Leang Neak Ta Ceremony of Spirit Mediums in Cambodia
Last week my friend Paul Christensen invited me to attend a ceremony of spirit mediums with him. The day was fascinating – full of sounds, smells and sights…
Tag: anthropology
The Neoliberalized, Debt-plagued, Low Wage, Corporatized University
The latest issue of Anthropologies, including my submission, is now available (see table of contents below). I recommend reading all the articles in full and have quoted selected…
Anthropological Video Games?
Via The New Yorker: A cluster of teenagers gathered around a small table, and passersby could hear them exclaim, “Asian! Yeah, I knew it!” and “Aryan? That seems…
Life on water: a photographic tale from Cambodia
Back in August 2012 I spent a day at the Vietnamese floating village at Kampong Chnnang, central Cambodia. Lying at the mouth of the Tonle Sap Lake, much…
New Media Practices and the 2012 Presidential Elections
The past few posts I have written all belong to a collection of case studies about new media practices and the 2012 elections. I want to collect them…
Unwanted: Don’t bother earning a degree in anthropology or archaeology
Yahoo! Education (an appropriate name, I’d say) has today published an article on the top 5 most unwanted, unhelpful degrees a person could possibly waste their time earning.…
More open thoughts on anthropology and academia
Since my last blog post got picked up by Ryan at Savage Minds, related discussions on the subjects of academia, anthropology and disciplinary discontent have been taking place…
#Ivoted: Documenting the Vote in the 2012 Elections
In the lengthy and involved media spectacle surrounding the 2012 elections, the day of reckoning is of course voting day. Traditionally, media messaging switches from heated horse-race coverage…
Live-tweeting democracy: the fantasy of representation
Twitter and the 2012 Elections: Media Practice and Politics Whereas Facebook is a platform that treats politics as more or less taboo, Twitter’s network is made up substantially…
Practices of political news production and consumption on Facebook’s news feed
Since its beginning, the Internet’s potential to disseminate information broadly and easily has been hailed as a great democratizing force. Today, this idealist vision has somewhat deteriorated,…
#Mockthevote: A Case Study in Democratic Media Practice
Media practice and the 2012 elections: Theorizing new models of democratic participation This case study is named after a hashtag that was trending on Twitter during the three presidential…
What matters and what doesn’t: open thoughts on academia
(Update, 11 Dec 2012: A follow-up to this post can be found here: More open thoughts on anthropology and academia.) With genuine appreciation to all those who have…
Back to Anthropology
Product Reviews? Regular readers of this blog may have been wondering about my brief foray into eyeglass reviews, like what it had to do with anthropology or academia…
Reflections on Hurricane Sandy, media and disconnection
Last week, Hurricane Sandy pummeled the east coast of the US. Power outages due to extreme coastal flooding, high winds and fallen trees have caused food and gas…
Socialnomics/Social Media’s presence
(Click this > to watch) Socialnomics/Social Media’s presence Akin to my previous comments on the attachment of teenagers to phones and the way that social media has changed social…
John S. Allen, “The Omnivorous Mind: Our Evolving Relationship to Food”
[Cross-posted from New Books in Food] Did Proust have it right? Does food, whether it’s a madeleine from an aristocratic childhood or the Velveeta mac-and-cheese my mom used to…
Tea and Potatoes
Over the past few days I have been asking every teenager I have met what staple foods and drinks they would not be able to live without (not…
Morgan Liu, “Under Solomon’s Throne: Uzbek Visions of Renewal in Osh”
Dr. Morgan Liu’s book, Under Solomon’s Throne: Uzbek Visions of Renewal in Osh (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2012) brings to light the life of ethnic Uzbeks living in the…
Does radically simple design always win?
Ajaz Ahmed’s premise is overly simple in his Guardian piece, where he argues that radically simple design always wins. Here are five simple reasons why his argument is…
Does radically simple design always win?
Ajaz Ahmed’s premise is overly simple in his Guardian piece, where he argues that radically simple design always wins. Here are five simple reasons why his argument is…
Does radically simple design always win?
Ajaz Ahmed’s premise is overly simple in his Guardian piece, where he argues that radically simple design always wins. Here are five simple reasons why his argument is…
Does radically simple design always win?
Ajaz Ahmed’s premise is overly simple in his Guardian piece, where he argues that radically simple design always wins. Here are five simple reasons why his argument is…
News Online
With it being so easy to find a news article online in a split second, you’d think that this was a great benefit of the technological advances of…