iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Angela K. VandenBroek, PhD

L Gil @gilanthro.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Practical and playful - that's how I intended to write this piece on "Making Together" as a method. In it, I offer suggestions for researching sociotechnical objects and communities of practice by un/re/making things with others. Take a look at this excellent volume at kitsformethods.com.

CH 8 - GIL
Kits for Digital Methods: Doing Sociotechnical Research. Edited by Angela K. VandenBroek and Nicole Taylor. The Making Together Kit by Liliana Gil This kit turns to collaborative making as an elicitation method. Through the shared construction of DIY technological objects—like microscopes—participants reflect on design, engineering, and the social dynamics around technology. Available now for preorder. Get 20% when ordering directly from Routledge with promo code 26AFLY1. kitsformethods.com

BOOK INVITE
Kits for Digital Methods: Doing Sociotechnical Research. Edited by Angela K. VandenBroek and Nicole Taylor. We invite you to look past the specificity of the fieldsites or topics to attend to what each kit reveals about methodological thinking, problem-solving, ethical negotiation, and the everyday labor of making research work. Play, experiment, explore, and improvise in each kit’s sandbox to get a feel for how they work, how they might be adapted, and what they might inspire within your own research practice. —Angela K. VandenBroek and Nicole Taylor, eds. Available now for preorder. Get 20% when ordering directly from Routledge with promo code 26AFLY1. kitsformethods.com

PRAISE 1
Kits for Digital Methods: Doing Sociotechnical Research. Edited by Angela K. VandenBroek and Nicole Taylor. “Using ‘kits’ as open-ended frameworks for practical innovation, this volume provides a remarkable foundation for digital methods. From images and video to AI; from collaboration to programming; from teaching STEM students to building an academic website—and so much more—it’s a true resource. I’ll use it for years to come.” —Tom Boellstorff, Department of Anthropology, University of California, Irvine, United States. Available now for preorder. Get 20% when ordering directly from Routledge with promo code 26AFLY1. kitsformethods.com

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Angela K. VandenBroek, PhD @akvbroek.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

👉 If you're excited about methods, then pre-order, ask your librarian to get a copy, or order request an examination copy. Links and details at kitsformethods.com

kitsformethods.com

Kits for Digital Methods: Doing Sociotechnical Research

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Angela K. VandenBroek, PhD @akvbroek.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

Written for researchers, educators, and students across the social sciences and humanities, we aim to demystify advanced digital methods while encouraging critical thinking, ethical reflexivity, and creative problem-solving.

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Angela K. VandenBroek, PhD @akvbroek.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

🧡 The volume is book-ended with a "kit of kits" that guides readers through the volume with advice on how to approach each kit not simply as instructions but as inspiration and guidance for one's own methodological innovation.

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Angela K. VandenBroek, PhD @akvbroek.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

🧰 Each chapter is a "kit" that contains background, components, practical guidance, and lessons learned for exploring the frictions, failures, and surprises that shape sociotechnical research—acting as sandboxes for experimenting, playing, and reflecting on the ethics and possibilities of research.

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Angela K. VandenBroek, PhD @akvbroek.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

🙏 We are grateful to our contributors for making the process of methodological innovation in sociotechnical research more transparent, accessible, and inspiring. They brought fascinating examples of methods, the lessons they've learned, and practical guidance for researchers at all levels.

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Angela K. VandenBroek, PhD @akvbroek.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

📙Kits for Digital Methods: Doing Sociotechnical Research—edited by me and Nicole Taylor—is officially available for preorder today! 🔗 kitsformethods.com 🛒 Get 20% off when ordering directly from Routledge with promo code 26AFLY1. #anthropology #sts #digital #sociotechnical #newbook #research

“Using ‘kits’ as open-ended frameworks for practical innovation, this volume provides a remarkable foundation for digital methods. From images and video to AI; from collaboration to programming; from teaching STEM students to building an academic website—and so much more—it’s a true resource. I’ll use it for years to come.” —Tom Boellstorff, Department of Anthropology, University of California, Irvine, United States

We invite you to look past the specificity of the fieldsites or topics to attend to what each kit reveals about methodological thinking, problem-solving, ethical negotiation, and the everyday labor of making research work. Play, experiment, explore, and improvise in each kit’s sandbox to get a feel for how they work, how they might be adapted, and what they might inspire within your own research practice. —Angela K. VandenBroek and Nicole Taylor, eds.

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Reposted by Angela K. VandenBroek, PhD

CASTAC @castac.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

📣 Join us for #CASPR2026 — CASTAC in the Spring! "Labor and Technoscientific Worlds: Historical Encounters and New Directions in the Field" — a roundtable with Kalpana Shankar, David Nemer & Lilly Irani honoring David Hakken. 📅 May 29 | 10:30AM–12:30PM CT 🎟️ Register: caspr2026.eventbrite.com

Promotional graphic for CASPR 2026 — CASTAC in the Spring. The image features a vintage botanical illustration of two platypuses on a branch surrounded by orange and pink flowers on a cream background. Text reads: "Labor and Technoscientific Worlds: Historical Encounters and New Directions in the Field. Friday, May 29, 2026, 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM (Central). Join us for a roundtable presentation and breakout Q&A discussions with panelists Kalpana Shankar (University College Dublin), David Nemer (University of Virginia), and Lilly Irani (UC San Diego) in memory of David Hakken. Register: caspr2026.eventbrite.com.

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Angela K. VandenBroek, PhD @akvbroek.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

My individual contribution introduces the concept of "bullshit epistemics" challenging us to think beyond the common critique of AI confabulations toward how AI changes the ways that we understand and evaluate knowledge when it is radically unsituated, decontextualized, and unaccountable. 😬

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Angela K. VandenBroek, PhD @akvbroek.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

In the conclusion, we editors discuss the future of Anthropology and AI from each of our different vantage points—drawing out the tensions and possibilities at the intersections of these two fields going forward.

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Angela K. VandenBroek, PhD @akvbroek.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

The volume includes ten chapters that present a snapshot of current conversations in the anthropology of AI from across applied and academic approaches—offering challenges, frameworks, and applications for both the fields of AI and anthropology.

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Angela K. VandenBroek, PhD @akvbroek.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

We start off with a deep dive on anthropology's long history with artificial intelligence—all the way back to its earliest days in the 1940s 🤩 —as anthropologists have built, shaped, critiqued, and challenged AI throughout its history.

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Angela K. VandenBroek, PhD @akvbroek.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

New book alert! 📖 Lora Koycheva, my, and Matt Artz's new book ⭐ Anthropology and AI ⭐ is officially published with Routledge Books—as part of the Anthropology of Now series edited by David Eller! www.routledge.com/Anthropology...

The book leaned against a metal wall. The cover features a network of lines and nodes.

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Angela K. VandenBroek, PhD @akvbroek.bsky.social · 01/12/2025

My individual contribution introduces the concept of "bullshit epistemics" to challenge us to think beyond the critique of AI confabulations + shift our attention to how AI changes how we understand and evaluate knowledge when it is radically unsituated, decontextualized, and unaccountable. 😬

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Angela K. VandenBroek, PhD @akvbroek.bsky.social · 01/12/2025

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Angela K. VandenBroek, PhD @akvbroek.bsky.social · 01/12/2025

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Angela K. VandenBroek, PhD @akvbroek.bsky.social · 01/12/2025

Cover of Anthropology and AI. Book series: Anthropology of Now. Edited by Lora Koycheva, Angela K. VandenBroek, and Matt Artz. Published with Routledge. The cover design is an abstract network of lines and circles.

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Angela K. VandenBroek, PhD @akvbroek.bsky.social · 01/12/2025

Exciting news! Lora Koycheva, my, and Matt Artz's new book ⭐ Anthropology and AI ⭐ is available for preorder starting tomorrow from Routledge Books—as part of the Anthropology of Now series edited by David Eller! anthropologyandai.com

anthropologyandai.com

Anthropology and AI by Koycheva, VandenBroek & Artz

Anthropology and AI explores the complex intersection of artificial intelligence and human society through a diverse collection of anthropological and social scientific perspectives.

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Angela K. VandenBroek, PhD @akvbroek.bsky.social · 07/10/2025

Where can TXST Anthropology take you next? Join us for a virtual open house to learn about grad programs in anthro at TXST. Meet our faculty, explore our centers and labs, and get details on our MA and Applied PhD programs. 📅 Fri, Oct 17, 10AM-12:45PM (Central) 🔗 Register: go.txst.edu/u1e

go.txst.edu

Where can TXST Anthropology take you next? Join us for a virtual graduate school open house!

Join us for a virtual open house to learn about graduate programs in anthropology at TXST on October 17 at 10AM.

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Angela K. VandenBroek, PhD @akvbroek.bsky.social · 03/09/2025

Good morning #4s2025 in Seattle! I'm excited to learn and mingle with STS folks! Starting off at the AI and Ground Truth with Dietmar Offenhuber, Beth Coleman and Gabriella Coleman. 🤩 Come say "Hi 👋" if you see me.

Me, a white lady with purple hair and a blue jumpsuit.

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Angela K. VandenBroek, PhD @akvbroek.bsky.social · 13/08/2025

Come work with me at @txst.edu! 🤩 Tenure-track Asst Prof in cultural anth with a #MedAnth focus. We seek a broadly trained cultural or linguistic anth whose expertise focuses on the study of health, illness and the institutional and social forces that shape them. jobs.hr.txstate.edu/postings/53850

jobs.hr.txstate.edu

Assistant Professor

The Department of Anthropology at Texas State University invites applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor position in Cultural Anthropology with a focus on Medical Anthropology, beginning F...

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Angela K. VandenBroek, PhD @akvbroek.bsky.social · 16/05/2025

🫶 The Committee for the Anthropology of Science, Technology, & Computing has been promoting the anthropology technoscience since 1991 with an all volunteer staff generating a blog, podcast, mentorship network, spring conference, and much more!

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Angela K. VandenBroek, PhD @akvbroek.bsky.social · 16/05/2025

CASTAC has stickers! 🤩 Donate and receive 4" vinyl stickers to show your CASTAC support! 💰 Every contribution goes directly toward sustaining CASTAC’s current initiatives and building new ones. 🔗 castac.org/donate #anthropology #STS #technoscience #fundraising #donate @castac.bsky.social

Stick with us! CASTAC is growing—and so is our commitment to supporting this vibrant community. This year, we’re excited to launch a sticker campaign as a small thank-you to our supporters. It’s a fun, visible way to show your connection to CASTAC, and help us keep doing the work that matters. Sticker supporter: One random sticker! $5. Sticker surprise: Two random stickers! $10 Sticker super fan: All three stickers! $15.

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Angela K. VandenBroek, PhD @akvbroek.bsky.social · 09/05/2025

I love these days where we come together, faculty and students, to celebrate our achievements and time together @txst.anthro 💜

Students in the San Marcos river still wearing their regalia

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Angela K. VandenBroek, PhD @akvbroek.bsky.social · 09/05/2025

Today I got to celebrate the graduation of my two brilliant students, Manar Naser & Ian Whitehead, who completed their MA today. 🥳 It has been such a privilege to spend the last two years thinking with these inspirational students. You'll both be missed! Congratulations! 👏

Manar holding her graduation cap decorated to look like the end portal from Minecraft

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Angela K. VandenBroek, PhD @akvbroek.bsky.social · 04/05/2025

I recently got to sit down with Abigail Letsinger to chat about anthropology careers and the applications of anthropology to business and entrepreneurship on AnthroPuzzled 🎙️! Check it out on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, YouTube, or anthropuzzled.com 👉 tinyurl.com/anthropuzzled

Friday, May 2, 2025. Episode 18. AnthroPuzzled. Angela k. VandenBroek, Innovative Anthropologies. Listen now. anthropuzzled.com By Abby Letsinger.

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Angela K. VandenBroek, PhD @akvbroek.bsky.social · 02/05/2025

Final Call! CASPR 2025 starts 90 minutes! ⏰ 👉 caspr2025.eventbrite.com Come talk about Knowledge in Crisis with Alex Hanna, Emily Yates-Doerr, and Juno Salazar Parrenas at 11AM (CDT) TODAY!

caspr2025.eventbrite.com

[CASPR 2025] Knowledge in Crisis: Navigating Science in Uncertain Times

As crises reshape knowledge itself—join leading thinkers tackling funding cuts, collapsing care systems & the weaponization of science.

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Reposted by Angela K. VandenBroek, PhD

Three Scary Rogue Agents in a Trenchcoat @alexhanna.bsky.social · 25/04/2025

Excited for this session with @castac.bsky.social next Friday!

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Angela K. VandenBroek, PhD @akvbroek.bsky.social · 25/04/2025

CASPR 2025 🌼"Knowledge in Crisis: Navigating Science in Uncertain Times" with @alexhanna.bsky.social, @eyatesd.bsky.social , & @youknowjuno.bsky.social—moderated by @castac.bsky.social. Panel + Breakout Q&A. 📅Friday May 2, 11AM - 1PM (Central) on Zoom ✍️Register: caspr2025.eventbrite.com

My cat Ada with an intimidating face and pose saying "You better not forget to register for CASPR 2025"

CASPR: CASTAC in the Spring. Knowledge in Crisis: Navigating Science in Uncertain Times. Friday May 2, 2024, 11AM - 1PM (Central). Join us for a roundtable and Q&A with Alex Hanna (Distributed AI Research Institute), Emily Yates-Doerr (Oregon State), and Juno Salazar Parrenas (Cornell University), moderated by CASTAC Co-Chair Ana Carolina de Assis Nunes (Oregon State). Register: caspr2025.eventbrite.com

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Angela K. VandenBroek, PhD @akvbroek.bsky.social · 06/04/2025

[CASPR 2025] Knowledge in Crisis: Navigating Science in Uncertain Times May 2 11AM CDT Join us for a roundtable discussion and Q&A with Alex Hanna, Emily Yates-Doerr, & Juno Salazar Parrenas, moderated by CASTAC Co-Chair Ana Carolina de Assis Nunes caspr2025.eventbrite.com #anthropology #STS

CASPR: CASTAC in the Spring. Knowledge in Crisis: Navigating Science in Uncertain Times. Join us for a roundtable discussion and Q&A with Alex Hanna (Distributed AI Research Institute), Emily Yates-Doerr (Oregon State), and Juno Salazar Parrenas (Cornell University), moderated by CASTAC Co-Chair Ana Carolina de Assis Nunes (Oregon State). Friday May 2, 2025 11-1PM.

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Angela K. VandenBroek, PhD @akvbroek.bsky.social · 21/03/2025

We don't always have the power, energy, finances, or representation to meaningfully affect national level problems. But where ever we can, it is so important to build care and solidarity in our communities—in whatever way is most appropriate and effective.

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Angela K. VandenBroek, PhD @akvbroek.bsky.social · 21/03/2025

My graduate students have taken to sending me photos of their animals when they send me drafts of their work. So far I've received cats, dogs, baby goats, cows, and a calf. I return photos of my cats. In these unsettled and unsettling times, these small moments of connection and care mean so much.

My two cats. One is looking over her shoulder at the camera, the other is cuddled up with her arm over her sister's shoulder.

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Reposted by Angela K. VandenBroek, PhD

CASTAC @castac.bsky.social · 21/03/2025

The 2025 David Hakken Graduate Student Prize is now open for submissions! We invite current or recent graduate students to submit papers showcasing innovative research at the intersection of anthropology and STS. 🗓️ Deadline: June 1, 2025 🔗 Details: castac.org/castac-award...

castac.org

David Hakken Graduate Student Paper Prize | CASTAC

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Reposted by Angela K. VandenBroek, PhD

CASTAC @castac.bsky.social · 12/03/2025

🚨 Attention grad students! The 2025 David Hakken Graduate Student Prize is now open! Submit your unpublished paper (7,000-8,000 words) on anthropology & STS by June 1, 2025. Check the guidelines and learn more here: castac.org/castac-award... #Anthropology #CASTAC #GradLife

castac.org

David Hakken Graduate Student Paper Prize | CASTAC

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Angela K. VandenBroek, PhD @akvbroek.bsky.social · 26/02/2025

"I believe anyone should be allowed to critique or engage in knowledge production at any stage." —Me, in this thread. I don't feel that we are having a productive dialogue at this point, as you've repeatedly misrepresented the plain-text of what I've said repeatedly. So, this is where I exit. 🚪👋

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Angela K. VandenBroek, PhD @akvbroek.bsky.social · 26/02/2025

The problem isn't that researchers dedicating their time and energy to work through immensely complex and meaningful issues can't reduce them to a 6th grade reading level (for the average American) at every step of the process and before they're thoroughly understood and interrogated.

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Angela K. VandenBroek, PhD @akvbroek.bsky.social · 26/02/2025

...restricting access to quality education with property taxes and excessive tuition, the inequitable distribution of privilege of time and energy, and so much more.

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Angela K. VandenBroek, PhD @akvbroek.bsky.social · 26/02/2025

I believe anyone should be allowed to critique or engage in knowledge production at any stage. The problem is that many societies (including the US where I am) do not provide equitable access to flows of knowledge production—by hiding research behind corporate interests, ...

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Angela K. VandenBroek, PhD @akvbroek.bsky.social · 26/02/2025

This usually arrives alongside heuristics, metaphors and vocab that capture the complexity of the phenomena in a way that it is more digestible to ppl who don't have the time or desire to dedicate to an expert level understanding but do want to know how to deploy these ideas in decision-making.

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Angela K. VandenBroek, PhD @akvbroek.bsky.social · 26/02/2025

Knowledge is never "finished" but we do often reach (uneasy) consensus (knowing that it can always be upended by new perspectives, ideas and data) that stabilizes ideas for application and use.

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Angela K. VandenBroek, PhD @akvbroek.bsky.social · 25/02/2025

Yes please! Realistically, I won't have time until the summer but it sounds fantastic.

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Angela K. VandenBroek, PhD @akvbroek.bsky.social · 25/02/2025

This leads to serious social issues and does nothing to level intellectual power inequalities. It just shifts research into the neoliberal innovation churn.

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Angela K. VandenBroek, PhD @akvbroek.bsky.social · 25/02/2025

For example: pop psych. Psych is very good at promoting new research in lay terms to the public. But that still-in-development research is rarely accurately evaluated by the public and is typically reduced to "Scientists discover hack for X" based entirely on a single flawed or exploratory study.

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Angela K. VandenBroek, PhD @akvbroek.bsky.social · 25/02/2025

Not an intellectual elite. You don't need a PhD from an ivy to read, think, and understand. Do you think that in-progress research with political implications should be done by people who do not put in the work to thoroughly understand it and evaluate it from an informed position?

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Angela K. VandenBroek, PhD @akvbroek.bsky.social · 24/02/2025

Not at all what I said. 😉 Read down to #3.

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