Towards a technical pedagogy
A coalition of educators believes that ChatGPT will kill the essay. But should we really fear the algorithms used in large language models? Anthropology has the generative potential…
Category: English
Constantine Nakassis on his book, Onscreen/Offscreen
Interview by Chris Ball https://utorontopress.com/9781487541804 Christopher Ball: Onscreen/Offscreen tracks Tamil film of the first decade and a half of the 2000s through analysis of di…
In Lebanon, Solar Power Is Booming. Why?
An anthropologist explores whether Lebanese turning to solar power is a story of resilience, environmental triumph, or something else. ✽ I recently returned to Lebanon, where I have…
CFP ASFS/AFHVS 2023: Knowing Food
Knowing oysters? Photo by David Beriss A quick reminder that the final deadline to submit proposals for the ASFS/AFHVS 2023 Conference is January 15! Click here for the…
Alana Brekelmans takes the page 99 test
Page 99 of my thesis opens with an evocative image: ‘Sleepy Cloncurry, the scene of more unfulfilled promises than any other town in Australia, clung to its horses…
Christopher Loperena, “The Ends of Paradise: Race, Extraction, and the Struggle for Black Life in Honduras” (Stanford UP, 2022)
The future of Honduras begins and ends on the white sand beaches of Tela Bay on the country’s northeastern coast where Garifuna, a Black Indigenous people, have resided…
Time for another UBC apology.
Its’ time UBC’s senior administration apologize for claiming Indigenous ‘identity’ had no role in Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond’s appointment. Even if they might ‘technically’ be correct that it wasn’t…
Philippe-Richard Marius, “The Unexceptional Case of Haiti: Race and Class Privilege in Postcolonial Bourgeois Society” (UP of Mississippi, 2022)
In The Unexceptional Case of Haiti: Race and Class Privilege in Postcolonial Bourgeois Society (University Press of Mississippi, 2022), Philippe-Richard Marius recasts the world-historical significance of the Saint-Domingue Revolution to investigate the…
Pawn or War Crime? – you choose who gets voted off the island (two votes allowed per person)
Secret weapons sales (not so secret) and fancy dress panto season – really beyond the pale (white supremacy evil tricksters all). Justification here: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/1…
Bordering the Bedouin
Contemporary issues like the refugee crisis, climate refugees, and global restrictions on movement caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have brought into stark relief the extent to which our…
On the mortality crises in India under British rule: A response to Tirthankar Roy
In a recent article published in World Development, we drew on newly available data to calculate that India suffered 50-165 million excess deaths during the mortality crisis…
Bin Xu, “The Culture of Democracy: A Sociological Approach to Civil Society” (Polity Press, 2022)
Against the bleak backdrop of pressing issues in today’s world, civil societies remain vibrant, animated by people’s belief that they should and can solve such issues and build…
Daniel White, “Administering Affect: Pop-Culture Japan and the Politics of Anxiety” (Stanford UP, 2022)
In Administering Affect: Pop-Culture Japan and the Politics of Anxiety (Stanford UP, 2022), Daniel White draws on extensive fieldwork in government ministries and government-adjacent organizations to explore Japan’s current “politics…
On taking a survey.
My favourite Warramiri (?) story from Arnhem Land is of a maths teacher out on a river one time teaching kids to measure distances – how far to…
Carlos Alberto Sánchez, “A Sense of Brutality. Philosophy after Narco-Culture” (Amherst College Press, 2020)
Contemporary popular culture is riddled with references to Mexican drug cartels, narcos, and drug trafficking. In the United States, documentary filmmakers, journalists, academics, and politicians have taken note…
Pilgrimage to Hozanji 1/5/2023
One of my favorite places in Japan… for the journey on the the winding mountain paths, for the natural setting, for the unlimited photo ops, for the spirituality,…
Waffle House: Sameness, Diversity and Southern Image
A Waffle House in Columbus, Ohio (Photo By Andrew Mitchel) Andrew Mitchel and Laurie K. SmithThe Ohio State University Waffle House occupies a distinct space in the American…
House construction: Samira the Snail needs your help!
by Jo Püst – This is the story of Samira the Snail. Together with various other animals and plants, she lives in a small village near the forest.…
Fishing in the Shadow of Oil
In the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman, fishing communities have become part of a complex “assemblage” of human and natural worlds shaped by the global fossil fuel…
Siv B. Lie, “Django Generations: Hearing Ethnorace, Citizenship, and Jazz Manouche in France” (U Chicago Press, 2021)
Django Generations: Hearing Ethnorace, Citizenship, and Jazz Manouche in France (U Chicago Press, 2021) shows how relationships between racial identities, jazz, and national belonging become entangled in France. Jazz…
Regine A. Spector, “Order at the Bazaar: Power and Trade in Central Asia” (Cornell UP, 2017)
Order at the Bazaar: Power and Trade in Central Asia (Cornell UP, 2017) delves into the role of bazaars in the political economy and development of Central Asia. Bazaars…
Is a “Sweet Tooth” Genetic?
An anthropologist explains the evolutionary origins of why so many people seem practically programmed to love sugar. This article was originally published at The Conversation and has been…
Jalan Jalan (100): A milestone in the VAoJ series that took a too long a time in coming (due to accidents, injuries, COVID-19, busy work schedule, etc.)
What is jalan jalan? Walking with my camera(s) is one of my most favorite activities. It’s a form of joyous and holistic meditation – good for the mind…
Now I am 22
As of 1 January, my blog will be 22 years old. I have achieved this significant landmark by continuing to pay my hosting fees and then not blogging.…