Erkan's field diary

I woke up in early March to find that I was now a global talent— but only if I had enough ‘points’ to keep my job and life as I was building it in the UK. Unfortunately, I could not readily ascertain whether I was now a valuable asset to Great Britain or whether I was consigned to the category of faceless undesirable labourers, who apparently were destroying British society. The government website that promised to add up my points and indicate my fate kept crashing. The change in British immigration regulations came in the wake of a debate that built public opinion for the latest exclusionary policies. British politicians, demagogic leaders, and media personalities joined their mates in a host of other countries in blaming migrants for national economic problems such as the growing disparity between rich and poor, the reduced quality and availability of public services and education, and the rising costs of health care and housing. Calls for tightening borders and ending immigration are widespread, while countries around the world increasing deny asylum to people desperately seeking refuge from war, rape, and pillage. Rates of expulsion are rising dramatically. Yet the immigration policies of countries in many places in the world have been rewritten to facilitate the migration of ‘highly skilled professionals’ and various forms of short term ‘low skilled’ contract labour.

How to get more young readers? Associated Press turns to anthropologists

By Lorenz

The number of young newspaper readers is declining. In order to better understand the behaviors of young readers, Associated Press commissioned a team of anthropologists to follow 18 young individuals around the world and examine their media habits, the Editors Weblog reports.

Anthropology blogs more interesting than journals?

By Lorenz

Have anthropology journals ignored students? Is this one of the reasons for the popularity of anthropology blogs? Anthropology journals are not well known among students, Owen Wiltshire writes in his class assignment Why do anthropologists blog? A mini ethnography, a story, and a field report:

More on RECLAIM THE ANTHROPOLOGIX

By Maximilian Forte

I was very happy to receive a reply from Illcommonz, in response to questions I sent regarding the meaning of “Anthropologix,” what the words were next to the MTV logo on the screen (I was not sure if I had read them clearly), and to ask questions about the makers of the film. The response I received added some important clarification, but was also very encouraging where “open anthropology” is concerned.

Illcommonz explained that the meaning of the term “anthropologix” is “NOT Anthropology,” as in not the academic discipline (genre was the word used). The MTV logo was inserted by the video creators, not because it was shown on MTV, as I thought (I fell for it), but as a sign of contemporaneity.

Illcommonz explained that he lectures at a university, and is an artist-activist-anthropologist who teaches anarchist anthropology. He explained that the title of his course, “bunka jinrui gaku kaiho kouza”, means lectures in open anthropology.

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Pablo Picasso, Guernica, 1937. Photo: Courtesy of Reina Sofia Museum. found in Gallery That Houses Guernica at the Reina Sofia in Madrid to Get Complete Overhaul

Why do anthropologists blog?

Over the past few months I’ve been looking into the question “why do anthropologists blog?”. I’ve written up my reflections into a “mini ethnography” of sorts. The project involved a small survey, interviews, and a focus group - involving students and teachers. I would have kept it short and sweet, but there was a bit of a length competition going on in the class, and I encouraged myself to write perhaps a bit too much.

Sharing knowledge: how the internet is fueling change in anthropology

sharingknowledge1 (powerpoint form) - I had to convert it from open office format to upload it here. Backgrounds got a bit butchered…

This presentation serves as the basis for my main thesis proposal. I’ve run it by two classes so far, and since I’ve been talking so much about blogging and sharing knowledge, I’ll just get this out of the way and start sharing myself.

Ethnographic study: Social network sites are "virtual campfires"

By Lorenz

Postill, J. (2008) Localizing the internet beyond communities and networks

By John Postill

What is design anthropology?
By sladner
Tunstall clearly lays out some of the deeper implications of design anthropology later in the post. This is a must read for anyone looking to deepen their design or research practice.

Design Anthropology Explained!
By Chris Travis
Elizabeth "Dori" Tunstall is an Associate Professor of Design Anthropology at University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) in the School of Art and Design. I met her because she was looking for people from a variety of disciplines for a

Makeup and female Caucasian attractiveness

By dienekesp

Int J Cosmet Sci. 2003 Aug;25(4):199-205. Do cosmetics enhance female Caucasian facial attractiveness? Mulhern R, Fieldman G, Hussey T, Lévêque JL, Pineau P. This study sought to investigate whether cosmetics do improve female facial attractiveness,

What makes humans unique?

By gregdowney on general

Prof. Michael Tomasello, co-director of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, whose work on chimpanzees and human children, on the biological capacity for culture, and a range of other subjects, must place him among the most important contemporary thinkers using comparative primate data, asks ‘How Are Humans Unique?’ in a recent piece for The New York Times‘ Idea Lab.