Song as Boundary Work: On Dylan and the Nobel Prize American Anthropological Association This post was submitted by Robert Skoro.A musician-turned-anthropologist, Robert works in private industry as a strategist and researcher. Bob Dylan has been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, a remarkable gesture to all, whether obvious or controversial. His songs provoked and catalyzed cultural … Read more
Malinowski and Hats Savage Minds: Notes and Queries in Anthropology The alternate title for this post was going to be “Malinowski, Radcliffe-Brown, and Boas walk into a bar…”. This is a little autobiographical passage from pages 46-48 of History, Evolution, and the Concept of Culture: Selected Papers by Alexander Lesser. In it, Lesser (a vastly under-read and under-appreciated … Read more
To the list of reasons why the 2016 presidential contest in the United States has been especially notable and newsworthy, we might add the number of superlatives surrounding it. Headlines refer to the two leading contenders—Hillary Rodham Clinton and Donald J. Trump—as the “least trusted” and “most unfavorable candidates ever.” Despite the unpopularity of the … Read more
Anthropology and Photography Material World by Haidy Geismar Anthropology & Photography (ISSN 2397-1754) is a new open-access RAI publication series edited by the RAI Photography Committee. Emerging from the international conference of the same name organized by the RAI at the British Museum in 2014, the series will highlight and make available to the widest possible … Read more
Anthropology and the MacArthurs Savage Minds: Notes and Queries in Anthropology The 2016 MacArthur Fellows were announced yesterday and — unlike some years — there were no anthropologists on the list. Established back in 1981, the grant was intended not to find “geniuses” (despite the fact that its nicknamed the genius grant) but rather “talented individuals … Read more
Paleolithic Ax Debunks Colonial Myth SAPIENS by Jacqueline Matthews and Martin Porr Earlier this year, a team of Australian researchers led by Peter Hiscock from the University of Sydney published new findings about a fragment of a ground-edge ax—which might have been similar to the hafted ax shown here—that had been discovered in the Kimberly region … Read more
ArXiv for anthropology: @SocArXiv + #AAA2016 = Open Access Strikes Back Savage Minds: Notes and Queries in Anthropology Cliffs Notes version of this post: @SocArXiv is a Green Open Access digital repository that is currently being developed for the social sciences. I think this is a good thing. Let’s talk Open Access and publishing at #AAA2016. … Read more
Paul W. Friedrich, anthropologist and linguist, 1927-2016 UChicago News Paul W. Friedrich, an anthropologist, linguist and poet whose sweeping scholarship ranged from agrarian reform in Mexico to Russian lyric poetry to ties between Thoreau’s Walden and Hindu scripture, died at his home on Aug. 11. He was 88 years old. The next evolution in biological … Read more
This is a site for the Games: http://etnosporfestivali.com/ It does not seem to have pages in English. There is also the federation. Not all the pages in English available but still: http://worldethnosport.org/?lang=en The federation center is in Turkey and the founding countries of World Ethnosport Confederation are Turkey and Kyrgizistan according to the website. President of the federation is Bilal … Read more
A short report by Philipp Budka 1) EASA Media Anthropology Network Meeting (21 July 2016) Philipp Budka introduced the network, its history and its activities to a group of about 15 people, some new and some regular participants to the network’s meetings at EASA conferences. The network, which was established in 2004, has particularly become known for … Read more
In a strange turn of events, failed coup attempt’s aftermath begins to affect our daily lives and plans. Turkey Bans Academics From Traveling this morning and I am one of the many victims. My academic trip to EASA 2016 conference would start tomorrow early morning and now after a bit of inquiries, it has become a certain … Read more
Introducing the Public Anthropology Institute Savage Minds: Notes and Queries in Anthropology This entry is part 9 of 9 in the Decolonizing Anthropology series. By: Faye V. Harrison, Carole McGranahan, Matilda Ostow, Melissa Rosario, Paul Stoller, Gina Athena Ulysse and Maria Vesperi The massacre in Orlando was just two days before we sat together around a … Read more
Decolonizing Anthropology Textbook Covers Savage Minds: Notes and Queries in Anthropology — A Group Blog by Decolonizing Anthropology This entry is part 8 of 8 in the Decolonizing Anthropology series. By: Elizabeth (Dori) Tunstall and Jennifer Esperanza As young anthropology students in the 90s we heard Dr. Faye Harrison call: decolonizing anthropology is about “working to free … Read more
AAA Boycott Vote Postmortem Savage Minds: Notes and Queries in Anthropology By now you have probably heard that the boycott vote failed by an incredibly narrow margin: In the end an astounding 51% of its 10,000 members participated. The resolution failed by exactly 39 votes: 2,423-2,384 (50.4%-49.6%)—a statistical dead heat. David Palumbo-Liu, Steven Salaita, Charlotte Silver, … Read more
AAA Membership Votes Down Academic Boycott Resolution June 6, 2016: In a close vote, the AAA membership voted against the resolution to boycott Israeli academic institutions. Fifty-one percent of AAA’s eligible members voted, the largest turnout in AAA history, with 2,423 members opposing the resolution, and 2,384 voting to support it. The membership has spoken … Read more