AnthroCurrents – June 13, 2014

A biweekly look at recent stories on anthropology and practicing anthropologists in the popular media

Sensibilities

• OK to wear Native American-inspired fashions to that music festival? LA Weekly talks about how the Lightning in a Bottle event handles the issue on their website. Which reminds me… Morgan Moses—who studied anthropology at UVA—was just drafted by the Washington Redskins. Maybe he can explain why a name change would be a good move.
• Wired Magazine very rightly recognizes the value that social scientists of all stripes (including anthropologists, of course) bring to the table when we look at patterns of energy use and conservation.
• We all know that anthropologists are everywhere researching every conceivable topic (except farting), but even I was surprised to learn that there is a Donut Anthropologist (as christened by Time magazine). And just like that I realized why there are no eager grad students looking to study farting.

Liabilities

• The dangers of doing fieldwork when your research participants may run afoul of the law are discussed in Times Higher Education this week. Bradley Garrett, working with urban explorers in London, was charged with crimes and had his field notes and other materials appropriated by the police. These issues are important to many of us who work with people on the margins.
• In the same publication, see the article regarding the Belfast Project, where Boston College was forced to turn over oral histories to the Police Service of Northern Ireland. This topic has been the source of a vigorous discussion on the NAPA Linked In page.