Guest post by Sean Carey
Mark Twain famously quoted a local person in his 1897 travelogue, Following the Equator: “You gather the idea that Mauritius was made first, and then heaven; and that heaven was copied after Mauritius.”
Anyone lucky enough to fly to the Indian Ocean island will understand something of why this sentiment was recorded. [...]
• Put out the fire
Experts are debating how to stop the fires in Russia which are now spreading under the surface and how to deal with the smoke and fumes. Lisa Curran, professor of environment and anthropology at Stanford University, studies peat fires. The Wall Street Journal quotes her on their health effects: “There are [...]
• Life in the camps is a daily struggle
The latest information from Haiti is that 1.7 million displaced people are living in 1370 registered camps. Mark Schuller is there with eight student assistants doing research on a sample of the 861 officially registered camps for displaced people in the Port au Prince area. His article [...]
From our friends at American University, via the Washington Association of Professional Anthropologists (WAPA):
Revolutions! Building Emancipatory Politics & Action
The 7th Annual AU Public Anthropology Conference
Registration deadline: September 12
Join us for a revolutionizing conference as we work towards building coalitions across diverse social justice movements. We invite community activists, practicing and academic anthropologists and other [...]
• Toward an anthropology of the anti-burqa
Sean Carey asks: is there an anthropological explanation for the high-level of disapproval for a garment worn by so few? In France, approximately 2000 women out of a total Muslim population of 5 million wear a burqa, or full-body covering. He turns to examining the opposition within the context [...]
A study published in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior discusses the fact that, among humans, men have thicker jaws than women (noted in this week’s Anthro in the News). Professor David Puts of Penn State University suggests that men have thicker jaws than women as a result of an evolutionary process of selection, over [...]
The latest issue of the Journal of Women’s Health includes three articles describing health risks of women in the United States related to social exclusion and cultural factors. They all demonstrate that good health is about a lot more than medical care.
The first article looks at three factors associated with cardiovascular disease–hypertension, elevated cholesterol, and [...]
In his column “Social Media, Current Interests, and the 2010 Winter Olympics” in issue one of Popular Anthropology Magazine, Bob Muckle mentions anthropologyworks and calls it one of his favorite blogs.
Spanish designer Miguel Adrover owns a galabia (pron. juh-LAH-bee-yuh), a long, loose-flowing gown, handmade for him by a tailor in Egypt. Wearing it in various places around the world provides Adrover with snapshot social insights. When he wears it in the Middle East, he is more integrated into society. Outside the Middle East, it signals: [...]
• Religion and relief aid in Haiti
BBC carried an article pointing to the low profile of voodoo in the aftermath of the earthquake. Some observers think that Christian organizations are dominating the scene and even denying benefits to Haitians who demonstrate adherence to voodoo (a blend of Christian and African beliefs and rituals) by [...]
