“An archive of interviews with anthropologists

An archive of interviews with anthropologists from Somatosphere by Eugene Raikhel Alan Macfarlane interviews Clifford Geertz in 2004. As a number of anthro blogs have mentioned in the past, Alan Macfarlane, of the Department of Social Anthropology at Cambridge, has assembled a massive online archive of video materials, including a lot of in-depth interviews with … Read more

antropologi.info asks “The return of colonial anthropology?/ anthro roundup

The return of colonial anthropology?

from antropologi.info – anthropology in the news blog by Lorenz

?A dysfunctional ethnic and tribal brawl has been the norm in Afghanistan for centuries. Afghanistan is a mess. ? Who said that? A frustrated U.S. military officer? No, a professor of anthropology, Robert L. Moore.

In his article Tribes, Corruption Ail Afghanistan in The Ledger he shares his concerns about the difficulties for ?us? (=the U.S. military) to ?push this contentious country into the 21st century? and turn it into a ?normal, stable country? that will be ?governable in the way that most nations are”.

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19 July. Deadline for Independent Assessment of Human Terrain System…

2500 Year Old Anatolian Face: A University of Otago team has re-created the face of a 2500-year-old Turkish peasant, its second such project, and hopes its technology will be used in courts in coming years. University of Otago senior lecturer in anatomy and structural biology Dr George Dias, who heads the group, the only one … Read more

Antro roundup: “Why anthropology proves Toy Story 3 is not sexist” and more

Why anthropology proves Toy Story 3 is not sexist from An Eye on the Culture Wars by Dr. K A sad, strange little review of the new Toy Story movie in Ms. Magazine has kept me busy blogging on their site. You can see my responses to the conversation going on there but I thought I would … Read more

Antro roundup: “a Muslim anthropologist studying American society” / new in HTS etc

“Encouraging to see a Muslim anthropologist studying American society”

from antropologi.info – anthropology in the news blog by Lorenz

Days and weeks before the launch of the new book by anthropologist Akbar Ahmed called Journey into America: the Challenge of Islam, it was already reviewed in major Pakistani newspapers. ?Usually it is Western anthropologists who study Muslim societies. It is encouraging to see a Muslim scholar returning the compliment by studying American society”, Maleeha Lodhi writes in The News.

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Anthro roundup: Savage Minds at Five, news from Human Terrain System etc…

New Open Access Journal: Anthropology Reviews: Dissent and Cultural Politics (ARDAC) from antropologi.info – anthropology in the news blog by Lorenz Is this one of the first real web2.0-journals in anthropology? A new Open Access journal was launched: Anthropology Reviews: Dissent and Cultural Politics (ARDAC) Five years of Savage Minds: Its the Content, Stupid from … Read more

Anthro roundup: Open Anthropology reveals the academic trainers of The Human Terrain System etc

Imperial Instruction: The Human Terrain System?s Academic Trainers, Part 1

from OPEN ANTHROPOLOGY by Maximilian Forte

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

from OPEN ANTHROPOLOGY by Maximilian Forte

?continued from Part 1

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

from OPEN ANTHROPOLOGY by Maximilian Forte

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?

from Savage Minds: Notes and Queries in Anthropology ? A Group Blog by Kerim

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.?

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Media Anthropology Network re-launched

New e-seminar at the Media Antropology Network continues…

Media #anthro e-seminar starting now: ?Migrant workers? use of ICTs for interpersonal communication?

from media/anthropology by John Postill

** via EASA Media Anthropology Network list **

[…]

Dear All

Welcome to another EASA Media Anthropology Network e-seminar! Over the next two weeks we?ll be discussing through this mailing list a working paper by Minu Thomas and Sun Sun Lim entitled ?Migrant workers? use of ICTs for interpersonal communication ? The experience of female domestic workers in Singapore.? You will find the abstract below and can download the full paper here: http://www.media-anthropology.net/thomas_lim_migrant_workers_ICT.pdf

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A video: Human Terrain System & War in Iraq

Human Terrain System & War in Iraq



Anthropologists Speak Out Against Human Terrain Systems & War on Terror

Made by Harjant Gill
Dept of Anthroppology
American University

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Janine Wedel: Global elites undermine democracy

Anthropologist uncovers how global elites undermine democracy from antropologi.info – anthropology in the news blog by Lorenz Janine Wedel has done something that far too few anthropolologists do: She studied powerful people. Those who rule the world. In her book ?Shadow Elite?, she shows how a new system of power and influence has taken hold … Read more

“2010 Annual Meeting Call for Papers Deadline Approaching (#AAA2010)

2010 Annual Meeting Call for Papers Deadline Approaching

from American Anthropological Association by Jason

The deadline to submit proposals for the 109th Annual Meeting in New Orleans is only 10 days away!

How can you participate?

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Ian McEwan and the anthropologists

Ian McEwan, Jingpo villagers, and the anthropologist

from Culture Matters by Third Tone Devil

In Ian McEwan?s new novel, Solar, an anthropologist of science named Nancy Temple causes the downfall of the hero, Michael Beard, a Nobel laurate physicist, by resigning from a committee he heads in protest to his statement that women are just not as interested in physics as men, and this has to do with biological differences. The press then accuses Beard of being a social Darwinist, a eugenicist and a hegemon, and digs out his womanizing to compound the evidence of him being a misogynist.

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“AAA Annual Meeting Call for Papers Now Open (#AAA2010)

Special issue of Science as Culture on Identity and Narrative in STS from Somatosphere by Eugene Raikhel The latest issue of Science as Culture focuses on a topic which has long been central to cultural anthropology, but remains relatively novel in science and technology studies (STS): first-person narrative and the relationship between scholars and their … Read more

“Human Terrain on Google Ads?

Human Terrain on Google Ads? from ethnografix by Ryan Anderson Well, this wasn’t expected. So I was checking out an anthropology-related site a while ago, just to see what was going on around those parts. And I noticed an interesting ad in the Google sidebar (which is common on many blogs and others sites): Wherefore … Read more