Drawing with Lynda Barry’s “Syllabus” in a creative ethnographic practices class
A few years ago, my friend Caroline Bennett gave me Lynda Barry’s 2014 book Syllabus: Notes from an Accidental Professor and this term I decided to use some…
Author: lorenagibson
How an interview request about Gen X sparked a teaching moment in an anthropology class
Last week Jogai Bhatt from RNZ approached me to do an interview about Generation X for a mini-series they are airing in the lead up to Generation X:…
Further reflections on writing ethnographic fieldnotes
The most popular post on my blog describes the fieldnote template I developed during the early stages of my PhD research with community-based NGOs running educational and economic…
Teaching ‘how to anthropology’ alongside ‘how to university’ in an introductory cultural anthropology class
I have taught our large introductory cultural anthropology course (ANTH 101) on and off since 2014, and every couple of years I redesign it based on conversations with…
Anthropology for Liberation assessments
Over the past few years I have been sharing the readings I assign for an undergraduate course I teach at Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington, Anthropology for…
Anthropology for Liberation readings 3.0
2021 marks the fourth year I have taught Anthropology for Liberation, an undergraduate course in the Cultural Anthropology Programme at Te Herenga Waka-Victoria University of Wellington. The course…
Book review: Citizen Designs (2021) by Eli Elinoff
The University of Hawaiʻi Press has been publishing some excellent books lately, including Eli Elinoff’s first monograph, Citizen Designs: City-Making and Democracy in Northeastern Thailand (20…
Anthropology for Liberation readings 2.0
In 2017 I taught a new course for the first time: Anthropology for Liberation. Here’s the short course description: How can Anthropology advance human emancipation from racism, gender…
Christchurch Mosque Attacks: A Public Syllabus
My colleague Catherine Trundle is working with students and staff from our School at Victoria University of Wellington on this important syllabus about the Christchurch Mosque Attacks. The…
Welcome to The New Outrigger!
This is a new website initiative from ANU Pacific Studies PhD students Bianca Hennessy (who I met in 2017 when she visited Va’aomanū Pasifika at Victoria University of…
East Side Orchestras: Music and Social Change
I am currently working on a research project that looks at the social impacts of Arohanui Strings, Porirua Soundscapes, and Virtuoso Strings. These groups provide free, Sistema-inspired orchestral mus…
New Zealand-born and internationally raised
I am delighted to welcome writer Cileme Venkateswar to anthropod. This is the third post in my series on doing fieldwork with kids, and in it Cileme (who…
Doing fieldwork with kids: Part II
Thanks to some amazing role models in the School of People, Environment and Planning at Massey University, where I studied, I have always known that it is possible…
What we’ve been writing: public anthropology from vic
Check out some recent work by my colleagues in the Cultural Anthropology programme vicanthropology It’s been a while since we’ve posted on vicanthropology, but everyone’s been busy elsewhere.…
Anthropology for Liberation readings
Next trimester I’m teaching a new course, Anthropology for Liberation. Here’s the course description: How can anthropology advance human emancipation from racism, gender inequality, class …
Pacific Reading PDFs Update (12/20/16)
I have just found this amazing resource/blog – highly recommend checking it out if you are interested in Oceania. Beauty of Oceania LINK TO PACIFIC READING DROPBOX These…
Anthropology under my skin
What follows is the text of the presentation I gave as part of the the Reclaiming Anthropology panel during the Anthropology in Aotearoa Symposium held at Victoria University…
Join us to celebrate 50 years of Anthropology at VUW (May 10-12)
Come join our celebration! You’ll get to hear Dame Joan Metge, Dame Prof Anne Salmond, Prof Michael Jackson, and a host of other anthropologists. All welcome. vicanthropology This…
SOMAA Research Roundup
Roundup of medical anthropology research in Aotearoa New Zealand. SOMAA Welcome to our first SOMAA research roundup. Here you’ll find brief summaries and links to recent publications by SOMAA members…
Tales of becoming a public anthropologist
Thoughtful piece on becoming a public anthropologist in Aotearoa New Zealand by my colleague Catherine Trundle vicanthropology Academics are increasingly called upon to apply their skills and knowled…
Medical anthropologists in/of Aotearoa meet for launch and symposium
Sorry to miss what looks like a great symposium and launch of the new Society of Medical Anthropology in Aotearoa. SOMAA By Nayantara Sheoran Appleton. On Wednesday February…
50 years of Anthropology at Victoria University of Wellington
Save the date and join us for our 50th anniversary of anthropology at Victoria University of Wellington #038;d=identicon&%23038;r=G’ class=’avatar avatar-32′ height=’32’ width=’32’ />vicanthropology In 2017 Cultural Anthropology at…
Join us for Ethnography Shelf – an ethnography reading club online and in person
vicanthropology In our previous blog post, Brigitte Bönisch-Brednich noted that her resolution for 2017 is to read six ethnographies. Inspired by this and all the different ethnographies we…
“He’s the least racist person I know”: Racism, the Mad Butcher and Empathy
Great piece by my colleague Catherine Trundle. vicanthropology We’ve all been reading about the celebrity New Zealand businessman the Mad Butcher (Peter Leitch) and his so-called ‘friendly banter’.…