U. of Utah) is interviewed on social stability and gender ratios, from non-human primates to mining towns in Utah.
The relationship of humans to animals in North America receive anthropological treatment in a study of social and cultural categories as well as thoughts on locavore trends and animal ethics.
An obituary recognizes one of the mainstays of linguistic anthropology, Paul W. Friedrich, who described his work as being at the intersection of cultural theory, language, and poetics.
An issue of the journal History and Anthropology devoted to the anthropology of climate change and Eduardo S. Brondizio (Indiana U.) will co-lead UN global environmental assessment.
Digital anthropologists focus on the social and cultural impact of Tumblr in a call for papers and we also find a book review of “Ethnography for the Internet: Embedded, Embodied, and Everyday” (2015) by Christine Hine (U. of Surrey).
Forensic anthropology still rides the popularity of television crime dramas. Current stories look at holes in the heads of skeletons, the history of forensic anthropology, and how an MA forensic anthropologist landed a job in historic preservation.
And finally, back in the academy, the Chronicle of Higher Ed interviews Michael Wesch (Kansas State U.) about his participant observation among his college students, also documented at Wesch’s own website.
AnthroCurrents is a biweekly look at how the world sees anthropology. Add your comments below, or send tips and links to our Contact Us page.
