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…
Tag: methods
AAA Webinar Wednesday: Research Methods for Anthropological Studies of Food and Nutrition
SAFN is organizing a webinar with the American Anthropological Association. Former SAFN presidents Janet Chrzan and John Brett will lead a discussion of their forthcoming edited collection on…
“Bioculturalism” — An interview with Greg Downey by Greg Downy
This series aims to get anthropologists and closely-related others talking seriously, and thinking practically, about how to synergize biological and social scientific approaches to human health and w…
Taking On debt: Perspectives from across the social sciences (Part 1)
Understanding why households become over-indebted is a crucial step to planning interventions at the level of the consumer or through policy, but it is not a straightforward task.…
“Bioculturalism” — An interview with Christopher Lynn by Christopher D. Lynn
This series aims to get anthropologists and closely-related others talking seriously, and thinking practically, about how to synergize biological and social scientific approaches to human health and w…
Article Alert! Attuning to the Chemosphere: Domestic Formaldehyde, Bodily Reasoning, and the Chemical Sublime
“”During the first hour spent in houses with suspected indoor air-quality issues, I would slowly develop an ache in the back of my eyes, which would with time…
Image as Method: Conversations on Anthropology through the Image by Andrés Romero
What follows is a series of conversations conducted after the recent Image as Method symposium, which took place on May 4th and 5th, 2015, at Columbia University’s Heyman…
“Bioculturalism” – An interview with Emily Mendenhall by Emily Mendenhall
This series aims to get anthropologists and closely-related others talking seriously, and thinking practically, about how to synergize biological and social scientific approaches to human health and w…
“Bioculturalism” – An interview with William Dressler by William Dressler
This series aims to get anthropologists and closely-related others talking seriously, and thinking practically, about how to synergize biological and social scientific approaches to human health and w…
Introduction: “Bioculturalism: The Why and How of a Promising Medical Anthropological Future” by Jeffrey G. Snodgrass
I’m perplexed by cultural anthropology’s antagonism toward biology, with culture and biology more typically treated as providing alternate and competing, rather than complementary and synergistic, exp…
Designing for the Future at Giant Mine
How do you communicate permanent pollution and toxicity to future generations? We held workshops with community members in Yellowknife and Dettah to make models about they would communicate…
Sensory postcards: Using mobile media for digital ethnographies
As a mobile media practitioner interested in mediated everyday experience and urban space, my use of technology for collecting data, sharing impressions and observing cultural practices has sh…
Plastic Marine Smog and Horizontal Smoke Stacks: Representations of Pollution as Knowledge
Representations are the basis of human knowledge both in terms of how knowledge is made as well as how it is reproduced and circulated. They are the way…
Anonymity, Ethnography, and Alice Goffman: Welcome, journalists
I think I’ve written and thrown away three separate posts on the Alice Goffman debate trying to find something to say that people will find interesting. I personally don’t find the…
Creating Methods that Speak Across Disciplines in Medical Anthropology by Emily Mendenhall
María and I finished our three hours together with a blood spot and a hug. It was an extra long hug, and I couldn’t be sure if it…
A methodological case of comparative anthropology
Image Courtesy Quinn Dombrowski (Creative Commons) I hear from colleagues in our department that completing a PhD can often be a solitary experience. Anthropologists tend to accept the fact that socia…
‘Are Religion and Science in Conflict?’
Scientific investigation could have revealed that our universe is full of meaning and purpose. It could have told us that we are at the centre of the…
Launching new project on global consumer finance research
Gawain Lynch and I are happy to announce that we have just begun a new project with the IMTFI on global research in consumer finance. Over the next…
Verklempt: Historically Informed Digital Ethnography
I’m not one to speak about theory and method in the abstract. But when I am asked about my method, I typically respond that I use historically informed…
Observing a McDonald’s Drive Through
Observing the McDonald’s drive-through at the corner of Pape and Cosburn, Toronto, Ontario What can you observe in 30 minutes? Last February 20th I had lunch at a…