Why Poetry + Anthropology?
[no-caption] Kim Herbst When a barbed-wire de facto border lights up but throbs with blood, when a lynching memorial veins into memories and questions of the soul, when…
Tag: emotions
The Fish Trap
An equatorial moon arcs above the Upper Rio Negro region of Brazil. Glenn H. Shepard Jr. The U.S. poet-physician William Carlos Williams once described a poem as a…
How Did Belief Evolve?
The Egyptians began constructing Karnak temple around 4,000 years ago. Archaeological evidence suggests large-scale religions arose throughout the world by 4,000 to 8,000 years ago. Christoph…
What Makes Baby Yoda So Lovable?
The internet doesn’t agree on much these days. But there is one indisputable fact: Baby Yoda is absolutely adorable. For the uninitiated, Baby Yoda is an infantile alien…
“L’étranger”: Ariane Benoit on the Fluid Mosaic
Introduction Ariane is an anthropologist and a performer who chose to combine these two disciplines in her professional and personal life. She is now based in Montreal, Canada,…
When Harmony Silences Resistance
Pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong hold up their hands to represent their five demands for the city’s government. Vivek Prakash/Getty Images Since Samuel (a pseudonym) started marching…
Haiti’s Blackouts Are Both Electrical and Emotional
On September 25, a girl in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, watches as protesters denounce fuel shortages and demand the resignation of President Jovenel Moïse. Chandan Khanna/Getty Images For the …
Do You Dream What I Dream?
Anthropologist Roger Lohmann sees a ghost in a dream while working in Papua New Guinea. Even though he knows it’s just a dream, he’s scared long after he…
Eating Insects and the Yuck Factor
[no-caption] Marcel Hirshegger/SAPIENS How come some people think eating insects is disgusting? Join SAPIENS hosts Jen Shannon and Chip Colwell as they dine on many-legged delicacies and …
Why Navajos Love Their Country Music
Native Country Band at Windy Mesa Bar in Page, Arizona. Left to right: Errison Littleben, author Kristina Jacobsen, Tommy Bia, LeAnder Bia, Arlondo Bia. Doug Reilly When I…
The Rise of Emotional Robots
[no-caption] David Williams/SAPIENS Listen to the companion episode of SAPIENS: A Podcast for Everything Human! When Dan White first pulled Pepper out of the box, it was slumped…
Is Robot Empathy a Trap?
[no-caption] David Williams/SAPIENS Can robots care? And why should we care if they do? SAPIENS host Jen Shannon meets Pepper the robot, and host Chip Colwell goes on…
In praise of the scaffolding
In my experience, when the ethnographic mission collapsed, this scaffolding remained standing, rich and complex, in plain view. There, the net into which I fell. (Rosaldo 2014: 112)…
Why Envy Might Be Good for Us
Nyae-Nyae in northern Namibia is the last place in the country where Ju/‘hoansi are free to hunt in the traditional way. James Suzman This article was originally published…
The Trauma of Helping Asylum-Seekers
The United States’ detention of asylum-seeking women and children brings additional trauma to immigrants, such as this woman from El Salvador, who already carry many painful stories. Legal…
#Report: Envy and Greed: A Political Economy of Accusation and Critique
On the fourth and fifth of June, the anthropology department at the London School of Economics and Political Science hosted a workshop exploring how accusations of envy and…
The Evolutionary Enigma of the Human Eyebrow
[no-caption] Pexels This article was originally published at The Conversation and has been republished under Creative Commons. Eyebrows. We all have them, but what are they actually for? …
Grief Can Make Us Wise
A candlelight vigil on February 15 honored the victims of the recent mass shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida. Jim Rassol/Getty Images In the first hours…
When It Comes to Love, Is Three (or More) a Crowd?
Even today, performances of Romeo and Juliet move audiences for how the couple’s ardent love imperiled them. Robbie Jack/Getty Images Passionate love is a dangerous thing, or so…
Why Do So Many People Want to Die?
[no-caption] Colin Knowles/Flickr This article was originally published at Aeon and has been republished under Creative Commons. “You said that you’re afraid of dying. What are you …
Could Group-Organized Violence Be Rooted in Empathy?
The Samburu people, pastoralists who live in northern Kenya’s semiarid lands, have a rich oral tradition recounting stories of their ancestors. In the late 19th century, one story…
Compassion Sets Humans Apart
When considering the question of whether humans are a naturally aggressive and violent species, it might be good to take a deep breath and have a look at…
Death and Dying 101
Students from the author’s class on death and dying explore Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Anita Hannig Back in February, on a chilly, windy afternoon in Cambridge,…
Schizophrenia’s Tangled Roots
Symptoms of schizophrenia and related disorders likely arise from a perplexing interplay of social, environmental, psychological, and biological factors. Apfelsaft123/Flickr Jacqui Dillon…