AnthroCurrents–December 13, 2016

Normalizing “ethnography” as a business tool
See passing mentions of ethnography as a business tool in The Memphis Daily News, American Society of Mechanical Engineers Proceedings (2016), Crain’s Detroit Business, and a comparison of journalism and “anthropology” from The Nieman Lab.

AI, Technology, and Humans
Forbes summarizes Rebecca Gibson’s (American U.) recent article in Sexuality & Culture, using an anthropological lens on portrayals of human/robot sexuality in science fiction to track our culture’s changing views of AI.

Meanwhile, The Guardian interviews an Intel Corporation “staff anthropologist,” Genevieve Bell, about the intersection of technology and culture, and she observes that “[fear] about AI has more to do with our fear of each other than killer robots.”

Other Applications of Ethnography

The Wire discusses ethnography, art, and storytelling in India with independent filmmaker Nina Sabnani.

Back to Forbes, Andrea Simon (Simon Associates Management Consultants) shares how strategies for using “a little anthropology” to adjust to corporate change can also be applied to personal life and change.

Anthropologist resource regarding Dakota Access pipeline protests

Richard Meyers (South Dakota State U) is an anthropologist and member of the Oglala Sioux tribe sharing his perspective on protests against the Dakota Access pipeline.

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