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Open Encyclopedia of Anthropology

@anthroencyclo.bsky.social
683 followers 218 following 289 posts

We are an #openaccess #encyclopedia of social and cultural #anthropology. Our entries are written by experts and peer reviewed. We aim to make anthropology accessible for everyone. Find us at www.anthroencyclopedia.com

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SF Encyclopedia @sfencyclopedia.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
A curiosity: "A Trip to the Moon via the Airship Luna": pictures from a souvenir booklet for the world's first "dark ride". It was part of the Midway at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York in 1901. After the Exposition closed, the ride was installed at Coney Island in New York City:
The Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, NY (1901). The "A Trip to the Moon via the Airship Luna" ride can be seen on the right From the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, NY (1901). The Airship Luna en-route to the MoonThe Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, NY (1901). "A Trip to the Moon via the Airship Luna". On arriving on the Moon, the passengers witness a street scene in Moon CityThe Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, NY (1901). On the left is the "The Moon Calf", as seen by the "A Trip to the Moon via the Airship Luna" passengers. On the right are the cast for the Throne Room scene in Moon City (the actual Throne Room picture is a little underwhelming)
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Open Encyclopedia of Anthropology @anthroencyclo.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Great essay - curious what you think about our entry on Queer Anthropology! www.anthroencyclopedia.com/entry/queer-...
anthroencyclopedia.com
Queer anthropology
Once a slur, the term ‘queer’ now is used to critique restrictive, dominant norms of respectable conduct and to recast sexual and gender variations in positive terms. With roots in twentieth-century a...
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Society for Applied Anthropology @appliedanthro.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Online Now from Human Organization: Desaparecidos en la Migración: De la Investigación a la Práctica by Simon Robins doi.org/10.1080/0018... #SfAA #SocialScience #Anthropology #AppliedAnthropology #HumanOrganization
Promotional graphic for an article titled "Desaparecidos en la Migración: De la Investigación a la Práctica" by Simon Robins, published online in Human Organization. Includes a Spanish-language abstract describing research on the treatment of migrant bodies at the EU's southern border and the needs of families of missing migrants. Logos for the Society for Applied Anthropology and Routledge Taylor & Francis Group appear at the bottom.
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John Hutnyk @johnhutnyk.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Note for an anthropology of tourism development Anthropologists, somewhat unconsciously, remained for a long time in the position of conservative culture camp commandants—overseers of a pickled-in-aspic view of 'the native' that was not far removed from colonial explorer adventure safari or, at…
hutnyk.wordpress.com
Note for an anthropology of tourism development
Anthropologists, somewhat unconsciously, remained for a long time in the position of conservative culture camp commandants—overseers of a pickled-in-aspic view of 'the native' that was not far removed from colonial explorer adventure safari or, at best, pastoralising advocacy and brokerage. In contemporary anthropologies—for example such as the anthropology of tourism when it becomes too close to tourism management studies—we can see clearly that heritage still has has some part to play in hesitations to take up such a gate-keeping role, yet it is undeniably still there and to overstate the naivety of local communities is a mistake.
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Open Encyclopedia of Anthropology @anthroencyclo.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
"Queer anthropology has shown that applying Western categories for sexuality universally across cultural contexts limits our understanding of people’s self-concepts, and in turn, their motivations, choices, and behaviours." Find out more by reading this great entry!
anthroencyclopedia.com
Queer anthropology
Once a slur, the term ‘queer’ now is used to critique restrictive, dominant norms of respectable conduct and to recast sexual and gender variations in positive terms. With roots in twentieth-century a...
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Emory Like Memory @emorymemory.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
the new biography of the man who loved lying, the ultimate trickster, the 70’s anthropology and self-empowerment phenom, the millionaire and hilarious cult leader Carlos Castaneda
Photo of a book on a floor, lit by vertical shafts of light thru a blind - it’s the book American Trickster by Ru Marshall
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Open Encyclopedia of Anthropology @anthroencyclo.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
That’s a great idea! Our project was made for people entering the field - we offer high quality, easy to understand articles (for free!), written and vetted by reputable anthropologists, on many of the topics and ideas you will likely encounter or could be interested in. Use us!
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Randy Watkins @bluetortoise3.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
Ursula's father, Alfred Kroeber, basically founded the entire discipline of Cultural Anthropology. His work with Ishi, the last of the indigenous Yahi people of California, is still mandatory reading. Ursula used those experiences to create something new in her books. www.sapiens.org/culture/ursu...
sapiens.org
How Ursula Le Guin’s Writing Was Shaped by Anthropology
A connection can be made between the iconic writer’s science fiction and her father’s groundbreaking work in anthropology.
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𝖀𝖓𝖈𝖑𝖊 𝕯𝖊𝖆𝖉𝖑𝖞 @uncledeadly1977.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
Boston University biology and anthropology professor Eva Garrett: “There’s no scientific evidence that a large ape currently exists that would align itself with the description of Bigfoot." Way to be a buzzkill Eva
boston.com
An 8-foot Bigfoot was spotted in Connecticut last month. It's far from New England's first.
A Connecticut Bigfoot sighting in July is one of 126 “verified” sightings in New England going back to 1994.
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Susanna Crossman @susannacrossman.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
I'm thrilled to share my new essay in @aeon.co Who are The Fire Tamers? For the past year, I travelled through salt marshes, visited remote farmhouses & oncology clinics to uncover the secret world of French healers working in parallel with conventional medicine. aeon.co/essays/who-a...
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patientmakt.bsky.social @patientmakt.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
"First documented case of an occlusal incrustation in a posterior tooth among the ancient Maya. Whether the procedure was therapeutic, palliative, or motivated by an unusual symbolic practice remains uncertain." www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... #dentalanthropology #medicalhistory #dental
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ISBN Book Bot 🤖 @bot.isbn.nu · 10/08/2026
📖 Moral Anthropology by Didier Fassin, Samuel Leze isbn.nu/9780415627276
Cover of Moral Anthropology, by Didier Fassin, Samuel Leze, Taylor & Francis, 2013, PAP.
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Australian Data Science Education Institute, Charity @datasciau.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
A wonderful conversation about the anthropology of social media with Professor Crystal Abidin. "Data is man made. This is something that we need to stress, especially in the age of generative AI. You know, even for a pedestrian who is listening in who may not be very well versed in social media,…
adsei.org
Professor Crystal Abidin on the Anthropology of Social Media
A wonderful conversation about how social media works, and the humanity of data. Check it out! "Data is man made. This is something that we need to stress, especially in the age of generative AI. You know, even for a pedestrian who is listening in who may not be very well versed in social media, you probably have the experience of now opening a browser or a search engine, trying to look for information, but before you even get your search results, there is an automated AI version that claims to be a summary of everything you need, saving you time in scrolling and clicking.
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LSE Press @lsepress.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Coming soon! 🗣️ New Questions of Anthropology turns a contemporary gaze to twelve enduring questions in anthropology. New Questions of Anthropology, edited by Ana P. Gutiérrez Garza & Fuad Musallam is out Dec 2026. @lseanthropology.bsky.social #OpenAccess press.lse.ac.uk/books/e/10.3...
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Open Encyclopedia of Anthropology @anthroencyclo.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
The great late Frits Staal argued for both the similarity between some forms of human language and bird song, and the great alterity of bird song www.jstor.org/stable/601529
jstor.org
Mantras and Bird Songs | JSTOR
Frits Staal, Mantras and Bird Songs, Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 105, No. 3, Jul. - Sep., 1985, Indological Studies Dedicated to Daniel H. H. Ingalls
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Barbara J. King @bjking.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Instead of being uniquely human, "language may be more universal and closely connected to evolution." (One note. It's actually NOT necessary to compare every other communication system to human language in order to make this determination.) #birds #whales #language #nature #evolution #anthropology
discovermagazine.com
Birdsong and Whale Songs Share a Surprising Similarity With Human Language
From Bengalese finches to humpback whales, researchers are finding that animals may use some of the same patterns that help humans learn and structure language.
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Rob Sica @robsica.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Will be interesting to reconsider these editorials on the Vandy Report when the internal report on Anthropology appears.
rai.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Anthropology Today: Vol 42, No 4
Click on the title to browse this issue
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Yvette d’Entremont @dentremy.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
'Are UFOs inspiring a new religion?' "It’s time for scholars of the humanities and social sciences to take seriously UAP and the possibility of non-human intelligence. The stigma is fading," writes University of Calgary anthropology prof Shayne A. P. Dahl.
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Eric Tolladay @e-tolladay.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
I finished a book this weekend that was just so amazing I had to share. Proto by @laurainparis.bsky.social weaves together the latest knowledge in anthropology, linguistics, and genetics, to tell the story of how one proto language (Proto-Indo-European) came to dominate so much of the world.
Book cover of "Proto: How One Ancient Language Went Global" by Laura Spinney
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The Human Biology Association @humbioassociation.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Reproductive ecology research addresses reproductive biology through the lens of evolutionary & life history theory. This paper (50th Anniversary Special Issue) reviews major contributions to evolutionary anthropology & presents emerging directions. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Reproductive Ecology and Evolutionary Anthropology: Foundations, Unanswered Questions, and Future Directions
The research field of reproductive ecology continues to be a major contributor to the scientific advancement of evolutionary anthropology and human biology in general. Primary contributions to human ...
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Mark Fitzpatrick @fitzorhowl.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Going to start reading this book tonight by professor Danilyn Rutherfood. I liked the use of Thomas Hobbes political theory in the introduction to what is ultimately a socio-cultural anthropology book press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...
press.uchicago.edu
Laughing at Leviathan
For West Papua and its people, the promise of sovereignty has never been realized, despite a long and fraught struggle for independence from Indonesia. In Laughing at Leviathan, Danilyn Rutherford exa...
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LabLit.com @lablit.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
I just got a book on the topic that exercises anger, indignation, loathing [& four other words I didn't understand either] in equal measure on right, left, & even centre - Matei Candea Reason, Carnival and Honour: An Anthropology of Free Speech #booksky 💡📚 💙📚 www.penguin.co.uk/books/462997...
penguin.co.uk
Reason, Carnival and Honour
What does free speech really mean? How does our understanding of it differ around the world? Why does it divide us – and how can we find common ground? What free speech really means is hotly conteste...
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Oxford School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography @oxford-anthro.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
A fascinating interview with Professor Harvey Whitehouse, Chair of Social Anthropology and Director of the Centre for the Study of Social Cohesion (CSSC) on why humans cooperate and how some of his most surprising work has involved people pushed to the limits. www.ox.ac.uk/news/pulse/s...
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Berghahn Books @berghahnbooks.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Food Connections: Production, Exchange and Consumption in West African Migration by Maria Abranches is now available in paperback! Find out more here: bit.ly/4hL8ycz Review from @choicereviews.bsky.social #FoodStudies #Anthropology #MigrationStudies
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Open Encyclopedia of Anthropology @anthroencyclo.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
Maybe of interest, @martinrgs.bsky.social ?
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martinrgs.bsky.social @martinrgs.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Before a model classifies the world, schools, archives and sensors have already decided what becomes legible. A new radar on education, territory, memory and the institutional prehistory of AI. aithropologylab.org/en/radar/202... #Anthropology #AI
aithropologylab.org
Before the model comes the school · AIthropology Lab
Four signals from Chile and Uruguay about the institutions that turn languages, territories and memories into data before an algorithm intervenes.
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oralhistory (formerly @notoralhistory) @oralhistory.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
#Anthropology and #Health Professions Education Student Prize - open for submissions until 15 August! #awards #medanth @socmedanthro.bsky.social
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Open Encyclopedia of Anthropology @anthroencyclo.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
If you're curious about how anthropologists think about technology, have a look at our great encyclopedia entry: technology as "transformative processes through actions-upon-matter that rhythmically and resiliently resonate with and between human and non-human actors"
anthroencyclopedia.com
Technology
Technology broadly refers to objects or actions that are linked to tekhne, an ancient Greek term for ‘skill’ or ‘craftmanship’. Anthropologists of technology sometimes employ this understanding as a s...
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RootfireEmber @rootfire.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
www.anthropology.net/p/growth-hor...
anthropology.net
Growth Hormone, Faster Growth, and a Neanderthal in the Gym
A Neanderthal-derived receptor variant makes cells grow faster, and some people alive today are still carrying it around
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Open Encyclopedia of Anthropology @anthroencyclo.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
www.anthroencyclopedia.com/entry/artifi...
anthroencyclopedia.com
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) is the simulation of human intelligence by machines, allowing them to perform tasks that typically require human cognitive functions, such as problem-solving, learning, de...
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Open Encyclopedia of Anthropology @anthroencyclo.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
New entry on the emerging #anthropology of #AI by @manchester.ac.uk's Jennifer Cearns! How AI can be understood as a cultural product best understood by anthros in comparison with #religion, #magic, and #divination, how it redefines ideas of personhood and ethics, and how it affects power relations
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Open Encyclopedia of Anthropology @anthroencyclo.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
"One of anthropology's key contributions to the field of AI is demonstrating how [it] has many conceptual parallels to existing socio-cultural phenomena[...]such as local understandings of enchantment, magic, divination, and knowledge as a tool for interpreting the world and managing uncertainty."
anthroencyclopedia.com
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) is the simulation of human intelligence by machines, allowing them to perform tasks that typically require human cognitive functions, such as problem-solving, learning, de...
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REPAIR @reparativefinance.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
Great recent entry in the OEA all about the anthropology of #repair and #reparation. ⤵️
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Berghahn Books @berghahnbooks.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
CULTURING MONEY: Double Movements in the Marshall Islands by Ola Gunhildrud Berta has now been published! Find out more here: bit.ly/4gRbeVs #EconomicAnthropology #Anthropology #CulturalStudies #DevelopmentStudies
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Goldsmiths, University of London @goldsmithsuol.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
🎉 Congratulations to Emeritus Professor of Anthropology Emma Tarlo, who has been elected to the @britishacademy.bsky.social's Fellowship 🎉 www.gold.ac.uk/news/2026/em...
gold.ac.uk
Emma Tarlo newly elected as Fellow of the British Academy
Emeritus Professor of Anthropology Emma Tarlo has been elected to the British Academy's Fellowship.
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Dartmouth Arts and Sciences @dartmouthartsci.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
Ancient Egyptians deified the sacred baboon as a form of Thoth, god of the moon. #Dartmouth anthropology professor Nathaniel Dominy and Catherine Hobaiter of @uniofstandrews.bsky.social used spectroscopy to show its grizzled fur is indistinguishable from moonlight.
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Brown Anthropology @brownanthro.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
Care and Agency: The Andean Community through the Eyes of Children — In this piece from the Population Studies and Training Center at Brown, Cultural Anthropologist and Anthropology Dept. Chair @jessacabeza.bsky.social examines the various ways that children receive, are denied, and provide care.
pstc.brown.edu
Care and Agency: The Andean Community through the Eyes of Children
Cultural Anthropologist Jessaca Leinaweaver examines the various ways that children receive, are denied, and provide care.
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UPColorado @upcolorado.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
Fantastic review of ANGALKUT/SHAMANS IN YUP'IK ORAL TRADITION in the #Smithsonian #Arctic Studies Newsletter! #Indigenous #Native #Alaska #community #anthropology
Text: “Angalkut brings a cultural reality to the topic of shamanism as no other study or publication has ever done... the editors have done a magnificent job and have produced a regional ‘community anthropology’ that will ensure the preservation and persistence of Yup’ik shamanic tradition, both as history and perhaps as practice, for generations.”

--Smithsonian Actic Studies Newsletter
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Open Encyclopedia of Anthropology @anthroencyclo.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
"Mapping out regional idioms, anthropologists found #depression -like experiences expressed in a wide range of descriptions of nervous conditions such as ‘nervos’ in South America, ‘nerve exhaustion’ in East Asia, as well as other psychophysiological idioms like ‘heart distress’ in the Middle East"
anthroencyclopedia.com
Depression
Depression, which psychiatrists regard as a most common mental illness, has been examined by anthropologists especially closely since the 1980s. While most medical experts consider depression as a uni...
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Anthropology.net @anthropology.net · 15/07/2026
New research argues kids don’t just absorb culture, they build it. From Nicaraguan Sign Language to hunter-gatherer foraging knowledge, peer groups run parallel cultural systems adults rarely see. #Anthropology #CulturalEvolution #ChildDevelopment www.anthropology.net/p/children-a...
anthropology.net
Children Are Not Just Learning Culture. They’re Making It.
A new synthesis in Behavioral and Brain Sciences argues that peer groups of children produce, transmit, and sometimes preserve knowledge that adults never touch.
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Oxford School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography @oxford-anthro.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
It's been a busy academic year here at the School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography! Read about some of our highlights including doctoral research plus why almost everyone is #righthanded and #DisobedientBuildings in our annual newsletter canva.link/owpsjwu90n1v... #Anthropology
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Université de Bordeaux @univbordeaux.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
🔬 Quand la mode est-elle apparue ? Des archéologues identifient les plus anciennes traces de mode dans l'histoire de l'humanité - article de Francesco d'Errico et Solange Rigaud, chercheurs à @pacea.bsky.social paru dans le journal Evolutionary Anthropology :
sciences-archeologiques.u-bordeaux.fr
Quand la mode est-elle apparue ? Des archéologues identifient les plus anciennes traces de mode dans l'histoire de l'humanité
Un nouvel article de Francesco d'Errico et Solange Rigaud, chercheurs à PACEA, sur les origines de la mode paru dans le journal
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21 Group @21group.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
"Subjects with biggest staff cuts are social work (-9%), English & classics (-8%), anthropology (-7%) & linguistics (-6%)" Severe financial crisis facing UK universities is getting worse & will become defining issue over next year Even Govt will notice www.theguardian.com/education/20...
theguardian.com
Humanities among degrees being ‘extinguished’ by hard-up universities
Exclusive: Experts fear rise in education ‘cold spots’ and social immobility as 4,000 academic posts lost in one year
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Sarah Primate @langurlover.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
#Ecology #Anthropology
news.mongabay.com
How a spiritual practice is preserving Benin's mangroves
In the West African nation of Benin, Vodun, an ancient spiritual religion rooted in a deep connection between humans and nature, has become a primary tool for protecting the country’s disappearing man...
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Barbara J. King @bjking.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
I've just discovered and purchased Lisa Stevenson's Life Beside Itself: Imagining Care in the Canadian Arctic. This is not a new book, but new to me! #ethnography #anthropology #Inuit #Arctic #books #deathstudies #death
The cover shows a scene drawn with buildings, an angel with wings, possibly- I am not yet sure- a body.
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Stephanie M. Lee @stephaniemlee.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
New Q&A: Is anthropology hopelessly politicized, more than any other humanistic field? That's the charge that's been flying around this summer, so I wanted to hear from Carolyn Rouse, the president of the American Anthropological Association. She had a lot to say. www.chronicle.com/article/is-a...
chronicle.com
Is Anthropology Hopelessly Politicized?
We asked Carolyn M. Rouse, head of the American Anthropological Association. She had a lot to say.
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Society for Linguistic Anthropology @soclinganth.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
The SLA Blog is excited to announce our return from hiatus with a piece titled "There are Ghosts in this Machine: AI Anonymization and the Identification of Self" by María José Peláez, Kai Blevins, and Joel Kuipers linguisticanthropology.org/sla-blog/the...
linguisticanthropology.org
There are Ghosts in this Machine: AI Anonymization and the Identification of Self - Society for Linguistic Anthropology
There are Ghosts in this Machine: AI Anonymization and the Identification of Self What happens when the tools designed to protect research participants end up either 1) obscuring their facial expressi...
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What's Past is Prologue @wpip.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
L-R: Sam Batwi (Northern/Central Yana Indian), Dr. A.L. Kroeber, Anthropologist, & #Ishi (Yahi or Southern Yana Indian) 1911. Photo: Phoebe Hearst Museum of Anthropology (Berkeley) Kroeber is the father of Ursula Le Guin. Her mother, anthropologist Theodora Kroeber, authored "Ishi in Two Worlds"
Black and white photo of three men, left to right: Sam Batwi (Northern/Central Yana Indian), Dr. A.L. Kroeber, Anthropologist, & Ishi (Yahi or Southern Yana Indian) in 1911.
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