by Barbara Miller Whoever was in charge of protecting the Obamas at their first state dinner made several mistakes, including what might be called reverse profiling. A striking blond, white woman in a glittering red and gold lehenga-style sari, along with her appropriately dressed male escort, sashayed her way into the White House on November [...]
• Publication of Ann Dunham’s revised dissertation Working with the American Anthropological Association, Duke University Press has published “Surviving against the Odds: Village Industry in Indonesia,” a revision of Ann Dunham’s doctoral dissertation in anthropology. President Obama’s mother was trained as an economic anthropologist at the University of Hawai’i and worked in Indonesia as a [...]
Virtual worlds research can provide insights into important social questions such as racism and ethnic discrimination. An exploratory study of a “Muslim” avatar in Second Life provides intriguing findings that beg for more in-depth research. Methal Mohammed teaches English as a second language in the Department of Teaching, Learning and Culture at Texas A&M University. [...]
• LSE anthropologist wins Victor Turner Award Dr. Matthew Engelke, a senior lecturer (professor) in the Department of Anthropology of the London School of Economics, has won the 2009 Victor Turner Prize for his book, A Problem of Presence: Beyond Scripture in an African Church, an historical ethnography based on research in Zimbabwe. The Victor [...]
From Bono to a college student who takes an alternative spring break to help people living in poverty, interest and participation in development-related activities has increased among non-specialists in the past decade. Philanthropists, students at many levels, and people in business, professional groups, and migrants’ associations now constitute a fourth pillar of development alongside the [...]
For those readers in the D.C. area, please join us for the final Culture in Global Affairs program talk of the year. Sharia and Gender in the Malay-Muslim Corporate Workplace Patricia Sloane-White, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, University of Delaware This talk will explore how in Malaysia, the growing muscularity and masculinity of sharia (Islamic law) [...]
• More on Lévi-Strauss Tributes to Claude Lévi-Strauss continued to appear in mainstream media worldwide such as the Times of India and the Economist, extolling his contribution to the discipline of anthropology. In my comments last week, I joined the chorus of positive notes. I do quibble, however, with those who call him the “father [...]
by Barbara Miller Poet and political activist Irom Chanu Sharmila has been protesting abuses by Indian military forces in Manipur, northeastern India, for ten years. Fasting unto death is her chosen, nonviolent method of protest. Indian law however now rules that fasting unto death is illegal. Manipur, located in the northeastern region is India’s most [...]
by Barbara Miller Metal music fans in France are no more anxious or depressed than the general population, in fact, they are somewhat less so. Fewer than 5 percent of the 333 fans in a recent study have pathological symptoms, as evaluated on the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Characteristics of the small minority [...]
• Tristes tropes for a “towering” anthropologist The French anthropologist who established the theory of “structuralism” outlived most other prominent anthropologists of his era. Claude Lévi-Strauss died over the weekend in Paris at the age of one hundred years. He left an impressive legacy in cultural anthropology and beyond. Reflecting his fame, his obituary appeared [...]
