Confronting the Specter of Cultural Appropriation
[no-caption] kokouu/Getty Images Humans celebrate many things—from rites of passage to religious events to groundhogs. One of the most intriguing, anthropologically speaking, is Halloween…
[no-caption] kokouu/Getty Images Humans celebrate many things—from rites of passage to religious events to groundhogs. One of the most intriguing, anthropologically speaking, is Halloween…
[no-caption] Andrew Brookes/Getty Images I have never understood why anybody would think humans are by nature violent, warlike creatures. True, we have all surely had arguments turn sour…
[no-caption] David Williams/SAPIENS What does your DNA have to do with who you are? On a journey for answers, SAPIENS hosts Chip Colwell, Jen Shannon, and Esteban Gómez…
This model at the Museum of London depicts the first bridge over the River Thames, which was built by the Romans in the first century. Steven G. Johnson/Wikimedia…
How my research on DNA ancestry tests became fake news. When I was sent a link to a Snopes article asking, “Did DNA Testing Companies Admit to Altering…
Budka, P. (2018). Indigenous articulations in the digital age: Reflections on historical developments, activist engagements and mundane practices. Paper at International Communication Association 2018…
In the fall 2017 quarter I kicked off my intro to cultural anthropology course with one of those Ancestry dot com videos. These are all over the place,…
[no-caption] Sajjad Hussain/Getty Images Ameena (a pseudonym) is a 25-year-old Rohingya refugee in New Delhi, India, who is seven months pregnant with twins. Her face is gaunt. Often…
I have been on hiatus from blogging for some time, mainly due to two factors. First, I launched a public anthropology podcast, Anthropologist on the Street (huzzah!), which…
Anglo-Saxon mythologies and culture continue to enchant many who live in the U.K. Andrew Parsons/Getty Images This article was originally published at The Conversation and has been republ…
[no-caption] Livioandronico2013/Wikimedia Commons This article was originally published at The Conversation and has been republished under Creative Commons. Over the past few decades, the…
Given that nowadays most people live in societies organized according to capitalist principles and given that few oppose those principles fundamentally, capitalists may well constitute the world’s lar…
Like many other London institutions seeking to shore up against an ever-rising digital tide, the Serpentine Galleries have announced a new annual “Digital Seasons” initiative that will recognize…
This post belongs into a series of posts on the workshop “The Future of Central Asian Studies” organized by Prof. Dr. Judith Beyer and Prof. Dr. Madeleine Reeves…
The skeleton on the left is “Lucy,” an Australopithecus afarensis that is 3.2 million years old. The one on the right is a Homo naledi called “Neo,” which…
[no-caption] David Williams/SAPIENS The abandoned Nicosia airport in Cyprus is a strange place for an anthropology lab. But there I was—at the end of a humid spring day…
Last week Australian academic Dennis Altman published a provocative piece in The Conversation, suggesting that it was time to re think the label LGBTI. In the place of…
The Ainu, the Indigenous people of Japan, have fought Japanese domination for centuries. As this century unfolds, their efforts are finally paying off. Chris Willson/Alamy Stock Photo Thi…
A Dominican immigrant cuts the hair of a customer at her New York City salon. Seth Wenig/Associated Press This article was originally published at The Conversation and has been republishe…
Then Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, left, hugs his son Donald Trump Jr. during a rally at Ohio University Eastern Campus in St. Clairsville, Ohio, in June 2016.…
Archaeological small finds can tell us a great deal about how status, gender, and identity are situated in and on the body. In December 1759, John Page noted…
The small city of Hazard, Kentucky, rests in the heart of Appalachia. David Stephenson/Associated Press This article was originally published at The Conversation and has been republished …
In the oasis of his studio, Constantin Brâncuși revolutionized sculpture by drawing out the “being that is within matter”—the cosmic essence or spirit that exists underneath the surface.…
Are you a heterosexual? Feeling discriminated against by a persecuted minority? Why can’t we celebrate what makes us common and powerful? Just because we’re not unique, it doesn’t…