Origins and Scope of Thick Ethnography
Within a historical context, ethnography attempts to be holistic in nature based in part on emic views. It is written, observational science that provides an account of a…
Tag: cultural anthropology
Faded Paint and Yellowed Photos: On, Image, Inspiration, and Memory with Javier Urcid
How does a camera and a deep sense of curiosity lead to a lifetime of archaeological research on ancient peoples, their symbols, art, and writing? Ryan and Aneil…
A Business for the Future? Redefining Value, Quinoa and the Quest of Pachakuti Foods w/ Alexander Wankel
We’re back in Peru! Join Adam and special guest Alexander Wankel of Pachakuti Foods for a conversation about the future of food production, agrobiodiversity, sustainability, and keeping traditio…
Exploring Boundaries: From Access to Female Sexworkers to the Question of Research
When designing a research project, a researcher’s initial plans are often interrupted by what data we actually can access. Whether negotiating political structures, cultural taboos, necessary permissi…
Thinking about Our Shared Common Ancestry–Pausing to Reflect Back on My Career as an Africanist
Honored to have an interview I recently did with Dallas Tatman (an MA student in African Studies at the U of Illinois) unexpectedly show up, to my surprise,…
Mate: The Drink Beyond a Drink w/ Guilherme Heiden
Coca and Mate by Guilherme Heiden and Adam Gamwell Mate (pronounced mah-tay), or more commonly known as yerba mate for English speakers, is an herbal tea drink native…
Human Trafficking: a growing epidemic
Some sources claim that one out of every 236 people becomes a victim of human trafficking. Even more startling, sources state that every 30 seconds another person becomes…
In the Journals – February 2016
Welcome back to In the Journals, a look at recent publications in the world of security, law, crime, and governance. The February issue of Cultural Anthropology is…
Happy #WorldAnthropologyDay! Celebrate with these great episodes! #WorldAnthroDay
Happy World Anthropology Day! To celebrate #WorldAnthropologyDay we here at TaL have curated some of our favorite past episodes covering how we approach anthropology and where we see…
Global Warming: trends and consequences
Recently, health officials from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control issued a travel alert for Central, South America and the Caribbean, some 14 countries and territories exposed to…
Help Crowdfund TAL’s Adam Gamwell’s Peruvian Quinoa and Future Food Stories Project!
Check out and help crowdfund this innovative new fieldwork project from TAL’s Adam Gamwell! Bringing more anthro-mindedness and stories to the public through Beacon Reader. Check it out…
Call for Papers: Infrastructures of Collaboration: Lessons Learned from Collaborative Failures
Call for Papers for the Society for Cultural Anthropology Biennial Meeting Cornell University, Ithaca, NY Friday, May 13-Saturday, May 14, 2016 Conference Call for Papers Organizers Angela VandenBro…
Anthropological Irony
Cultural Relativism and the Destruction of Cultural Artifacts by the Islamic State Nimrud Assyria, Lamassus Guarding Palace Entrance, Before Destruction. Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons. Cultural rel…
Intricacies of Universal Health Care
What are some of the primary concerns of Universal Health and access to quality health care? Among researchers doing studies in this area, these concerns have raised new…
Surviving the Holidays, Anthropologist Style
As the holidays inch closer, and you’re beginning to dread joining the bag of mixed nuts you call your family, consider approaching them with anthropologists’ eyes this year.…
Frogtopia Revisited, or Anthropology is Art is Frog
[Savage Minds is pleased to publish this essay by guest author Stuart McLean as part of our Writers’ Workshop series. Stuart is Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of Minnesota. He…
anthro in the news 12/14/2015
On refugee-phobia Pilapa Esara Carroll, associate professor of anthropology at the College at Brockport of the State University of New York, co-authored an op-ed in the Democrat and…
Expatriates: Dilemmas and Misconceptions
Those who have chosen to become permanent expatriates at some time or another experience a very disturbing and confusing dilemma. What makes this dilemma so disturbing is it…
How creating your own ritual can bring surprisingly deep meaning
New Year’s Eve of 2007 was grim. My husband and I hosted a party of battered friends, most of whom were under the age of 35. Within the…
Affirmative action in brazil: is it necessary?
Recently, I came across an article in Lasa Forum Spring 2013 edition in which Edward Telles and Marcelo Paixão assessed the significance of Affirmative Action in Brazil.…
Anthropology and the MidEast Crisis
There’s surely something to offend every political sensibility in this provocative essay just published by Liel Leibovitz in The Tablet. But for that reason, it’s worth reading. Equal-op…
Negotiating comparison in ethnographic fieldwork
Anthropology, a discipline dedicated to understanding the full range of human experience from as many perspectives as possible, has always been comparative. This comparative aspect was one of…
Mandate of the Intellectual
Recently, a PhD educated, cultural researcher for a Canadian magazine contacted me about Perspectives’ focus on “open-access publishing, public accessibility and seeking a broad readership while maint…
Indispensability of medical anthropology
Medical anthropology, although considered a subcategory in anthropology, has been making contributions to medicine and public health since the development of anthropology itself. The fact that anthrop…