Trash
The Seattle Times introduces the work of David Giles, an anthropology graduate student whose research interests revolve around trash: For his doctoral thesis, the University of Washington student is examining how cultural assumptions of what is appetizing lead to the disposal of surplus, edible food. He’s become a pro at vaulting into Dumpsters, picking through […]
Debunking Doomsday
John W. Hoopes, an anthropologist at the University of Kansas, teaches a course on “Archaeological Myths and Realities” in which he tackles the 2012 myth among other doomsday premonitions: The United States has always embraced religious freedom. Peculiar religious sects, including occult beliefs, have always been part of America,” Hoopes said. “End-of-the-world and transformative beliefs […]
David Graeber
David Graeber is the subject of the cover story in the latest issue of the Bloomberg Businessweek magazine where he is is profiled as one of the founding activist of the Occupy Wall Street movement: David Graeber likes to say that he had three goals for the year: promote his book, learn to drive, and […]
Magic!
The Independent features the work of Graham Jones, an Anthropologists from MIT who studied the world of Professional magicians in Paris: Graham Jones might not have been able to pull a rabbit out of a hat at a kids’ party, but he was going to have to make a pain au chocolat appear from nowhere […]
Anthropologists Not Needed in Florida
Speaking at The Mark Bernier Show, Florida Governor Rick Scott expressed an unfavorable opinion of anthropology: We don’t need a lot more anthropologists in the state. It’s a great degree if people want to get it, but we don’t need them here. I want to spend our dollars giving people science, technology, engineering, and math […]
The Universality of Homosexuality
Reflecting upon Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s assertion that there are no homosexuals in Iran, this Slate Magazine article discusses recent anthropological research conducted by Barry and Bonnie Hewlett and considers if homosexuality exists in every human society At a press event two weeks ago, CNN’s Wolf Blitzer asked Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to elaborate on […]
On the Road
Bill Fairbanks, a retired anthropology professor from Los Osos, CA, has spent the last three summers walking along roads “to find out more about America’s inhabitants and what drives them.” I needed a challenge. So, I figured I would just walk across the country and study it as I go,” he explains. Read more at […]
Language Extinction
Cultural anthropologist Wade Davis has investigated zombies in Haiti, lived with tribes in the Amazon and Andes, and explored vanishing indigenous cultures from Borneo to east Africa. He has been the inspiration for three episodes of the television series The X Files. […] He said that every two weeks, somewhere in the world, an elder died […]
Homophobia in Soccer
Type the name of Philipp Lahm into the Google search engine and the first thing its “autocomplete” feature throws up about Germany’s national football captain is “Philipp Lahm schwul” – “Philipp Lahm gay”. […]As elsewhere in Europe, Germany has no openly gay men in the professional leagues. Given the amount of repressive hide-and-seek going on, […]
Sex, Crimes and Punishment
Roger N. Lancaster published an opinion Piece at NYTimes, arguing that “Our sex offender laws are expansive, costly and ineffective — guided by panic, not reason.” In fact, the crimes that most spur public outrage — the abduction, rape and murder of children — are exceedingly rare. Statistically, a child’s risk of being killed by […]