Cultural Anthropology
Two South African residents in the United States are delighting book lovers with a shop full of books by black authors paired with delicious coffee and pastries. Rofhiwa Book Café was launched this year by the South African power duo Boitumelo Makhubele, who is the founder and Naledi Yaziyo, who is curator. Boitumelo is a Computer Science student at North Carolina A&T and known for their work in community organizing and activism. They have done a lot to foster safe spaces for LGBTQIA+ people of color. Naledi is a… read more about Book Café Delights Readers with Books and Coffee | Interview with Boitumelo Makhubele & Naledi Yaziyo »
Dear Faculty and Staff, We are delighted to… read more about Congratulations to former graduate student Kelly Alexander 2021 Award-Winning Teacher »
The recent events of the Israeli aggression on Gaza and Jerusalem are an important occasion that shows the importance of the image and the extent of its impact on the arena of political disputes. The policy of violence practiced by the Israeli side against the Palestinians has always been surrounded by the "image", as a means that shows the severity of the aggression against the Palestinian people, which Israel tried to combat. Always. The importance of the recent events shows the importance of the “image”, as the… read more about American anthropologist Rebecca L. Stein: This is how the Israeli military occupation has changed in the age of smartphones »
Professor Orin Starn reflects on Guzman's passing and the state of Marxist/Maoist thought in Latin America. "Maoism was a global phenomenon in the 1960s. It was fresh and exciting and promised revolution and that was a big part of its appeal to young people, who weren't interested in old-fashioned Soviet communism, which was perceived as the establishment, " says Starn. . "In the international romanticization of Mao, people either did not know or were ignorant of the atrocities that his… read more about Abimael Guzman: What is Maoism, the ideology in which the Shining Path leader was inspired and for which he unleashed a bloody war in Peru »
Professor Rebecca Stein is the recipient of the Howard D. Johnson Teaching Award from the Arts and Sciences Council! Recipients were selected on the basis of their equitable and inclusive teaching, their ability to spark excitement about learning, the ways they encourage a deep dive into disciplinary ways of thinking, their efforts to make connections beyond the courses they teach, and for their teaching innovations, particularly during the COVID era. Congratulations, Rebecca! read more about Rebecca Stein receives the Howard D. Johnson Teaching Award »
If you don’t think a laboratory is the ideal place to explore complex themes and methodologies like valuing care, ethnography, urbanism or games and culture, you may need to expand your definition beyond beakers and microscopes. Labs are hives of communication, cooperation and active collaboration. They are driven by a commitment to curiosity and exploration that often produces unanticipated paths and solutions. And utilizing those features for research in the humanities – a scholarly area that has traditionally focused on… read more about Innovative, Interdisciplinary Labs Reshape Humanities Research and Teaching »
Editor’s note: This is the first of two diary entries by this author addressing teaching during the pandemic. The second is available here. Before the start of our Covid year, Duke Student Government wrote a letter to The Chronicle encouraging faculty to be flexible in schedules, assignments and grading so as to help alleviate the academic and mental health stress of the pandemic. Taking their request seriously, I experimented with a new exercise and a new approach to evaluation in my fall… read more about Breath Journals and Ungrading »
After Israeli police entered Jerusalem’s Aqsa Mosque in early May, following rising tensions in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, news consumers around the globe watched in real time as conflict erupted in the region once again, and social media followed. Across Twitter, Tik Tok and other platforms, viewers shared videos of Israeli police firing rubber bullets and Palestinian protestors throwing rocks, as well as images of Palestinian rockets and Israeli airstrikes. The conflict unfolding on the ground was… read more about Rebecca Stein on War in the Smartphone Age »
After Israeli police entered Jerusalem’s Aqsa Mosque in early May, following rising tensions in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, news consumers around the globe watched in real time as conflict erupted in the region once again, and social media followed. Across Twitter, Tik Tok and other platforms, viewers shared videos of Israeli police firing rubber bullets and Palestinian protestors throwing rocks, as well as images of Palestinian rockets and Israeli airstrikes. The conflict unfolding on the ground was… read more about Rebecca Stein on War in the Smartphone Age »
Randy Matory receives American Ethnological 2020 Society Senior Book Prize. Award presentation. read more about Randy Matory receives American Ethnological Society 2020 Senior Book Prize »
Following the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, many Iraqi academics were assassinated. Countless others received bullets in envelopes and instructions to leave their institutions (and in many cases the country) or get killed. Many heeded the warning and fled into exile. Having played such a pivotal role in shaping post-independence Iraqi society, the exile and internal displacement of its academics has had a profound impact. Tracing the academic, political, and social lives of more than 60 academics, Bullets in… read more about Bullets in Envelopes Iraqi Academics in Exile »
Micah Gilmer received his B.A. in African American Studies and Religious Studies from UNC-Chapel Hill and his Ph.D. in Cultural Anthropology from Duke. After graduating with his doctorate in 2009, he served as Adjunct Assistant Professor of the Practice in Public Policy at UNC. He is currently a Senior Partner at Frontline Solutions, which he co-founded, as well as interim CEO of the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation. Read more. read more about Cultural Anthropology Alumni Profile: Micah Gilmer »
This month we feature a collection of Duke-authored books that explore historical and current aspects of music in the United States and beyond. These books, along with many others written by Duke authors, are available at Duke University Libraries, the Gothic Bookshop or the Regulator Bookshop. The Song is You by Bradley Rogers Musicals, it is often said, burst into song and dance when mere words can no longer convey… read more about 10 Books About Music from Duke Authors »
Date : 23 June 2021 Time: 8:00 – 9:30pm (Hong Kong time, UTC +8) /2:00 – 3:30pm (Central European Time, UTC +2) The seminar will be held in English. Labour, in China as elsewhere, has become more unpredictable, and new forms of control, surveillance, and struggle are emerging around the world. Against this background, the digitialization and platformization of the economy and of society have made employment relations even more precarious, particularly in service sectors. In this webinar, based… read more about GLOBAL PLATFORM POLITICS: LESSONS FROM CHINA AND BEYOND »
Six Duke professors who have demonstrated excellence both in research and undergraduate education have been selected as the 2021 Bass Fellows. Harris Solomon, Fred W. Shaffer Associate Professor of Cultural Anthropology and Global Health, effective July 1, 2021 An award-winning medical anthropologist, Solomon holds appointments in the Department of Cultural Anthropology and the Duke Global Health Institute. His undergraduate courses address the social dimensions of medicine and health, and he also… read more about Congratulations to Harris Solomon selected as a 2021 Bass Fellow »
Rolling Stone article featuring quotes from Rebecca Stein, professor of cultural anthropology at Duke University and author of Screen Shots: State Violence on Camera in Israel and Palestine and Sophia Goodfriend, a cultural anthropology PhD candidate at Duke currently based in Jerusalem. ---------------------------- With her long, lush blond hair, almond-shaped blue eyes, and expertly manicured brows, influencer Natalia Fadeev bears a striking resemblance to model… read more about Why Are Israeli Defense Forces Soldiers Posting Thirst Traps on TikTok? »
Six Duke professors who have demonstrated excellence both in research and undergraduate education have been selected as the 2021 Bass Fellows. "These Bass Scholars blend scholarly excellence with a commitment to the transformative power of faculty-student engagement, said Gary Bennett, vice provost for undergraduate education. “Their ingenuity, creativity and commitment are exemplary, and we Duke faculty are fortunate to have them as colleagues and exemplars. " The chairs were created in 1996 when Anne T. and Robert Bass… read more about Six New Bass Fellows Honored for Excellence in Research and Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching »
Congratulations to Cultural Anthropology graduate student Joe Hiller who was awarded first place in the Graduate Division of the 2021 Andrew T. Nadell Prize for Book Collecting! His submitted collection is titled "Como un detective salvaje: Gathering Small Press, Experimental, and Untranslated Latin American Literature." Read more. read more about Graduate student Joe Hiller wins first place in Graduate Division of the 2021 Andrew T. Nadell Prize for Book Collecting »
On Friday nights, the small town of Floyd in southwestern Virginia (population 425) becomes a gathering spot to play and hear American traditional music. Decades ago, the Floyd Country Store started hosting an informal jamboree. Word spread, the crowds grew, and the store now boasts a state-of-the-art performance stage. “People come from all over the world every Friday night,” says Charles D. Thompson, Jr., professor of the practice of cultural anthropology and documentary studies and a senior fellow at the Kenan… read more about ROCK CASTLE HOME: A DISAPPEARING APPALACHIAN COMMUNITY SHARES ITS STORIES »
This month, we present a collection of eight Duke-authored books covering a range of environmental topics including sea-level rise, species protection, renewable energy, and the ocean floor. These books, along with many others, are available at Duke University Libraries, the Gothic Bookshop or the Regulator Bookshop. Sea Level Rise by Orrin Pilkey "Sea Level Rise" lays out the consequences… read more about Eight Duke-Authored Books on the Environment »
Floyd Country Store Friday Jamboree (Photo: Richard Toller, licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0) On Friday nights, the small town of Floyd in southwestern Virginia (population 425) becomes a gathering spot to play and hear American traditional music. Decades ago, the Floyd Country Store started hosting an informal jamboree. Word spread, the crowds grew, and the store now boasts a state-of-the-art performance stage. “People come from all over the world every Friday night,” says Charles D.… read more about Rock Castle Home: A Disappearing Appalachian Community Shares Its Stories »
A new Trinity College of Arts & Sciences program offering peer mentoring to Ph.D. students in their first, second or third year at Duke will begin hosting meetings this fall, and has selected the inaugural class of fellows to lead those groups. Designed as small, interdisciplinary mentoring groups each facilitated by a peer fellow, the program aims to help students flourish in their respective doctoral programs – providing a confidential space to navigate frustrations, offering a diversity of perspectives, encouraging… read more about Trinity Launches Peer Mentoring Program for Early-Stage PhD Students »
Congratulations to Dr. Layla D. Brown-Vincent who will begin her appointment as an Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology and Africana Studies at Northeastern University this fall. She will be on fellowship leave during AY 21-22 as a Senior Research Fellowship at the KHK Center for Global Cooperation Research in Duisburg, Germany wrapping her first book project which she hopes to publish through Duke’s Radical Americas series and begin work on her new project based… read more about Congratulations to alumna Dr. Layla D. Brown-Vincent »
India’s surge of COVID-19 cases is amplifying the global burden of illness and death and straining the country’s healthcare system. As treatment supplies of oxygen and medicine run low, the workers caring for patients are increasingly overtaxed. Care work should be valued as an infrastructure of COVID-19 treatment, and hospital workers and families deserve greater support for their labor, says Harris Solomon, a medical anthropologist at Duke University. The following quotes are available for use in your coverage of the… read more about News Tip: Pandemic Response in India Should Focus on Care Workers, Too, Duke Expert Says »