anthro{dendum}

Why do I keep finding masks in Naupaka? An anthropologist observes mask use by tourists in Hawaiʻi

By Guest Contributor | July 5, 2021

By Emily Creek Disclaimer: Even as I write this the CDC has changed guidelines for vaccinated individuals. At the time of writing Maui county had implemented a secondary post-arrival test while the State of Hawai’i now has a vaccine passport. In July the rules will change again, and Hawaii will begin accepting all vaccines as a way of being exempt from being quarantined. At the time of writing this essay, COVID mask mandates in Maui county remained in place…you are {+}

Behind Many Masks: An Ethnographic Account of a Pandemic Borderlands

By Christian Elliott | June 30, 2021

In June of 2020, four months into a global pandemic and a month after I graduated from college (via a YouTube livestream while sitting on the couch in my parents’ living room), I decided to apply to be a U.S. Census Bureau Enumerator. In college I’d learned the decennial count’s importance in determining state and local budgets and, as a bit of a geography nerd, had often used Census Bureau data in G.I.S. mapping projects. Applying felt like a way {+}

On The Culture of Harassment in Archaeology: An interview with Barbara L. Voss

By Uzma Z. Rizvi | June 22, 2021

[Content advisory: This article discusses harassment and discrimination in archaeology, including discussion of sexual assault.] On the morning of March 30, 2021, three articles on the culture of harassment within archaeology dropped. And it was epic. Across three articles, Barbara (Barb) Voss reviewed and analyzed current research about the prevalence and patterns of harassment within our discipline. Most useful was her list of proven interventions that have demonstrable results in reducing harassment. Most difficult and heart wrenching to read were {+}

Tips for Better Online Teaching

By Kerim | May 15, 2021

As I write this, colleges in Taiwan are switching to online learning for the first time since the pandemic started. This is because, for most of the past year, Taiwan was able to contain the pandemic at the border. This past week, however, marks the first time ever that there has been sustained local transmission and it is currently unclear whether or not the government can get things back under control. I actually started teaching online for the first time {+}

Skin, Bones, and Red Masks

By David Shane Lowry | May 5, 2021

Photo credit: Lehi Sanchez (APTNNEWS.CA) UPDATED 5/6/2021 Today, May 5, 2021, people across the United States will wear red in recognition of missing and/or murdered American Indian (Indigenous) women. They will type #MMIW, #MMIWG or something similar in their social media feeds. If they are one of a few American Indians in their organizations, they may be asked (a bit ironically) to make special statements about missing American Indian peoples. Why does “MMIW” exist? Recently, the skeleton of a Turtle {+}

Climate Change and COVID-19: Online Learning and Experiments in Seeing the World Anew

By Guest Contributor | May 1, 2021

By Adam Fleischmann The site is easy to access. Just a short walk and I’m there, immediately confronted with two large rectangular windows. The large window up high and on the right is mostly opaque, save one dominating feature: a single, dark line scorches across its surface like a comet’s tail, bottom left to top right. The window on the left is less subdued, less ominous. Graceful curving layers of color arc to the right and skyward, almost topographical in {+}

How a legacy of colonialism hinders vaccination efforts in Indigenous communities

By Guest Contributor | April 17, 2021

By Soham Govande Today, hopes are held high that the COVID-19 vaccine will gradually bring an end to the pandemic. Due to systemic health disparities, disadvantaged groups such as Indigenous peoples have especially suffered this past year—both biologically and culturally. Hence, vaccination efforts in these communities must be successful to prevent further damage. Yet, the lack of trust between Indigenous communities and governmental programs stands as a significant challenge to overcome. Health Disparities in Indigenous Communities Why is vaccination so {+}

The masked and the unmasked

By Ryan | April 12, 2021

Before 2020 and COVID-19, I never thought much about masks. Now I think about them all the time. One question that keeps coming up is why they have become so controversial and contentious, especially here in the US. Why all the resistance? These questions are on my mind constantly. The whole subject of mask-wearing is often so tense that it can be difficult to even mention the subject. Masks have become a proxy for not only what people believe about {+}

Why “is this fascism?” is the wrong question: a foray into the everyday life of political concepts

By Guest Contributor | March 10, 2021

By Louis Philippe Römer Activists, politicians, and public intellectuals have turned to the word “fascism” to analyze the intensified mobilization of the far-right and the radicalization of the GOP during the Trump presidency. Others vehemently object and see this new usage of “fascism” as incorrect. This already heated debate further intensified after the United States Capitol insurrection on January 6, 2021. Much of this debate revolves around the prescriptivist premise that there is a correct language for naming and describing {+}

An Obituary for Alfred Kroeber (or…Can American Indians Speak?)

By David Shane Lowry | February 5, 2021

Image: The title “Kroeber Hall” being removed at the University of California-Berkeley on January 26, 2021. (Photo Credit: Irene Yi) In 2017, the theme of the annual meeting of the American Anthropological Association was “Anthropology Matters”. I didn’t hear folks criticize the theme too much, but I wondered who had chosen it in the age of “Black Lives Matters” to make a point about the value and substance of anthropology. It was a bit … tacky … mostly because it {+}