161 posts tagged with anthropology.
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Books about recurring, seasonal plague
I've read a lot of books about how humans cope with an singular, unprecedented plague. But what if it came back every year? I want to read about that. [more inside]
Mesoamerica for dummies
I'm looking for an accessible and fairly recently written history of Mesoamerica, in English. Any suggestions? [more inside]
Anthropological term for which gender wears the fanciest clothes?
I have a vague impression that in some cultures men wear the fanciest, most colourful clothing (look at those Cavalier boots!) and in other cultures women do (I'm assuming those are Roundheads all around). I'm guessing there are cultures where men and women and other genders all wear fancy colourful clothing. Is there an anthropological word for the categories, sorta parallel to matrilocal/patrilocal/bilocal/avunculocal?
Is my university a particularly leftist bubble?
I'm constantly confused. I go to university. I study Anthropology and History. I'm not the best student, but I try and do my readings. I'm constantly told in some nominally progressive places online that I'm living in some sort of leftist alternate reality, that doesn't reflect the consensus on a range of issues. Well, Marx is in the syllabus, and Hayek isn't. Is that unusual? [more inside]
How do we know what those words mean? (About translation and interpretat
I find myself thinking today about the process of learning foreign languages, particularly early on, when there isn't any sort of infrastructure to fall back on. How do we do it? How did we do it in the distant past? [more inside]
anthropological reading for my wedding
We are looking for an anthropological reading about marriage as a rite of passage and/or as a contract with community. [more inside]
An ancient locking door latch with a key made of wood and rope?
Several years ago, I read an article about a type of lock for which the key was an irregularly-shaped block of wood hanging from a cord. The block would be passed through a hole cut in the door and dangle down inside, with the user retaining it by holding the cord. The block's shape would allow it to engage with a swinging latch, which would be lifted when the user pulled the cord.
I believe that these mechanisms have been in continuous use since ancient times, in some particular region of the world. Does anyone know what I'm talking about? [more inside]
How to find livestreams from strangers
Facebook live is globally popular. I have fed voraciously off the global map (formerly facebook.com/live) which allowed me to drop into livestreams in random countries, attend random festivals, and learn about the world. Now they have pulled that interface and replaced it with some nonsense called watch. Is there any way to get back to watching livestreams from Dominican Republic, Peru, Nepal, Ghana, Brazil, the whole world? My interest in mainly those streams with few or no viewers, made on mobile phones, by people I couldn't possibly know.
Recommendations for science podcasts?
I’m looking for recommendations for science podcasts that are not wildly inappropriate for a 10-year-old. She especially requests paleontology, geology, biology, archaeology, and the 13-year-old wonders about forensic anthropology.
highlanders
Can you recommend to me books, articles, videos, websites, and other resources about the peoples, ethnic groups, and tribes called "hill people" or "highlanders" around the world? [more inside]
Books like Kate Fox's "Watching the English"?
I'm reading Kate Fox's "Watching the English." It is exactly what I wish the Culture Shock books were. Does anyone have recommendations for similar anthropological analyses of behaviors among a certain nationality or regionality? Bonus points if it's as funny as Fox, although I now understand from her book that humor is embedded in British culture...
What alternatives to traditional storytelling exist?
Most cultures love to tell stories: spoken or written accounts of specific individuals who go on a quest/endure a challenge over a linear time frame, culminating in a resolution. But what other kinds of story-like practices have been reported in human societies past and present? An example might be the lists in Sei Shonagon's Pillow Book.
Other made up examples: stories about concepts not people, stories with no time axis, stories with no ending; stories made of material objects; stories in Q&A form; etc.
Like The Golden Bough, but accurate
As a high school student, I discovered Frazer's The Golden Bough and was fascinated. Unfortunately, it turns out that "whenever the evidence did not fit he simply altered the evidence". Is there any book you can recommend which is as wide-ranging in its anthropological and historical interests but more truthful?
Book recomendation: fiction by authors who excell at anthropology + psyc
I love reading fantasy and science fiction, but my two favorite books are actually slightly off from the norms for these genres: "hyper-realistic culture-focused fiction" is what i'll call the target genre for this book search.
All recommendations are welcome! :) And if you can tell me a bit about why the book(s) you recommend fit this category, that too would be much appreciated! :) [more inside]
Help me understand and deal with my cynical comrades
I love my leftist allies, but their attitudes can sometimes turn me off, and I am looking for resources to help me process this. Deets inside! [more inside]
A fellowship for anthropologists from developing countries?
I remember hearing one time of a fellowship for anthropologists from Africa, Asia, and Central/South America to study the culture and people of the US and Europe - a sort of anti-colonial anthropology. But alas, I cannot find any evidence for such a thing. Did this fellowship ever exist? What was it called? [more inside]
What deep insights into human cultures do non-specialists miss out on?
A question for anthropologists, linguists, cultural historians and other humanities scholars. What's the most thought-provoking custom, idea, metaphor or sociocultural phenomenon you've encountered in the academic literature that non-experts will probably never get to hear about?
For example, the "sound-painting" of the Siwu , the absence of fiction or art among the Pirahã people [pdf], or the popularity of communism in 500 AD Persia [pdf].
Or to put it another way: in all your years of digging around in dusty old journals, what was your biggest "whoa" moment?
Faces
Donald Trump has a very distinctive facial expression, sort of a pout with teeth barred. Today I saw a tabloid with images of some famous people where one (the bad guy) showed lower teeth, and another (nice guy) showed upper teeth. What is going on with these mouths? I react to them, but I don't know why. [more inside]
Examples of indirect gift exchanges between cultures?
I'm looking for examples, descriptions, anthropological terminology, etc. of non-physical contact exchange of gifts between two cultures. One example is the, bucket drop, where missionaries in Ecuador would drop and retrieve a bucket on a rope from an airplane circling above settlements of the Huaorani; the bucket would contain gifts for the Huaorani, who would put in their own gifts for the missionaries. [more inside]
A contemporary "version" of Frazer's The Golden Bough?
I am interested in myth, religion, magic and authority, and was just watching Apocalypse Now which reminded me of that Frazer book 'The Golden Bough' (1890). The Golden Bough, it seems, is read these days mostly for understanding the "history of anthropology" rather than as anthropology per se. Is there an equivalent contemporary anthropological study of the same subjects that someone could recommend? i.e. If I am interested in the current "accepted" state of anthropology of magic and religion. [more inside]
What am I making a big ceremony out of and not even aware I'm doing it?
So, in a discussion I observed that wrapping packages was a pedestrian task which the Japanese have elevated to a high art. Which immediately made me wonder, what sorts of things am I doing that I'm actually overdoing or that I culturally expect to be overwrought? That people from other places would peg me as as someone from the US or even the midwest because of what I pay extensive attention to.
What about other places? What cultures think a job done right is worth overdoing?
Correct term for current cultures using stone tools
MeFi... help us please! My boyfriend and I cannot figure out the correct term to describe a group of current people whose technology consists of stone tools and not much more. More information in the extended explanation below. [more inside]
on an island, a traveler
Seeking fiction recommendations about scientists and anthropologists immersed in other cultures. [more inside]
Best books of current human migration science
What are the most current books that explore the fields of research relating to the anthropology and genetic work of determining who migrated where and when in human history? [more inside]
Why are spiritual mediators characterized by self-denial?
Brahmins, shamans, priests, ascetics, monks, holy kings - all of them have some kind of taboo or another that prohibits sex or the tastiest food items. Jesus, Buddha, and Moses all had intense experiences of deprivation and self-denial before spiritual zeniths. My question is - why is that those individuals considered the most spiritually powerful are also taxed with the most prohibitions or expected to have undergone difficult and costly experiences? [more inside]
Help me find a since-deleted YouTube video
I noticed that many of my old favorites have been deleted, and there's one in particular that I've been itching to see again. I'm looking for a link/name/LoC listing??? of an old video clip from what seemed to be an anthropology documentary about indigenous music. My google-fu failed me. Description inside. [more inside]
Why do some cultures develop prejudice toward LGBT individuals?
Some cultures foster majority-held, strongly anti-LGBT beliefs, and some do not, and religion doesn't seem to be the source of these attitudes, just a justification for them.
Considering all this, what cultural forces account for anti-LGBT attitudes? What are the origins of these beliefs? [more inside]
How can I know whether someone truly sees something?
I am an anthropologist-in-training who spends time in living with a community with a strong medicine-man institution. The medicine-men claim to see various sorts of spirits, and often in very casual settings, like during walks in the forest or while sitting in the house. They'll say stuff like, "there's one sitting right there. It's red with hair on top." I want to know - is there a scientifically compelling way to investigate whether they actually "see" spirits? [more inside]
Recommend a Book on Law, Religion and Rule in Ancient Society?
I'm looking for a somewhat academic book on the inter-relations in ancient societies between the functions (or functionaries) of religion, law, and the "state" (or rule). Particularly something covering Sumer (and Cuneiform Law) and delving into Judaic Law and Christian law would be good. [more inside]
Recommend a basic book comparative "politics" of traditional societies
Looking for a basic intro anthropology text that discusses the breadth of social and political structures in 'traditional' societies across the continents - or just across say Africa, or ... Some comments about the mistaken belief of widespread "communal" cultures across Africa has prompted an interest in the breadth of such variances in cultural organisations in 'earlier' or 'traditional' societies. Thus, an introductory text for the layperson would be good, nothing too massive or encyclopaedic.
Resources on children's rights
I am interested in reading as widely as possible about the concept of children's rights. What resources would you recommend? [more inside]
Examples of rules dissolving after communities become less cohesive?
Dearest Hivemind - Does anyone know of examples where the rules of a community or society fall apart after the community becomes less cohesive (i.e., the members of the community come to depend less on each other and interact more infrequently)? I imagine, for example, an instance where you have norms for helping others out in times of need (like sharing food), but then people become less dependent on each other and those norms dissolve. Examples from the academic literature are especially appreciated and they could occur on any scale (e.g., a children's clubhouse, a hunter-gatherer band, an American mid-century town, an organization, contemporary Japan). THANKS!!
getting work as an anthropologist in business settings?
Hi
Does anyone know the pathway for getting work as an anthropologist in a business setting, or technology?
Is anyone actually working in this area?
What's is is like? What at are the prospects for starting a business in this area? What qualifications are recommended?
Any info or links much appreciated. Yes Ive heard of Genevieve Bell at (Intel?), that would be my ideal job except Im 60 and nearly finished my undergraduate degree
I watched "Human Planet" and now I must know more!
I binge-watch Human Planet this weekend, and it was the most fascinating thing I've seen in a long time. It is an 8 episode show about how humans survive in different habitats: ocean, river, mountains, grassland, arctic, desert, jungle etc. But it covers SO much that there isn't much depth to each thing they talk about. I must know more! I have so many questions. Where can I learn more? [more inside]
what do people incorrectly believe to be universal?
I'm looking for tasks where (1) each person consistently does it in a particular way, (2) believes that everyone else does it that same way, and (3) is wrong about (2). [more inside]
Who suggested that multinational corporations are highest life forms?
Who was the anthropologist who suggested that multinational corporations are the highest life forms on Earth? Author William Gibson has recounted going to a lecture by a female anthropologist at the University of British Columbia in the late 70s. The anthropologist posited the idea that multinational corporations were the highest life form on Earth, which had a profound influence on Gibson's world view, and therefore on literature influenced by Gibson. Who was this anthropologist? I haven't been able to find out who she was.
Looking for books about different world cultures
I'm looking for books that:
1. List different beliefs and practices of many different world cultures, both contemporary or historical cultures.
2. Are accessible, as in not needing an anthropology degree to understand them.
3. Preferably have pictures.
4. Are non-fiction, NOT a narrative with characters. I just want the facts.
5. Can be for kids or adults.
6. Preferably not internet resources because I want to minimize screen time. [more inside]
Examples of taboos on holy or religiously influential people?
Maori chiefs were taboo'd from eating inside their houses, the Jewish Kohen (priests) couldn't handle dead bodies, and clerical classes across religious traditions have required celibacy -- does anyone know of any other examples of taboos on holy or religiously influential people? The cultures can range from contemporary big religions (e.g. Abrahamic) to the animism of small-scale societies - all examples are welcome!! THANKS!
Endangered U.S. culture: what remains underdocumented?
Tell me about what cultures, cultural practices, arts, religions, languages, lifestyles, hobbies, habits, fashion, unconventional individuals/families, or any other aspects of human life in the U.S. still remain severely underdocumented; or are at risk of fading away before they can be properly or meaningfully documented. [more inside]
Examples of colonialists or outsiders using supernatural manipulation?
Does anyone know any examples of colonial governments or outsiders making up stuff about the supernatural to convince traditional peoples to follow some law or give them some resource or do something else that it's in the self-interest of the outsiders? [more inside]
Does a bloodied face signify the end of a fist fight?
I am trying to find some confirmation (or refutation) of the idea that at least in some contexts (schoolyard fisticuffs and other low-stakes, non-lethal brawls) the bloodying of one combatant's face is a kind of an "okay, the fight is over, we have a winner, everyone go home" signal. [more inside]
Watching the Russians?
What's the Russian equivalent of Watching the English? What about for other nationalities too?
Memoirs by Archaeologists
Do you know of any compelling, well-written memoirs by archaeologists, anthropologists, or paleo-anthropologists discussing field work, preferably during the twentieth century? The more detail about day-to-day work in the field and departmental intrigues, the better! [more inside]
Research Proposal from the Land of Make Believe
I'm in the process of putting together Ph.D. program applications and have run into a mental roadblock, namely being asked to put together a research proposal that I know is destined to be utterly meaningless. [more inside]
[ l i m i n a l i t y ]
What are the "big shifts" that have changed humanity?
I'm looking to explore the big shifts and major revolutions that have made a historical impact. Examples in the modern age: the rise of democracy, the proliferation of capitalism, and the Information Age / Internet. What other big shifts and major revolutions have changed humanity? [more inside]
Do homeless individuals have codes of conduct or rules?
I recently learned that the panhandlers in my city (Cambridge, MA) often share their food when they get big items and it made me wonder - do homeless individuals often have explicit or implicit rules, like "share when you get food" or "the person who's been homeless the longest gets the best spot"? What do you think happens if people break the rule? I'm sure there's a lot of variation both within and between cities, but if anyone has any thoughts, I'd really appreciate it!
Theory about Internet and judging personal probabilities already exist?
I have an original pet theory I came up with a long time ago involving the Internet and how people judge probability. It probably would fall into the anthropological, sociological or psychological fields. I'm not intending to make this post to discuss the theory itself as a sort of "let's b.s. back and forth about my idea" kind of thing. Reason I'm posting is because I'd like to know if this theory already exists or is an application of something broader that already exists. Maybe it's a theory being applied onto the communications medium of the Internet of some older theory in one of the above field(s) of study, or maybe it's a piecemeal construction of a few theories spliced together. Anyway, enough babbling, actual theory after the cut. [more inside]
Sociological or anthropological studies on insular or peninsular cities?
I'm looking for academic-level writing on the ways that cities that are built on islands or peninsulas, or in geographically isolated areas, develop and behave differently from cities that are more easily and fully connected to other cities. This would be about the mindset and attitudes and not about urban planning or infrastructure. I'm thinking these may be anthropological or sociological studies. They may even just be a thought pieces or essays. I could swear I saw one that talked about Manhattan and Charleston, but I can't find it.
Resume/Job Search Question #1001
In May, I will be graduating with a master's degree in applied anthropology. I'll be meeting a potential employer this week (possibly tomorrow) at a 3-day long design/innovation bootcamp. How and when do I broach the subject of employment and ask to send him my resume? Bonus job search questions abound! [more inside]