The Long Path to Enlightenment
A common Indian folk tale tells the story of a forest-dwelling hermit who had neither possessions nor troubles, except that a mouse was nibbling away at his loincloth.…
Tag: Religion
Postmodernism Comes to America
Fake News and the End of Facts I recently had the pleasure (?) of engaging in a fruitless debate on social media with a friend of a friend.…
How Tourism Reinvented Jesus’ Baptism Site
The Yardenit Baptismal Site is a pilgrimage place that many visitors say allows them to connect to events outlined in the Bible, including the baptism and ministry of…
Christine Wilson Award Winner, Part II
Yesterday we announced this year’s winner of the 2016 Christine Wilson Undergraduate Award and today we are proud to announce the winner of the 2016 Christine Wilson Graduate…
Evolutionary Anthropological Approaches to the Study of Religion
Historically, evolutionary anthropologists have allocated the majority of our attention to topics like subsistence strategies, parental investment, warfare, etc. One topic that has been given only min…
#Podcast Interview Round Up May-August: New Books in Anthropology – REDUX
It’s once again time for us to help your eardrums get some anthropological loving in collaboration with our dear friends, New Books in Anthropology. Below you’ll find a…
The Perennial Power of Ritual
A rain dance won’t make water fall from the sky. Casting a spell won’t cure cancer. Tarot cards can’t really reveal the future. Yet rituals like these have…
#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…
How a Teacher’s Race Affects their Ability to Teach about Race
I met with someone from the Diversity and Equity Office at the University where I teach part-time yesterday. We’ve agreed to collaborate on a few classes for my…
Burning incense | 烧香
One month ago I happened to drop by Basement6 right on time for the opening of a solo exhibition by Shangainese artist 许聪 Xu Cong called Technological Spectacle…
The Paradox of Donald Trump’s Appeal
Offensive and bombastic rhetoric is key to Donald Trump’s campaign. Why are voters drawn to this taboo-violating candidate? Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/Associated Press Donald Trump is the …
#Podcast Interview Round Up January-April: New Books in Anthropology – REDUX
Hi there pod-pickers, here’s another earful of podcasts for you to squeeze into your drums, freshly prepared by our audiophile associates New Books in Anthropology. As ever each…
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: Sacred Rice
Davidson, Joanna. (2016). Sacred Rice: An Ethnography of Identity, Environment, and Development in West Africa. Oxford University Press. (249 pp.) Reviewed by Mark Dailey Green Mountain College, Poult…
Mass Violence and Teachable Moments
This past weekend, Orlando, Florida witnessed the worst mass shooting in America’s recent history. This violent, planned attack in a public place is tragic, and our hearts go out…
Islam, broadcast media, and the remaking of religious experience in Mali
See below a seventh (7th) set of notes under the theme of media and change in preparation for the volume Postill, J., E. Ardevol and S. Tenhunen (eds.)…
Moral crises: magical and secular solutions (Gluckman 1964)
via HAU journal This work is licensed under the Creative Commons | © Max Gluckman. ISSN 2049-1115 (Online). DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.14318/hau4.2.025 REPRINT Moral crises Magical and secular solution…
Christen in China: Von Internetkritik und Kirchenschließungen
Die Stimmung gegenüber Christen in China ist bedenklich. Priester und Anwälte werden verhaftet, Kirchen abgerissen. Dies spiegelt nicht nur die aktuelle Abschottungspolitik der chinesischen Regierung …
The Right to Own Living Memorials
Are you an organ donor? Have you donated your body to science? Have you donated a loved one’s body to science? If you answer yes to any of…
On the Brazilian crisis, Pentecostalism and thinking out of the bubble
Pentecostal service in the Brazilian field site. Photo by: Juliano Spyer Brazil is in the midst of a heated national debate between people in favour of, and those contrary…
Why I’m Voting for the Boycott Part 1: David vs. Goliath
Last November anthropologists attending the AAA business meeting in Denver voted by an astounding 1040-136 to endorse the resolution to boycott Israeli academic institutions, but this was just…
Konvertiten in China: Was war nochmal Islam?
Terror, Gewalt, Extremismus: in diesem Zusammenhang wird auch in China über den Islam berichtet. Dennoch schließen sich vermehrt junge Menschen dieser Glaubensrichtung an. Im Netz berichten sie…
Ancestral Lines, Second Edition
At the core of the Teaching Culture series of ethnographies is John Barker’s Ancestral Lines: The Maisin of Papua New Guinea and the Fate of the Rainforest. This…
Ladders to Other Worlds
As a symbol of cultural continuity, the wooden pueblo ladder connects its users to their ancestors, the universe, their spiritual beliefs, and one another. Pueblo Indian communities in…