Unwrapping Operation Christmas Drop
An anthropologist takes a critical eye to a long-running holiday tradition: a U.S. military mission that drops toys and supplies throughout Micronesia. ✽ On a balmy December morning…
An anthropologist takes a critical eye to a long-running holiday tradition: a U.S. military mission that drops toys and supplies throughout Micronesia. ✽ On a balmy December morning…
Black African women in former colonial centers such as London gesture to subversive ways of communicating with those imprisoned in archives across generations. ✽ despite the Maangamizi,( Maangamizi…
In early 2024, Spain’s culture minister announced that the nation would overhaul its state museum collections, igniting a wave of anticipation—and controversy. ✽ WHEN SPAIN’S CULTURE MINISTER, E…
A team of archaeologists working in Southeast Asia is pushing toward a deeper understanding of history that amplifies Indigenous and local perspectives to challenge traditional archaeological timeline…
A 19th-century prophetess reportedly bore a serious message from the ancestors to her Xhosa people amid British colonial assault. The written archives judged her—but much still remains unknown…
Archaeological evidence and Oral Histories show people in what is today Ghana lived sustainably for millennia—until European colonial powers and the widespread trade of enslaved people changed everyth…
At Bears Ears National Monument in Utah, a new co-management plan brings together federal agencies and a consortium of Native American tribes—revealing deep tensions over land rights and…
SAPIENS’ 2024 poet-in-residence conjures the voices of those imprisoned in archives. ✽ when the writing is done reference room locked index cards slotted library doors bolted when the…
An anthropologist who works with deaf communities in the Arabic-speaking Middle East argues that ending Israel’s war on Gaza and occupation of Palestine is a matter of disability…
In a dystopian short story, an anthropologist imagines an alternate world in which Kashmiris are forbidden to dream. Republished by permission from English Language Notes, 61(2): 15–18. Copyright…
In a personal essay, a mixed-race and Native anthropologist draws strength from his ancestors. ✽ Who should I be today? I ask myself this question in the mirror…
In Speak Out!, Milo Miller curates a selection of writings by one of the first and most important Black radical organisations of the 1970s, the Brixton Black Women’s Group.…
A Brazilian archaeologist reexamines the way people treat ancestral Indigenous remains housed in museums—starting with one important encounter. Can museums and archaeology harm the dead? An Indigenou…
In this interview with Anna D’Alton (LSE Review of Books), Naila Kabeer discusses her new book, Renegotiating Patriarchy: Gender, Agency and the Bangladesh Paradox, forthcoming from LSE Press in Septe…
An anthropologist in the West Bank explains how Israel’s prison regime dehumanizes Palestinians, who nevertheless dream of freedom and resist erasure. CAMERAS ON CARCERAL VIOLENCE In December 2023,…
Tracing 75 years of Israeli war photography, an anthropologist explains how images that reframe disproportionate violence as proof of victory have intensified in the war on Gaza that…
The African island nation played a central—but little-known—role in the rise of the global sugar trade based on enslaved labor. To uncover this past, a team launched the…
A poet-anthropologist of the Chickasaw Nation honors infant remains historically used in teaching collections at the University of Illinois. “Infant, Name Once Known” is part of the collection…
Israel’s war on Gaza that erupted in 2023 continues a long history of systemic displacement of Palestinians. Over 2 million Palestinian refugees currently live in Jordan in indefinite…
***Note: Originally published on EFH in 2017*** INTRODUCTION On February 22nd, 2017 Agent Orange’s administration revoked the transgender protection guidelines on Title IX in a “Dear Colleague” letter…
From Navvyman by Dick Sullivan via www.victorianweb.org What do you think about when you hear the name Primrose Hill? Good pubs, celebrity-residents, the view over London? For me…
A Nigerian eco-activist and poet wonders what future lies ahead in the face of climate change impacts and resistance to large-scale emission reductions. “Strange Future” is part of…
Anthropological poems from around the globe speak to people’s creative will, resistance, and resilience—and the significance of our shared humanity. ✽ In July 2023, SAPIENS put out a…