Imperial Instruction: The Human Terrain System?s Academic Trainers, Part 1
As part of the series designed to ?map the terrain? of war corporatism, beginning with charting the private corporations contracted by the Human Terrain System (HTS), corporations with military, intelligence, and other specializations, then examining the various other human terrain efforts outside of HTS, and then generally considering how anthropologists and other social scientists have sought to capitalize on the ?war on terror,? one of the elements that was missing was an outline of who the academics are that train HTS employees. We already know the identities of several social scientists, and others, who have formed part of Human Terrain Teams in Iraq and Afghanistan, but we have had no list of those who train them?the academics behind the curtain. This is an attempt to fill in that gap, using and synthesizing materials freely available online, and with some leads and other information provided by Roberto González, John Stanton, and Jamil Hanifi, and three former HTS employees who have contacted me by email. Needless to say, it is unlikely that the list and overview provided here is a complete one.
Imperial Instruction: The Human Terrain System?s Academic Trainers, Part 2
HTS? Other Handlers
There are those trainers who are not attached to either UNO or the University of Kansas as faculty.
Human Terrain System Criticized by U.S. Congress
The U.S. House of Representatives Armed Services Committee (HASC) has issued a criticism of the Human Terrain System, limiting its funding until the U.S. Army can submit a formal review that addresses ?certain concerns.? (Thanks as well to ?Napkin Chagnon? for the update.)
In a document titled, ?H.R. 5136 ? Nation Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011,? the HASC stated the following regarding HTS (see page 25):
House Panel Puts the Brakes on ?Human Terrain?
It ain?t over, but it seems like HTS is at least ?on hold? for now.
The House Armed Services Committee, in its version of the defense budget bill, says it ?remains supportive? of HTS. But, as Spencer Ackerman points out, the committee says it will ?limi[t] the obligation of funding?the project, until ?the Army submits a required assessment of the program, provides revalidation of all existing operations requirements, and certifies Department?level guidelines for the use of social scientists.?
“Embodiment and its Extremes”: a special issue of Medical Anthropology
It seems like there’s another special issue coming out every other day recently. The latest is an issue of Medical Anthropology: Cross-Cultural Studies in Health and Illness on “Embodiment and its Extremes” guest edited by Karen-Sue Taussig and by frequent Somatosphere contributor Matthew Wolf-Meyer.Durham Anthropology Journal: How “post-socialist” is Eastern Europe?
?Beyond postsocialism? Creativity, moral resistance and change in the corners of Eurasia? is the title of the new issue of Durham Anthropology Journal.
Savage Interview: Going Corporate with IBM Anthropologist Melissa Cefkin
In my first batch of Savage interviews I am focusing on anthropologists like Simon Sinek working in or with corporations (Barry Dornfeld and Grant McCracken, you out there and willing to talk?). I recently had the pleasure of talking with Melissa Cefkin, IBM anthropologist and editor of the recently published ?Ethnography and the Corporate Encounter: Reflections on Research in and of Corporations.?
Open Access: Anthropological Notebooks – journal of the Slovenian Anthropological Society
For some reason this journal has hardly been mentioned on anthropology blogs. But Anthropology Notebooks is actually one of the few serious traditional anthropology journals with free access to all articles for everybody (from 2005). And it is an expanding journal: While promising recent open access initiatives like After Culture have shut down, Anthropology Notebooks has started publishing three issues instead of one issue per year.
Human Terrain Teams Feared More than CIA: John Stanton
Student Opportunities on the AAA Website
The AAA website is a great resource for students seeking info on upcoming meetings, funding, field schools and more. Did you know the American Museum of Natural History?s Center for Biodiversity and Conservation will host the Student Conference on Conservation Science in New York, Nov 3-5? This is a great opportunity for grad students, post-docs, early-career professionals, and those considering a profession in the field. To participate, submit an application online by May 18, or check out the AAA meetings calendar for other events in your area. To submit conference info for the calendar, email Amy Goldenberg at agoldenberg [at] aaanet.org.
Annual Meeting Video: Human No More
Human No More: Digital Subjectivities, Un-Human Subjects and the End of Anthropology
The AAA thanks Aaron Shapiro (UPenn) for kindly volunteering his time to record this session. Neil Whitehead (U. Wisconsin ? Madison) and Michael Wesch (Kansas State U.) also deserve praise for organizing the panel and helping secure its place on the web.
Student Websites and the Classroom: Anthropology Online
Over the past year, Eric Lindland has guided his students in creating websites as part of their anthropology coursework. Using Weebly, an easy-to-use platform, these Notre Dame students have shown off their learning online.
In Lindland?s Fall 2009 class, Cultural Difference and Social Change, students who had returned from a significant international experience over the summer came together to process what they had learned. The websites proved central in that process, and also students show what they had done and what it meant to other students and their families and friends.
Somatosphere reviewed in American Anthropologist
Thanks to Robert A. Hahn for his review of Somatosphere in the latest (June 2010) issue of American Anthropologist. Hahn writes:Discover more from Erkan's Field Diary
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