AnthroCurrents–September 20, 2016

What are some of the other websites and blogs that track anthropology-in-the-news and practicing anthropology? Here are some “highly cited” places on the web to follow. All of the sites and blogs below may be followed on Twitter, some on Facebook or other social media, and some offer weekly email subscriptions. While you are at it, follow us on Twitter (@NapaAnthro) Facebook (@NAPA.Anthro), or LinkedIn (National Association for the Practice of Anthropology).

A classic example of an anthropology-news-tracking blog is www.anthropologyworks.com – a weekly blog from the Culture in Global Affairs (CIGA) research and policy program at George Washington U.’s Elliot School of International Affairs. Dr. Barbara Miller (George Washington U.) founded the blog and the current format posts “Anthro in the news” weekly. Each post consists of a half-dozen or more short articles about anthropologists contributing to or commenting on current events: Trump’s chimp-style displays, Having no remains of loved ones adds to the loss, and

African slave heritage underwater. Each weekly post includes a “Take that anthro degree and…” feature that profiles BA, MA, and PhD anthropologists outside and inside the academy.

The American Anthropological Association has a blog with posts and contributors as varied as the membership. It posts its own press releases and links to AAA Members in the News on its Stay Informed web page. Anthropology News is the organization’s bimonthly print newsletter for members, but is also curated daily online. Recent articles of interest to practicing anthropologists include Designing for People about a design/anthropology course at Purdue U., Why We Post, about a project to understand social media cross-culturally, and On The Ground, a series about conversations Americans are having about race in 2016.

Anthropology News brings us to the sphere of “anthropologists talking among themselves.” For practicing anthropologists, this section of the American Anthropological Association, NAPA, is a home base. Similar interests appear in publications of the Society for Applied Anthropology.

In the blogosphere, when you think of “ethnographic principles in industry,” think EPIC. This is a membership organization but offers a wealth of information for free on their website. For blogs, see: NEWS (occasional news postings about EPIC or of interest to ethnographic practitioners in industry), PERSPECTIVES (weekly articles about ethnographic theory and practice, especially focused on business and user experience & design), and INTELIGENCES (an archive of over ten years of peer-reviewed work on ethnographic praxis; text access is free, video available to members). Topics posted in August cover their 2016 Minneapolis conference, Riding with Heidegger on automotive design, how IBM Design Research works, and using Ethnography to Transform [Data] Analytics.

Of similar longevity is a blog on anthropology more generally, Savage Minds, that includes a weekly Around the Web Digest post. It is an award-winning group blog “devoted to ‘doing anthropology in public’.” Its title comes from the “The Savage Mind” (1966) by Claude Levi-Strauss. Recent articles include Open Access and publishing, and Would Margaret Mead Tweet?. Current multiple-post blogs discuss decolonizing anthropology and some thoughts on food, animals, and anthropology. 

In January 2016 Wenner-Gren launched an online news feed and blog, SAPIENS. It is an editorially independent website with a mission “to transform how the public understands anthropology” (in the American four-field definition of the discipline). “Practicing anthropology” is not prominent in their coverage so far, but the blog topic Technology comes close. And see recent articles on iPhone App for endangered languages, the double life of kale, non-Western perspectives on GMO foods, and Hmong Gardeners in America’s Dairyland.

Another new entry in the growing field of “public anthropology” is PEEPS, a print magazine that “puts culture and context before events.” Their goal is to provide deeply researched stories from around the world by practicing social scientists and journalists. The magazine articles are available by subscription but previewed online. Their blog, FORUM, is a “hybrid of blogging and journalism” that covers the same cultural space. Recent articles describe the death and rebirth of marketing, the healing capacity of narrative, and ethnographic power in art. The blog includes a curated news feed; for example juxtaposing articles critical of and accepting of cultural appropriation. There are also TEDx style PEEPS TALK events; the website includes archived video and profiles of speakers.

This post is not an exhaustive summary of sites on the web looking at anthropology in the news or practicing anthropology. What have we missed? Please contribute notes and suggestions in the Comments below!

You may be familiar with news aggregation sites like The Anthropology Newsletter, or blogs by individual anthropologist practitioners, students, and academics such as: RelevAnth, The Inquisitive Anthropologist, Anthropology Students of Color, The Rockstar Anthropologist. Or you may know websites staking out positions outside of “mainstream anthropology” such as Ethnography.com or Zero Anthropology.

Or, do you know of other national media platforms for anthropology? We follow Paul Stoller (West Chester U.) on The Huffington Post, Barbara J. King (College of William and Mary) posting to the Cosmos and Culture blog from National Public Radio (NPR), and Anthropology in Practice from Scientific American.

Additions to the Original Post
4-Oct-16–Anthropoliteia, a blog anchored by anthropologists, includes a monthly roundup of scholarly articles on crime, law and punishment around the world.

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.