Pandora’s Brew: The New Ayahuasca Part 7
Conclusion: It’s all fun and games… As I mentioned in the first post of my series, anthropologists and ethnobiologists have played an outsized role in studying and popularizing…
Tag: Religion
Spring (northern hemisphere) Anthropocene books out now or soon…
A few recently released or soon to be released titles (not counting my own) on various aspects of the Anthropocene. Clive Hamilton’s Defiant Earth: The Fate of Humans…
Islam Nusantara: Conferentie over een vreedzame Islam.
Door Freek Colombijn. Van 27-29 maart vond in Nederland de “1st Biennial International Conference on Moderate Islam in Indonesia” plaats. De conferentie was georganiseerd door de Nederlandse afdeling…
Refusing Blood, Establishing Relational Biocitizenship: Collectivizing Moments among Jehovah’s Witnesses in Germany
Hide Press Release (2 Less Words) Małgorzata Rajtar Picture 1: Excerpt from a Jehovah’s Witness advance directive. © Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania. Photo: M.…
Aesthetics or Ethnography? Notes on the Amsterdam Anthropology Lecture Series (AALS)
Photography by Omar, one of Termeer’s respondents By Matthias Teeuwen When one thinks of a Muslim artist in the Netherlands one naturally thinks of someone who, with his…
Do Dreams Give Voice to the Divine?
Many Muslims believe that dreams engage critical and meaningful realms of experience—sometimes offering prophecy and at other times providing divinely inspired insights and encounters. Michel…
Pandora’s Brew: The New Ayahuasca Part 4
Ayahuasca Healings Last week (March 18, 2017), I received an email that read, in toto: Just like I promised: Get the free eBook here (right click, “Save Link…
Wrestling With the Culture of Drug Testing in Sports
Lutte avec frappe, or “wrestling with punches,” the most popular sport in Senegal, adopted international anti-doping rules in 2015. Mark Hann On May 31, 2015, the combat between…
Pandora’s Brew: The New Ayahuasca
Part 2: The New Ayahuasca Churches Yesterday I sat in on a webinar sponsored by ICEERS (the International Center for Ethnobotanical Education, Research and Service) and organized by anthropologist…
Pandora’s Brew: The New Ayahuasca
Savage Minds welcomes guest blogger Christina Callicott. I’m guessing that by now most of my readers will have heard of this stuff called “ayahuasca.” Everyone from Stephen Colbert…
More maps!
Maps are a useful tool for helping us make sense of our world. For anthropologists, they are also useful tools for critically thinking about the kinds global-local social…
More maps!
Maps are a useful tool for helping us make sense of our world. For anthropologists, they are also useful tools for critically thinking about the kinds global-local social…
Rice Reveals African Slaves’ Agricultural Heritage
Clues about the history—and survival—of African slaves in the Americas can be found in certain plants, such as rice. David Williams When Tinde van Andel purchased a small…
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.…
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 …