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What is a valuable body? In her “Bodies at Work” class, Emily Lim Rogers showed students that the answer depends very much on whom, where and when you ask. By taking them on a voyage in time and space, the Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology invited students to challenge the modern idea that productivity is inevitably tied to ableness. Embedded in a system where productivity is often imposed on them from an early age, but challenged by their own disabilities — or empathetic to those around… read more about Louder Than Words: Student Art Projects Redefine Valuable Bodies »

What is a valuable body? In her “Bodies at Work” class, Emily Lim Rogers showed students that the answer depends very much on whom, where and when you ask. By taking them on a voyage in time and space, the Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology invited students to challenge the modern idea that productivity is inevitably tied to ableness. Embedded in a system where productivity is often imposed on them from an early age, but challenged by their own disabilities — or empathetic to those around them — students craved… read more about Louder Than Words: Student Art Projects Redefine Valuable Bodies »

Nick Saban’s departure from Alabama shocked me as a football fan. But as an anthropologist and ethnographer, I was more concerned with what the news meant for the players.  Only a few days after the 2024 College Football Playoff National Championship game, head coach Nick Saban announced his retirement from his post at the University of Alabama. Saban’s successor was announced the next day when the public learned University of Washington’s Kalen DeBoer, fresh off a loss in the national title game, would lead the… read more about The myth of the college football family has nothing to do with love. »

Cultural Anthropology is pleased to announce that Professor Ralph Litzinger has received the 2024 Dean's Award for excellence in mentoring, teaching, and inclusive initiatives.  Congratulations, Professor Litzinger! Each year, the Graduate School at Duke presents the Dean’s Awards for Excellence in Mentoring to recognize the considerable efforts and accomplishments of faculty and graduate students who consistently serve as effective mentors. Designed to allow the university community to identify faculty and graduate… read more about Ralph Litzinger receives 2024 Dean's Award for Excellence in Mentoring »

On November 18, Bertin Louis, the President of the Association of Black Anthropologists, inaugurated the Presidential Service Award at the AAA meetings in Toronto. Lee Baker is one of five awardees. The award has been named the *Lee D. Baker Presidential Service Award* in honor of the fact that Professor Baker has served in every ABA leadership role: President, Secretary/Treasure, Member of the Board, as well as the editor of Transforming Anthropology (ABA's Journal). Congratulations Lee!   read more about Lee D. Baker awarded the Presidential Service Award  »

This interview was conducted over email with Robin Kirk, Author/Co-Director of the Duke Human Rights Center@FHI/Professor of the Practice in Cultural Anthropology at Duke University, by Sarah Holehouse, a second-year undergraduate student working for the Duke Human Rights Center at the Franklin Humanities Institute.  How do the issues of banned books and censorship intersect with human rights? Human rights can be divided into derogable rights—rights than can be limited for specific reasons… read more about Banned Books Week 2023: An Interview with Robin Kirk »

Celebrating Diane Nelson Diane Michele was born in Oxford, Ohio in 1963 to Donald N. and Lois E. (Genn) Nelson. In 1980, Diane began her lifelong relationship with Latin America as an AFS exchange student in Mexico. At Wellesley, as a National Merit Scholar and cultural anthropology major, she first visited Guatemala, where she would continue to study for over four decades. As a Ph.D. student in anthropology at Stanford, she continued her focus on indigenous Guatemalan life-worlds. Diane joined the anthropology faculty at… read more about Celebrating the Work of Professor Diane Nelson, 1963-2022 »

Monday, September 18 1:30 – 3:00pm Room 225, Friedl Building This talk, based on years of research with Indigenous women migrants, explores the role of trauma and emotion in the embodied experience of anthropological field research and knowledge production. Shannon Speed (Chickasaw) is Paula Gunn Allen Chair and Professor of American Indian Studies, Gender Studies, and Anthropology at UCLA, where she also serves as Director of the American Indian Studies Center and Special Advisor to the Chancellor on Native American and… read more about Shannon Speed: Grief and an Indigenous Feminist’s Rage: The Embodied Field of Knowledge Production »

Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology Emily Lim Rogers joins the Duke faculty this year. (John West/Trinity Communications) While the COVID-19 pandemic delayed or derailed fieldwork for many up-and-coming scholars, Emily Lim Rogers’ research never slowed down. Working as a medical ethnographer researching myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), social distancing practices were already the norm for the communities she was engaging with. “For my interlocutors… read more about Emily Lim Rogers Champions Those the Healthcare System Leaves Behind »

Marla Frederick, a leading ethnographer and scholar focused on the African American religious experience, will become dean of Harvard Divinity School on January 1, President Claudine Gay announced Thursday. Frederick is currently the Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Religion and Culture at Emory University’s Candler School of Theology. Prior to her appointment at Emory, she served on the Harvard faculty from 2003 to 2019, including as an assistant professor in the Department of African and African American Studies, with a… read more about Ph.D. alumna Marla Frederick named next dean of Harvard Divinity School »

Dr. Courtney Lewis, the Crandall Family Associate Professor of Cultural Anthropology at Duke University, is on a mission to reshape the academic landscape by bolstering the University’s commitment to Native American studies. Inspired by her pioneering father, who was the first American Indian to earn a Ph.D in social work and played a pivotal role in passing the Indian Child Welfare Act, Dr. Lewis has dedicated her career to promoting cultural understanding and economic self-sufficiency within Native communities. Read more… read more about Dr. Courtney Lewis cultivates cultural bridges with Native American Studies Initiative »

The Langford Lecture series was established by the Office of the Provost in 2000 as a tribute Thomas Langford, former Divinity School faculty member, Dean, and Provost. Langford embodied the highest university values of scholarship, teaching, collegiality, and the promotion of faculty excellence and community. This annual lecture/luncheon series is designed to provide Duke’s faculty with an opportunity to hear about the ongoing scholarly activities of their recently promoted or hired colleagues. The Committee on… read more about Rebecca Stein Wins Thomas Langford Lectureship Award »

MY FIRST DAY OF work in an Amazon warehouse I was nervous. I was beginning undercover anthropology fieldwork—and worried about being found out. Plus, I’d read horror stories about soul-crushing work demands inside the company’s giant facilities. I’m a longtime Amazon shopper. But I’ve also felt guilt about patronizing a company accused of putting local bookstores out of business, underpaying its taxes, and treating workers badly. A coalition of anti-Amazon groups called Athena wants us to kick the habit.… read more about The Anthropology Professor in an Amazon Warehouse »