CALL FOR PAPERS American Anthropological Association Meetings Minneapolis, MN. November 16-20, 2016 Panel title: Ambient Matter: Sensorial Engagements with a Toxic World Panel abstract: An anthropolog…
Ethnographic refusal is a practice by which researchers and research participants together decide not to make particular information available for use within the academy. Its purpose is not…
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…
November 5 & 6, 2015 – Conference Program and Videos The two-day conference ‘Comment penser l’anthropocène?’ (‘How to think the Anthropocene?’) at the Collège de France in Paris…
On a bright and buggy day in July 2014, Max Friesen, whiskered and encased in denim and Gore-Tex, inched across a stretch of tundra overlooking the East Channel…
Late in January, I boarded a long-haul flight, 27 hours and 5 minutes, 9,405 miles, three connections. I packed emergency Larabars (food for quick energy), ordered gluten-free meals…
Economy and Material Culture in the Early Islamic Empire Bi-Weekly, Wednesday, 4-6 pm CEST Starting April 6, 2016 Islamic Material Culture The Universität Bonn (Bethany Walker), the Ludwig-Maximilian…
We do not have an idea of the quantity of non-household solid waste produced in North America. When we do have ideas of (sub)quantities, we do not have…
Every winter, on either the first or second cold snap, I hear the question “Cold enough for ya?” as I get on the bus, exit the Metro, or…
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…
On the wild west coast of Vancouver Island, the tiny hamlet of Kyuquot lies nestled in the folds of British Columbia’s rumpled shoreline. It’s a wilderness paradise with…
Mining, as the human activity responsible for some of the planet’s most dramatic landscape transformations and the largest proportion of total industrial waste flows, is a particularly salient…
Endangerment, Biodiversity and Culture By Fernando Vidal and Nélia Dias (editors) Routledge, 2016, 264 pages What do natural reserves, botanical and zoological parks, anthropology museums and depart…
Anthropologists studying outer space might sound like fringe science, like something from “The X-Files” or some “ancient aliens” TV show, but we have been studying outer space as…
Over the past few decades, we have met with much success in curbing some of Americans’ exposure to lead. Yet they have struggled to contain this continuing danger…
We dedicate this post to the crew of the space shuttle Challenger, whose intrepid wanderings were tragically cut short 30 years ago today. Growing up in rural…
The concept of infrastructure draws attention to as-yet-unseen synergies between technology, culture, and materiality. What does this concept have to offer environmental anthropology? While we can saf…
From the specific case of marine plastics, Liboiron’s paper offers a more general point that those of us who study discards need to remember to take seriously: How…
This volume seeks to provide novel insights into ecological and environmental issues by drawing on specifically transgender perspectives. Deadline for abstracts: March 1, 2016.
A pair of new publications focus on the “chicken or egg” question in environmental justice: Are present-day disparities around hazardous sites the result of a pattern of placing…
Drowned trees in the dry bed of the Salton Sea. Image by Daniel Mayer from Wikipedia under Creative Commons License. California is great in size and diversity, the…
We’ve been working on the problem of making tiny, often invisible marine plastics visible through do-it-yourself (DIY) technologies. You can build your own and investigate your local environment.
By Emma Louise Backe Where must we go, we who wander this wasteland, in search of our better selves.” -The First History Man What are the roots that…
The Mushroom at the End of the World: On the Possibility of Life in Capitalist Ruins by Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing Princeton University Press, 2015, 352 pages Yeah. What…