Census Data and the Social Construction of Race
Since Franz Boas, anthropologists have argued that race is not a biological but a social fact that varies across time and place. Using the US Census, Vox underscores…
Tag: history
#FreeHoma: Anthropologists in dangerous contexts
Anthropology is a discipline that was born out of colonial encounters and systems of power. Anthropologists have historically been complicit in supporting the people, systems and ideas through…
Reflecting on Métis identity
This post comes from the âpihtawikosisân blog. The author, Chelsea Vowel, describes herself as “Métis from the Plains Cree speaking community of Lac Ste. Anne, Alberta. She currently lives…
Searching for the Origins of the First Americans
Since the 1920s, scientists have debated whether the first Americans arrived from Asia—or somewhere else—some 11,000 years ago, or millennia before. Artifacts such as this Clovis spear point…
The power of language in historical narratives
Representation — the images and language we use to describe our social worlds — matters. “Discovery, settlement or invasion? The power of language in historical narratives” (2016, The Conversat…
Benjamin Peters’ (2016) fascinating essay on the keyword ‘digital’
A physical copy of the brand new book Digital Keywords (2016) has just arrived through the post. On first inspection, it looks fantastic, and I’ve got the feeling…
An Interview with Dorothy J. Berry, Metadata Specialist and Project Manager for Umbra, an Initiative of the Givens Collection of African American Literature, University of Minnesota Libraries
While a graduate student at Indiana University, Dorothy J. Berry concurrently earned an MA degree in ethnomusicology from the Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology and a MLS degree…
Teaching AAA 2016: Finding evidence for slow destruction
This is the third post in our blog series designed to help you link your teaching with the 2016 Annual Meeting theme, Evidence, Accident, Discovery. The series offers relevant teaching resources…
One person’s trash…
One person’s trash is another’s treasure… or data, if you are an archaeologist or anthropologist working in a landfill. Places where trash builds up can provide archaeologists important…
An Interview with Alexander Betts, Curator at the Ohio History Connection
Alex Betts is a Curator at the Ohio History Connection based at the OHC’s headquarters in Columbus, Ohio. He earned a MA with distinction in Museum and Artefact…
Ghettos
Ghettos. We commonly associate the term today with places like “effective social or ethnic ghettos, from the favelas of Brazil to the mostly black urban neighbourhoods of the…
Review of Bourdieu’s (2014) On the State
Review of Bourdieu, P. (2014). On the State: Lectures at the Collège de France, 1989-1992. P. Champagne, R. Lenoir, F. Poupeau, & M. C. Rivière (Eds.). London: Polity.…
Rubber Barons’ Abuses Live On in Memory and Myth
The Kukama people who live along the lower part of Peru’s Marañón River tell intergenerational myths that recollect the violence and trauma of the rubber era, which peaked in…
Aboot the Canadian "about"
Canadians — like the authors of anthro everywhere! — are pretty used to hearing English-speakers from the US and elsewhere in the world poke fun at our accents,…
Book Forum––Sabine Arnaud’s On Hysteria by Todd Meyers
Sabine Arnaud’s On Hysteria: The Invention of a Medical Category Between 1670 and 1820 focuses on the socio-medical category before its better-known (and more heavily studied) late ninet…
Re/telling the story of Canada’s Residential Schools
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada investigated the impact of Canada’s Indian Residential Schools system on students, their families, and indigenous peoples across Canada more broadly. …
Climate Wars
Fiji’s human history is directly linked to the ebbs and flows of climate change—particularly of sea-level rise. Throughout the Pacific Islands, fluctuating environmental conditions resulting from…
Did Women and Children Exist in Prehistory?
Stone tools, like Acheulean hand axes, remain well-preserved for eons because they are stones first, tools second. Fired ceramics remain well-preserved for millennia because they are, in essence,…
Lao Camp Food (Part 2)
This is the second installment of a food journal I kept during several days in February camping with a bomb clearance team in Laos. If you missed my…
Gathering the Genetic Testimony of Spain’s Civil War Dead
The remains of many soldiers and citizens who died during the Spanish Civil War, which lasted from 1936 to 1939, have never been recovered. The development of genetic…
Valuing Aboriginal cultural knowledge in Western science
The relationship between Western science (scientists, government officials, etc.) and Aboriginal knowledge has often been rocky, with Westerners often only acknowledging the value of local indigenous …
Let’s Keep Arguing About Flags and Statues
The Confederate flag, which many people see as a symbol of America’s racist past, continues to spark debate. fauxto_digit/Flickr Last summer, the Confederate flag was finally taken down…
Canberra’s loss is Mānoa’s gain as the ANU walks away from decades of excellence
I do not normally write about my duties as a professor at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa on this blog, since the blog isn’t associated with UHM…
Lao Camp Food (Part 1)
I recently spent several days camping with a bomb clearance team in southern Laos. Quick history: Laos, per capita, is the most heavily bombed country on Earth. Between…