03.08.05: The blog has moved to www.antropologi.info/blog/anthropology/, and several broken links have been corrected
Here are the most recent posts on the new blog location:
Friday, December 10, 2004, 13:42
Ethnography, cross cultural understanding and product design
Ideas Bazaar reports from an interesting seminar about - among others - ethnography and product design and points to aviable conference papers online.
The Global Watch Mission Report Innovation through people-centred design - lessons from the USA emphasises that people in their social context rather than task-centric users should be considered a fundamental source of innovation. Furthermore it states that "cross-cultural understandings are becoming increasingly important for companies such as Intel who are using multi-sited worldwide research as part of the innovation process" >> download the report
>> to Ideas Bazaar's comments
>> Anne Galloway's comments / summary of the report (purse lip square jaw blog)
>> Louise Ferguson's comment: "The user/human/people agenda is hitting the mainstream rather than being the preserve of a niche community."
>> Press release University of Surrey: Innovation Through People Centred Design - Lessons For UK Business From the USA
>> Corporate Anthropology
>> Social Software: Video presentations of a conference in Oslo (link via Purse Lip Square Jaw)
Friday, December 10, 2004, 10:17
Interview with Corporate Anthropologist: Dissecting Consumer Appetites
NPR (Radio Interview)
NPR's Eric Weiner reports on the emerging field of corporate anthropology, where researchers dissect consumer appetites and help engineers build user-friendly products. >> continue
Thursday, December 09, 2004, 12:38
Germans critical of Santa Claus's spread - "symbol of American commercialism"
Christian Science Monitor
To many Germans, Santa's spread is an unwelcome reminder of the encroachment of American commercialism into Europe. "People are starting to become critical of commercialism in every respect," says Hermann Bausinger, a cultural anthropologist at the University of Tübingen.
"Christmas has switched from being only a celebration within the family and the church to being a public event starting late in November and going on through January," says Mr. Bausinger.
The problem, as German television celebrity Mr. Hahne sees it, is that American-style Santas are crowding out Saint Nicholas, the traditional Christmas icon of this hilly Germany village named after the 4th-century bishop. "Santa is a symbol of consumption," Hahne says. "Nicholas was a real bishop [who] taught us what's still very true today: giving does not make us poorer. It makes us richer." >> continue
Thursday, December 09, 2004, 08:10
TIF - a new tech-savvy woman has emerged
Buisiness Wire / Intel
A new, tech-savvy woman has emerged and Intel calls her "Tif," short for Technology Involved Female. Tif is closing the technology gender gap, with women at the youngest end of the spectrum actually surpassing men in their intent to purchase a laptop. The survey reveals that women are using computing technology in their daily lives now more than ever.
"Women are a driving force in technology adoption, and it is important for us to understand how women use technology so we can meet their needs, too," said Dr. Genevieve Bell, a cultural anthropologist with Intel, who observes how people around the world use technology in daily life. >> continue
SEE ALSO
Genevieve Bell - presentation and publications
Culture Matters: An Interview with Genevieve Bell (GoToMedia)
Anthropologists at Intel (TheStarOnline Malaysia)
Wednesday, December 08, 2004, 08:10
Learning From Anthropology:What Can Cultural Interpretation Do for Your Buiness?
Ross Teague, Local Tech Wire
Anthropologists take their findings and produce, among other things, a description of the culture of that group or environment. That same cultural interpretation can be a huge help in understanding a business or client group. Understanding how information really flows in an organization, who the gatekeepers of knowledge are, and why people make the choices they do can help make business and product decisions easier. >> continue
Tuesday, December 07, 2004, 08:10
Shanghai: Study says 1 in 4 youths thinks about taking own life
Christian Science Monitor
A recent study revealed that one-quarter of the children (ages 8 to 15) in China's wealthiest city have considered taking their own lives. Perhaps more surprising is that the results were made public. Long a taboo topic in China, suicide is becoming part of public discussion.
"In the area of the examination system, there is tremendous pressure on kids today, especially urban kids," says Arthur Kleinman, chairman of Harvard University's anthropology department, who has studied social trends in China for three decades. >> continue
SEE ALSO:
Call for action over Third World depression (BBC, 1.9.99)
Arthur Kleinman: Ethics and Experience - an Anthropological Approach to Health Equity (Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies, Working Paper Series Number 99.04)
About Arthur Kleinman's research (Harvard University)
Monday, December 06, 2004, 12:38
Applied anthropology - A wedding ceremony in support of peace in West Timor
Ingvild Solvang, social anthropologist, Jesuit Refugee Service Indonesia (JRS)
JRS Indonesia has experienced that traditional ways to solve issues of displacement can be very fruitful, not only in West Timor but also in other parts of Indonesia. Finding the appropriate traditional approach becomes a process in itself, which ties the refugees and local communities together. It creates an arena where people sit down to discuss values that are essential in their culture.
In the local community, the binding of local tradition is stronger than formal legal documents. That makes the Fetsawa Umamane ceremony, in this case, an important supplement to the legal process. The combination of a formal legal and traditional approach will hopefully lay a solid foundation for good durable solutions for old and new families in Sukabitetek. >> continue
Friday, December 03, 2004, 08:17
Cultural complexity in Norway - Turning away from ethnicity as explanatory model
University of Oslo
Cultural complexity in the new Norway, represents a large commitment by the University of Oslo towards research on cultural diversity. This is the first time in the history of the University of Oslo that it is being worked cross-disciplinary to such an extent.
Through interdisciplinary cooperation, the research project will be able to present new perspectives on Norway as a multicultural society, project manager Professor in Social Anthropology Thomas Hylland Eriksen promised. It is not immigrants alone who will be studied; Norwegians will be studied, too. One will look at ways of being Norwegian, and relations between them. It is of great importance to focus on other identities than ethnic ones. >> continue
SEE ALSO
Program description: Between openness and closure Dynamics of identification in the new Norway
Thomas Hylland Eriksen: So what kinds of people exist – really?
Friday, December 03, 2004, 08:15
"When somebody's rights are diminished, as anthropologist, I have to speak out"
Lawrence Journal World
It seems more the stuff of an action movie than an anthropology professor's field work. But Kansas University professor Bart Dean found himself in the middle of a violent showdown between corrupt Peruvian officials and the indigenous Cocama-Cocamilla people.
Seven months later, Dean has become embroiled in a nationwide controversy in Peru and is working with a group of KU students to document the abuses on the Internet. "My general sense is that when somebody's rights are diminished, mine are as well," Dean said. "As a concerned citizen and as a professor of anthropology, I had to speak out."
Earlier this week he and his students unveiled a preliminary version of an Internet site, www.cocama.org, that eventually will contain video footage, photos and other information about the attack and political problems in Peru. >> continue
>> go to their website www.cocama.org
Thursday, December 02, 2004, 11:33
maxmod :: online among the gamemodders - a research-project in cyberanthropology
Alexander Knorr, xirdal.lmu.de (University of Munich, Germany)
'Maxmod' is an open-research-project in sociocultural anthropology. At its core stands long-lasting 'thick participation' in an online-community. The chosen community condensates around the shared interest in, and practice of modifying commercial computergame-software, particularly the game "Max Payne".
The project's first goal is to describe and understand the community's social structure, the gamemodders' cultural actions and artefacts, and most importantly, their explicit and tacit cultural knowledge. The virulent importance and meaning that transnational technoludic online-communities of practice have for globalization and related issues will become clear.
Thirdly the project aims to substantially contribute to a systematic basis for the advancement of sociocultural anthropology. The discipline has a lot to contribute to the understanding of the relation between human beings and cybernetic systems, Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in particular. >> continue
(Link via mosaikum.org)
Wednesday, December 01, 2004, 08:05
Cultural values and the spreading of AIDS in Africa
Christian Science Monitor
Awareness levels around the world are higher than they've ever been, but so is the pace at which the virus spread, according to the report. The real hurdle, say observers, is translating awareness into behavior change, and the effort often runs up against longstanding and strongly held cultural values.
African men who have become disempowered through a history of colonialism, racism, and poor economic prospects are unwilling to give up the power they hold over women, says Suzanne Leclerc-Madlala, head of anthropology at South Africa's University of KwaZulu-Natal.
"I don't think we're putting enough emphasis on changing men's behavior," says Ms. Leclerc-Madlala. She says a key solution is for male African leaders - whether politicians, sports figures, or traditional rulers - to take a stand, admit publicly that men's behavior is a problem, and urge men to change. >> continue
SEE ALSO
AIDS and Anthropology Research Group
Tuesday, November 30, 2004, 16:52
AnthroSource Update: For $120/year access to 29 journals, discounts available
As reported earlier, AnthroSource, developed by the American Anthropological Association (AAA), brings 100 years of anthropological material online to scholars and the public. The only - and important - drawback: AnthroSource is not committed to the priciples of the Open Access Movement. Access to AnthroSource is restricted to (paying) AAA members.
On the other hand, the benefits for members are overwhelming. As I was reassured by AnthroSource, "by being a member of the AAA, you will gain access to the contents of 29 AAA periodicals from the first year they appeared, through 2003. You will also have access to the current content (from 2003 through the present) for 11 of these publications. Finally, you will have seamless access to all 6 AAA publications that are now available electronically only through JSTOR. Basic AAA membership for international members such as yourself will be $120 in 2005."
In their FAQ, it is stated they will only charge $30 for citizens of International B countries (not specified). And: "For international users who are not members of AAA, we are considering pricing models to offer AnthroSource at reduced prices to a range of institutions and libraries".
>> go to AnthroSource
EARLIER POSTS
AnthroSource - AAA announces new anthropology portal. Great, but...
AnthroSource - huge anthropological archive online - but useless for non-members
SEE ALSO
antropologi.info's Special on Open Access Anthropology (Norwegian, English, German)
News from the open access movement
Monday, November 29, 2004, 11:00
Working Lives: Reflections of a (Commercial) Unbound Anthropologist
Ideas Bazaar
To a cold Stockholm, at the invitation of Ulf Hannerz, Professor of Anthropology at Stockholm university. Together with Mils Hills from the Cabinet Office, I was presenting to the department a few thoughts (1 MB) on life after a PhD. In the afternoon we ran a workshop for a undergraduates focusing on the skills they have after a few years reading and doing anthropology. >> continue
>> go directly to the presentation: Working Lives: Reflections of a (Commercial)Unbound Anthropologist (pdf, 1MB)
Saturday, November 27, 2004, 13:07
Anthropology and Colonial Violence in West Papua
Eben Kirksey, Westpapua.net
Most 19th century anthropologists who participated in violent colonial encounters reinforced popular prejudices, depicting apuans as inherently violent savages. Others, however, wrote critiques, and even conducted letter campaigns, about the savage nature of the "civilizing mission. >> continue
(Link via SOSIG - What's new)
Thursday, November 25, 2004, 08:15
Qualifications for the software job? Master in Applied Anthropology!
See here - more and more tech firms are looking for anthropologists:
"Our client's team is looking for an experienced usability engineer to provide immediate support the mobile Windows products. Demonstrated skill in collecting and analyzing human behavioral data required. Masters degree or better in Experimental or Cognitive Psychology, Human Factors, Human-computer Interaction, Applied Anthropology or related field required or equivalent experience." >> continue
Wednesday, November 24, 2004, 08:13
New Compendium on Yanomami Language and Culture
IPS News
After 15 years of research, ”we have concentrated our efforts on producing something more useful and rich in information than a simple dictionary -- a book that can support the didactic measures that the Venezuelan society and state have the obligation to undertake with respect to the indigenous communities,” anthropologist and linguist Marie-Claude Mattéi told IPS.
It is more than a mere dictionary, instead serving as an encyclopaedic manual that can be used in Yanomami schools and for outsiders studying the Yanomami language and culture.
”A high-speed globalisation process is taking place in the world, but at the same time there is a revival of interest in minority groups and a vindication of traditional ways, to keep ethnic groups from being lost. In Venezuela, under the new constitution and the government of Hugo Chávez, there is a desire to do something,” said Mattéi. >> continue
Wednesday, November 24, 2004, 08:10
Study says USA wastes nearly half its food
Science Blog / University of Arizona
Timothy W. Jones, an anthropologist at the UA Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology, has spent the last 10 years measuring food loss, including the last eight under a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Jones started in the farms and orchards, went on through the warehouses, retail outlets and dining rooms, and to landfills.
What he found was that not only is edible food discarded that could feed people who need it, but the rate of loss, even partially corrected, could save U.S. consumers and corporations tens of billions of dollars each year. Jones' research evolved from and builds on earlier work done at the University of Arizona. Archaeologists there began measuring garbage in the 1970s to see what was being thrown away and discovered that people were not fully aware of what they were using and discarding.
Those earlier studies evolved into more sophisticated research using contemporary archaeology and ethnography to understand not only the path food travels from farms and orchards to landfills, but also the culture and psychology behind the process. >> continue
Sunday, November 21, 2004, 16:25
Urban Legends: Do Eskimos really have 100 words for snow?
i have a phoenix - Reviews by a librarian
Everyone thinks the Eskimos have 100-plus words for snow. Everyone is wrong. They don't. In the book The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language, Pinker writes:
"Where did the myth come from? Not from anyone who has actually studied the Yupik and Inuit-Inupiaq families of polysynthetic languages spoken from Siberia to Greenland. The anthropologist Laura Martin has documented how the story grew like an urban legend, exaggerated with each retelling."
Later, Pinker quotes linguist Geoffrey Pullum: "Horsebreeders have various names for breeds, sizes, and ages of horses; botanists have names for leaf shapes; interior designers have names for shades of mauve; printers have many different names for fonts..., naturally enough." >> continue
Saturday, November 20, 2004, 08:05
"Prosumers": Consumer Anthropologist Uncovers Proof of New Species of Consumer
RedNova News
Twenty-five years after Alvin Toffler coined the term "Prosumer" in his book The Third Wave, Consumer Anthropologist Robbie Blinkoff says the Prosumer is officially here to stay and that this holiday season is their coming of age. "It is now the producers -- companies, manufacturers, marketers and retailers, who need to adapt," said Blinkoff.
A Prosumer is part producer part consumer. Prosumers are engaged in a creative process of producing a product and service portfolio with guidance from trusted friends - the companies they've trusted for years and the new ones they've come to love.
"9/11 unleashed a full scale remapping of the cultural landscape. People were and are re-establishing their identities," said Blinkoff. Prosumer trends include scrapbooking, book clubs and the re-emergence of knitting. In each case, people engage in a activity that connects the actors to membership in larger social circles. Blinkoff points to the I-Pod. It starts with those white headphones, he says, the outward sign that you belong to the I-Pod tribe. >> continue
Friday, November 19, 2004, 11:44
Democrats outnumber Republicans in all academic fields, esp. in anthropology
The Cavalier Daily
The survey found that Democrats outnumber Republicans in all academic fields. The field of anthropology had the highest ratio, with one Republican professor to every 30.2 Democrats. Sociology came in second with a ratio of 28 to one. Overall, the survey's lowest estimation of liberals to conservatives in humanities departments is one Republican to every seven Democrats.
The study was conducted by Daniel Klein, associate professor of economics at Santa Clara University and Charlotta Stern of the Institute for Social Research at Stolkholm University. The study, distributed to more than 1,000 university professors around the country, posed 57 questions about 18 policy issues, voting behavior and background variables. >> continue
SEE ALSO
Daniel B. Klein and Charlotta Stern: How Politically Diverse Are the Social Sciences and Humanities? (Working Papers)
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