The Great American Cultural Eclipse

Robert Myers with David Toot Total solar eclipses are magnificent, dramatic visual collisions of moon and sun. They are also cosmic provocateurs that provide life-long memories. The eclipse on Monday, August 21, 2017 did not disappoint. Beyond its heavenly mechanics, the Big Event served as a cultural and personal projective test of national dimensions. The […]

Her Road from Damascus: A Syrian Refugee Story

How Raghad Alhallak and her family sold their home and bakery in Syria, scaled a mountain, fought off wild dogs, evaded border guards and nearly drowned at sea — before being welcomed in Germany. The Alhallak family fled Damascus at the end of the summer of 2013, after selling their jewelry, their bakery and their […]

More than Scenery: National Parks Preserve Our History and Culture

On August 25, 2016, the National Park Service (NPS) will celebrate its 100th birthday. But what’s a party without people? In fact, while many Americans think of national parks as places to experience nature, they also preserve unique resources that tell stories about the everyday lives of people and their American journeys. Along with protecting […]

When State Replaces God

Following every international or domestic terrorism act committed by a Muslim, the American-Muslim community divides under political pressure on the issue of whether or not Muslims should take collective responsibility and communally condemn the acts of a few individuals. On one hand is a group of Muslim activists and organizations who condemn and account for […]

Anthro/Zine Highlights: Student Report from Bali

Now in its second year of publication, Anthro/Zine is the undergraduate companion to Anthropology Now. Each new issue, published under a Creative Commons license, is released online to coincide with the journal — April, September, and December. Anthropology Now welcomes student author Emily Crawford, whose essay on plants in Bali, Indonesia, appeared in the April […]

Jubilation During Trying Times: Carnival in Guinea-Bissau

~ an essay with photos ~ For decades, the small West African country of Guinea-Bissau has been plagued by coups, misrule, political instability and non-existent infrastructures. It is often described as a failed state, a narco-state, a volatile country, a collapsed economy.  Since its independence from Portugal in 1974, none of its elected leaders have ever completed a […]

Laughter is Social Glue

– After Ritu Khanduri, With apologies Laughter is social glue— When it escapes the blow is softened— The Brits did not know about Laughter Out of Place, said They, Those brown people, have no sense of fun, only satire and malice—Why can they not be happy we’ve won?   Laughter is social glue— It cements […]

Zika and Microcephaly: Can We Learn from History?

Brazil is facing an epidemic of a severe birth defect: microcephaly (abnormally small head size), a condition linked with important neurological impairments and developmental delays. Not all children born with an abnormally small circumference of the head suffer from these problems, but many do. The microcephaly epidemic has been linked to an infection with the […]

Children on the Border: Could Migration be the Problem, Not the Solution?

Youth gang recruits in Guatemala and elsewhere in Central America are at risk at home, during migration, and even once they reach the U.S. Photo courtesy of USAID Can a border crisis originate in nurseries? More and more Americans are hiring women from Central America to raise their children. More often than not, the women […]

Rasanblaj Continua: A Conversation with Gina Athena Ulysse

This past summer marked the release of Caribbean Rasanblaj, a special double issue of the Hemispheric Institute’s journal, e-misférica. Our social media team at Anthropology Now was proud to spread the word about this unique online resource, which is available to all at: Hemispheric Institute’s journal, e-misférica In this web-exclusive discussion for Anthropology Now, Andrea Queeley interviews the project’s […]