Public Anthropology @ Duke
Public Anthropology Pluralism:
Public Education, Media Communication, Activism, Public Policy, & Public Service
Faculty and students at Duke have a long tradition of engagement with various publics as both scholars and citizens. In addition to their ethnography and critical theory, it is not uncommon to find our faculty writing and speaking for non-anthropologists, bringing the insights of anthropology to communities for whom they might be relevant – whether teaching judges, publishing trade books, participating in legal or policy advocacy, speaking to general audiences, or being interviewed for radio or television reports and documentaries.
Many faculty, graduate and undergraduate students are also involved in hosts of different collaborations with local, national and global organizations or movements working to address social problems. Just some of the areas in which department members are active include: international human rights advocacy; photo-literacy initiatives; global health projects; alternative development programming; anti-sweatshop campaigns; living wage and labor rights campaigns in Durham; partner-abuse support services; education programs with Durham Public Schools; lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights; autonomist projects; and immigrant rights.
Duke’s Public Anthropology Initiative is intentionally pluralist. Recognizing a variety of commitments and conceptions of “public anthropology” in our own department and the discipline more generally, we encourage public engagement in whatever terms each member deems most appropriate or valuable. We also support projects and collaborations that allow students and faculty to experience new forms of engagement. Lessons gleaned in one type of public anthropology practice often have much to offer those involved in other forms of public engagement.
Some examples of public engagement by department members:
- Lee Baker appears on PBS documentaries and television programs discussing race and the history of anthropology, notably, the documentary "Race: The Power of an Illusion."
- Charles Piot participated in the ground breaking legal process of the Kasinga asylum case, the first granting of political asylum on the basis of clitoridectomy practices. He continues to be involved in discussions about the framing of female genital cutting practices and the politics of the ways in which Africa is represented in such debates.
- Charles Thompson and Cynthia Hill's documentary film, "The Guestworker: Bienvenidos a Carolina del Norte," is airing on PBS stations across the country.
Check local listings for date and time.
- Orin Starn, author of "Ishi's Brain: In Search of America's Last "Wild" Indian"– www.orinstarn.com
- Naomi Quinn, coordinating organizer / and other faculty, grads and undergrads participating - Duke Organizing, Durham CAN and living wages link to www.durhamcan.org
- Louisa Lombard, consultant to Small Arms Survey, conducting research on armed groups and the human rights impacts of small arms in Africa
- Micah Gilmer, on-campus coordinator with the John Hope Franklin Scholars www.duke.edu/web/africanameric/jhfscholars/
- Dawn Peebles, international human rights monitoring and mechanisms, the United Nations and Nepal
- Jason Cross, international health project in Ecuador www.f-h-n.org
- Rebecca Stein, NPR interview on Israel-Palestine
- Rocio Trinidad, author of numerous Spanish-language political commentaries on subjects ranging from the death penalty to militarization of Peruvian schools.
- Neta Van Vliet and Diane Nelson – Guatemalan activist networks
- William O’Barr and John Conley discuss public communication and public anthropology in a recent interview for PoLAR: Political and Legal Anthropology Review www.anthrosource.net/doi/abs/10.1525/pol.2006.29.2.337
- Cultural Anthropology faculty and graduate students – 6-part Collaborative Seminar at Butner Federal Corrections Complex