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anthropology in the news

New: Science Commons – sharing scientific knowledge with others

Published on by lorenz Posted in anthropology in the news, internet, Open Access Anthropology and Knowledge Sharing, University / Academia

Creative Commons

Science Commons is a new project of Creative Commons and will launch early 2005.

The mission of Science Commons is to encourage scientific innovation by making it easier for scientists, universities, and industries to use literature, data, and other scientific intellectual property and to share their knowledge with others. Science Commons works within current copyright and patent law to promote legal and technical mechanisms that remove barriers to sharing. >> continue to Science Commons

Remark: The search engine is already working and a search for anthropology gives you more than 900 matching pages!

(Link via netbib weblog)

Creative Commons

Science Commons is a new project of Creative Commons and will launch early 2005.

The mission of Science Commons is to encourage scientific innovation by making it easier for scientists, universities, and industries to use literature, data, and other scientific…

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Minorities in Canada : Closer contact has eased tensions

Published on by lorenz Posted in anthropology in the news, indigenous people / minorities, Northern America, Us and Them

The Economist

Traditionally, the English-speaking minority in Quebec kept itself pretty much to itself. If this was once accurate, it is no longer so. Now more than two-thirds of Quebec’s 750,000 English-speakers can also speak French—double the proportion of the 1970s. Even in those rich ghettos in western Montreal, French is spoken almost as much as English.

A recent government report on Quebec’s English-speakers noted other signs of integration. As Anglos learn to speak French younger and better, frequently choosing to study in French schools, there has been a surge in marriage (or at least coupling) outside the community. Closer contact has eased tensions between what were once known as “the two solitudes” who share Quebec.

With linguistic tension much reduced, the sovereignty movement will need a new cause around which to rally, says Deirdre Meintel, an anthropologist at the University of Montreal who specialises in minorities. “You can be Québécois now without having spoken French all your life,” she says. >> continue

The Economist

Traditionally, the English-speaking minority in Quebec kept itself pretty much to itself. If this was once accurate, it is no longer so. Now more than two-thirds of Quebec's 750,000 English-speakers can also speak French—double the proportion of the 1970s.…

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Reading Winds, Waves Help Indian Islanders

Published on by lorenz Posted in Andaman & Nicobar societies, anthropology in the news, indigenous people / minorities, Tsunami Dec 2004

Guardian / ap

Government officials and anthropologists believe that ancient knowledge of the movement of wind, sea and birds may have saved the five indigenous tribes on the Indian archipelago of Andaman and Nicobar islands from the tsunami that hit the Asian coastline Dec. 26.

“They can smell the wind. They can gauge the depth of the sea with the sound of their oars. They have a sixth sense which we don’t possess,” said Ashish Roy, a local environmentalist and lawyer.

It appears that many tribesman fled the shores well before the waves hit the coast, where they would typically be fishing at this time of year. >> continue

SEE ALSO:
HindustanTimes special on the Andaman and Nicobar Islanders

Guardian / ap

Government officials and anthropologists believe that ancient knowledge of the movement of wind, sea and birds may have saved the five indigenous tribes on the Indian archipelago of Andaman and Nicobar islands from the tsunami that hit the…

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Tsunami could be the final blow to already endangered tribes

Published on by lorenz Posted in anthropology in the news, Asia, Tsunami Dec 2004

MSNBC

Anthropologists worry that the tsunami could be the final blow to some cultures that were already thought to be endangered.

“My suspicion is that we may be seeing … perhaps as many as three or four different nations (specific indigenous populations) that would be completely wiped out,” says Dr. Rudolph Ryser, chairman of the U.S.-based Center for World Indigenous Studies.

He notes that tiny islands that dot the west coast of Sumatra and the east coast of India are so close to the epicenter of the earthquake that they would have been hit within minutes. Many have no high ground to provide refuge. >> continue

SEE ALSO:

Indian authorities search for aboriginal tribe on remote islands (ABC News Online)

Anthropologists to make on-the-spot assessment in Andaman and Nicobar Islands (India Daily)

MSNBC

Anthropologists worry that the tsunami could be the final blow to some cultures that were already thought to be endangered.

“My suspicion is that we may be seeing … perhaps as many as three or four different nations (specific indigenous populations)…

Read more