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Damien Droney

@ddroney.bsky.social
571 followers 642 following 37 posts

Cultural & medical anthropologist. Author of A Postcolonial Vocation: Herbal Medicine and the Projects of Science in Ghana (forthcoming 2027 with University of Chicago Press).

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Damien Droney @ddroney.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
You know... why not? consequence.net/2026/09/will...
consequence.net
William Shatner Performs Ozzy, Metallica, Motörhead Classics at Debut Metal Show
William Shatner played his first metal show ever Saturday evening, September 19th, at Park West in Chicago, joined by his backing band The *uckers.
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Damien Droney @ddroney.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
My colleague Nimisha Thakur and I wrote a piece for the Society for Cultural Anthropology website. Check it out if you've ever been curious about using digital apps like iNaturalist or Merlin Bird ID in the classroom. We have lesson plans for you! www.culanth.org/fieldsights/...
A world map, with pixelated dots. The dots in North America are orange while the dots in Europe are purple.
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Jesse Hawken @jessehawken.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Some magic: Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris singing Neil Young on Letterman, 1999 youtu.be/o2XcBL6kWn8?...
youtu.be
Harris, Parton, Ronstadt on Late Show, March 24, 1999 (full, stereo)
YouTube video by Don Giller
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Damien Droney @ddroney.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
Perfect. No notes.
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Aaron Sojourner @aaronsojourner.org · 25/07/2026
Admirable clarity @science.org
The Trump administration hates academic science funding, full stop. They hate where that money goes, and they hate who it goes to. They want to keep all that money for themselves, to hand out to favored cronies who can help them get elected and to steer yet more money and more power back into their hands.

That’s it. That’s the story
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Damien Droney @ddroney.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
There's new Dinosaur Jr. to listen to. www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMPf...
youtube.com
Dinosaur Jr. - Several Got Away (Official Video)
YouTube video by DinosaurJrVEVO
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Damien Droney @ddroney.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
I couldn't tell you how many times I've read the essays in Culture and Truth. I was assigned to read it in intro to anthropology 20 years ago and I've gone on to read parts of it with many students since then. Everything he wrote made the field of anthropology better.
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Alondra Nelson @alondra.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
Three things said about AI and social science: it's a topic to study, a thing to critique, a tool to use. My new Daedalus essay argues these aren't three conversations; they're one. A 🧵 on "Field Theory: AI as Social Science Question, Object, and Tool." www.amacad.org/publication/...
amacad.org
Field Theory: AI as Social Science Question, Object & Tool
Uses of advanced artificial intelligence are changing how societies organize labor, govern, produce knowledge, and make meaning. In light of these developments, this essay argues that AI models, tools...
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Jennifer Blaylock @jennblaylock.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
You can watch the film here: archive.org/details/hami...
archive.org
Hamile: The Tongo Hamlet : Ghana Film Industry Corporation : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
Title: Hamile: The Tongo Hamlet. The Ghanaian 1965 adaptation of Shakespeare's Hamlet.
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Jennifer Blaylock @jennblaylock.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
I'm so excited! My new article just came out with Discourse. This has been a labor of love and I am so thrilled to have it out in the world. In it I follow the Ghanaian adaptation of Hamlet, (Hamile) across media to challenge "the medium is the message." digitalcommons.wayne.edu/discourse/vo...
digitalcommons.wayne.edu
"The Bard Wouldn’t Recognize Hamlet": On Medium Specificity and Shakespeare in Africa
By Jennifer Blaylock, Published on 03/19/26
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Jordan S. Carroll 🌹 @jordanscarroll.bsky.social · 06/03/2026
It's available for pre-order!
mitpressbookstore.mit.edu
Reactionary Worldbuilding: From Speculative Imagination to Political Practice
The first in-depth study of the dark side of worldbuilding, exploring the connection between speculative imagination and political practice.Speculative imagination brings to life an array of possible ...
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Damien Droney @ddroney.bsky.social · 23/02/2026
This chilling interview with the Heritage Foundation is necessary reading for anyone concerned about the future of higher ed.
chronicle.com
The Heritage Foundation Drove Trump’s 2025 Higher-Ed Agenda. What’s Its Plan for 2026?
Accreditation is in the crosshairs. Adam Kissel, a visiting fellow and author of a new Heritage policy blueprint, explains why.
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Damien Droney @ddroney.bsky.social · 08/01/2026
youtu.be
Neil Young - Ohio [Live At Massey Hall 1971] (Video)
YouTube video by neilyoungchannel
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Jennifer Blaylock @jennblaylock.bsky.social · 30/10/2025
Check out the new issue of Sources: Materials & Fieldwork in African Studies co-edited by Anita Afonu, Dan Hodgkinson, and I. Excited to see these essays and their accompanying sources finally make it out into the world. @kinolaus.bsky.social journals.openedition.org/sources/3100
journals.openedition.org
10-11 | 2025 Revolutionary Cinemas
Au croisement de l’histoire, de l’anthropologie et des film studies, ce double numéro thématique analyse les généalogies et incarnations multiples des cinémas révolutionnaires africains, du Maghre...
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Damien Droney @ddroney.bsky.social · 08/09/2025
If you find yourself needing a little pick-me-up this week, you should know that there's a Devo documentary on Netflix.
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Damien Droney @ddroney.bsky.social · 28/08/2025
This is a Neil Young stan account. New song, Big Crime, is timely.
neilyoungarchives.com
Neil Young Archives
NYA contains the complete archives of Neil Young. The site is designed for a chronological exploration of artist output including music, books, films, & videos. Music is streamed in high-res with Xstr...
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John Aerni-Flessner @lesothojohn.bsky.social · 01/08/2025
In light of the NEH grants announced today (focusing heavily on Greeks/Romans, Shakespeare, and papers of politically powerful white men from the 19th century), a counterpoint: Kwame Anthony Appiah 'There is No Such Thing as Western Civilization' www.theguardian.com/world/2016/n...
theguardian.com
There is no such thing as western civilisation | Kwame Anthony Appiah
The Long Read: The values of liberty, tolerance and rational inquiry are not the birthright of a single culture. In fact, the very notion of something called ‘western culture’ is a modern invention
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Lisa Messeri @lmesseri.bsky.social · 14/07/2025
A new Annual Review of Anthropology piece on the "Anthropology of Science" (by Langlitz and Dan-Cohen) raises a question I have long wondered about - why is there no dedicated journal for this domain of inquiry? Should there be? What could it look like? Why would it matter?
annualreviews.org
What Ever Happened to the Anthropology of Science? From the Science Wars to the Post-Truth Era | Annual Reviews
The anthropology of science emerged in the 1980s as a critique of science and technocracy, exposing the social construction of scientific facts and their role in reinforcing ideologies such as capital...
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Damien Droney @ddroney.bsky.social · 02/07/2025
Princeton is hiring a lecturer in environmental anthropology and STS. The contract is for one year. Lots of opportunities to advise student research. careercenter.americananthro.org/job/690701/l...
careercenter.americananthro.org
Lecturer | Princeton Department of Anthropology - Princeton University, Princeton job with Department of Anthropology, Princeton University | 690701
Anthropology lecturer position in environmental anthropology and/or the social studies of science and technology for the 2025-2026 academic year
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Elijah Watson @elijahjwatson.bsky.social · 01/06/2025
Anthropologists (and others! 🙏): If SAPIENS Magazine has mattered to you—as a reader, writer, teacher, or student—now is the time to speak up. Write to Wenner-Gren today. Tell them why public anthropology matters. #SaveSAPIENS #AnthroSky Link to petition: actionnetwork.org/letters/urge...
actionnetwork.org
Support Needed for SAPIENS Magazine and its Staff Union!
We, SAPIENS staff, write to our supporters with an urgent request for support. We were informed this week that our funder, the Wenner-Gren Foundation, may choose to close SAPIENS Anthropology Magazine...
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Damien Droney @ddroney.bsky.social · 30/05/2025
I'm not teaching my biopolitics class anymore, but I'm making a mental note for the week on surplus population.
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Damien Droney @ddroney.bsky.social · 16/05/2025
I understand the default attitude of being annoyed at graduation ceremonies, but attending a commencement for incarcerated students put this in perspective for me. Never take it for granted.
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Damien Droney @ddroney.bsky.social · 04/05/2025
Celebrating Canadian sovereignty by listening to Neil Young.
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Howard French @hofrench.bsky.social · 28/04/2025
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/27/w...
nytimes.com
Valentin-Yves Mudimbe, 83, Dies; African Scholar Challenged the West
He deconstructed what he called “the colonial library”: the accounts of Africa by Europeans whose aim, he said, was to further colonialism.
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Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
The Agriculture Department has axed two programs that gave schools and food banks money to buy food from local farms and ranchers, halting more than $1 billion in federal spending. www.politico.com/news/2025/03...
politico.com
USDA cancels $1B in local food purchasing for schools, food banks
States have been notified that they will not receive 2025 funding for schools to buy food from nearby farms.
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Damien Droney @ddroney.bsky.social · 21/02/2025
“I remember Jim as a beacon of many things,” Kohrman said. “Most importantly, of kindness, creativity, scholarly community and intellectual rigor, as well as an unwavering commitment to building a more just world, in and outside the academy.” stanforddaily.com/2025/02/19/j...
stanforddaily.com
James Ferguson, professor of anthropology and former department chair, dies at 65
James “Jim” Ferguson played a pivotal roles in the department's history and will be remembered for his remarkable character, kindness and contributions to the field.
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Damien Droney @ddroney.bsky.social · 14/01/2025
Impossible to answer because on the one hand you have Neil Young's 1970s solo work, but then you can't really compare that to the raw energy of Neil Young with Crazy Horse. Then of course you have various projects to which Neil Young was a relatively smaller but crucial contributor like Buffalo Spri
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anthrofuentes.bsky.social @anthrofuentes.bsky.social · 09/01/2025
Biology is far more interesting than simple categories and being human entails an astonishingly complex interplay of biology and culture. “Sex is a Spectrum: the biological limits of the binary” @princetonupress.bsky.social publishing May 6th! Preorder princeton.press/0r0zpeq1
cover image of the book "Sex is a Spectrum"
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Chakad Ojani @chakadojani.bsky.social · 02/01/2025
Out soon: Exploring Ethnography of Outer Space: Methods and Perspectives, featuring my chapter "Anthropologists in outer space: Science fiction, infrastructure, comparison." A huge thanks to the editors for making this happen!
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Damien Droney @ddroney.bsky.social · 02/01/2025
My favorite new-to-me older music discovery of 2024 was Neil Young's synth-heavy 80s albums Trans and Landing on Water. I won't say that the people who warned me off of them were totally wrong, but I'm so glad I gave the albums a chance.
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Damien Droney @ddroney.bsky.social · 02/01/2025
My favorite album of 2024 was probably Love Changes Everything by Dirty Three. I liked this review on Pitchfork. pitchfork.com/reviews/albu...
pitchfork.com
Dirty Three: Love Changes Everything
Read Grayson Haver Currin’s review of the album.
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Warwick Anderson @wombatscholar.bsky.social · 02/01/2025
We now have a cover for Medicine on a Larger Scale: Global Histories of Social Medicine (CUP 2025), eds. @ahlie.bsky.social, Jeremy Greene, and me. Many brilliant contributors give alternative genealogies and futures for social medicine - never so necessary, so urgent as now #histstm #histsci #STS
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Damien Droney @ddroney.bsky.social · 02/01/2025
I'm already reading a novel not in the fantasy genre, so I feel like I don't need to adopt any resolutions for the new year. I'm fine the way I am, thank you very much.
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Damien Droney @ddroney.bsky.social · 06/12/2024
Do I tell the students I've had a sleeping cat on my lap during all these Zoom meetings?
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Damien Droney @ddroney.bsky.social · 26/11/2024
I'm very proud of this article, which was published in early view today. It should be of interest to those working in African / postcolonial science studies.
cambridge.org
African Studies Keyword: Science | African Studies Review | Cambridge Core
African Studies Keyword: Science
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Damien Droney @ddroney.bsky.social · 29/10/2024
The latest issue of African Studies Review has a whole series of remembrances of Paulin Hountondji.
cambridge.org
Latest issue | African Studies Review | Cambridge Core
African Studies Review
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Damien Droney @ddroney.bsky.social · 05/04/2024
As a Californian living in exile, I'm looking forward to starting every conversation today with "did you feel the earthquake?" Oddly comforting.
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Damien Droney @ddroney.bsky.social · 03/04/2024
Ghana Studies Association statement in relation to the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill ghanastudies.com/announcement...
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Damien Droney @ddroney.bsky.social · 14/02/2024
I completely understand the exhaustion with all things Foucault, but I've been teaching a biopolitics seminar for the last four years and one of the key observations over that time is that every year it feels newly essential in particularly terrible ways. It can feel like a rediscovery every year.
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Damien Droney @ddroney.bsky.social · 24/01/2024
I did an interview with Anthropological Theory Commons about my recent article. Thanks to @epf.bsky.social for organizing!
at-commons.com
Projecting the future and the self … through projects: an interview with Damien Droney | Anthropol...
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Damien Droney @ddroney.bsky.social · 02/01/2024
I don't recommend losing your Zotero library.
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Damien Droney @ddroney.bsky.social · 29/12/2023
I know life is a constant effort to catch up on things you should have already read, but I really slept on Paulin Hountondji's work. An aversion to the rationality debate and dependency theory might have been to blame, but his work on scientific dependence would have transformed my dissertation.
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Damien Droney @ddroney.bsky.social · 04/12/2023
I’m really so happy that this article, Projects, Revisited: A Concept for the Anthropology of the Good,” was published by Anthropological Theory. My hope is that it finds the people who would want to read it. journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1...
journals.sagepub.com
Projects, revisited: A concept for the anthropology of the good - Damien Droney, 2023
In this article, I revisit the concept of project as it has been elaborated in anthropological theory in order to evaluate its relevance for contemporary debate...
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