AnthroCurrents – May 31, 2016

From the Field (Where Else?)

We do get around. Leave it to anthropologists to support adding insects to the American diet (see photo),  to defend mosquitoes in our built environment, to appreciate the role of elves in Icelandic history and highway construction planning, and to compliment the quality of footprint casts made by Bigfoot hunters in Appalachia (but remain mum on the search itself).

Past is Present

Anthropologists continue to re-examine their discipline’s roots in colonialism. Barbara King offers a B- in her review of Bone Rooms: From Scientific Racism to Human Prehistory in Museums by Samuel J. Redman. And Nicholas Rothwell seems ambivalent about two new books reflecting on mid-twentieth century “development” and “self-determination” among Australian aborigines.

Notes for Anthro 101

• The current U.S. poet laureate, Juan Felipe Herrera, studied social anthropology in college
• Is strong the new skinny? Cultural observations of power sports
• Anthropology can address onerous (odorous?) questions like “Why do Americans say Europeans have worse body odor?”
• Video can be an effective way to recruit anthropology majors

More In the News

In the Times of Zambia, an anonymous anthropologist is quoted saying that a recent spate of murders appear to be from body-part harvesting and not ritual killings as some authorities allege.  Meanwhile, The Christian Century interviews anthropologist Rahul Oka about the economics of refugee camps. And, National Geographic’s series on national parks hears from anthropologist Glenn Shepard about how jaguars and the Matsigenka people interact in Peru’s Manu National Park.