April 1st deadline for student anthropology submissions

Student Anthropologist, a peer-reviewed journal of the National Association of Student Anthropologists, seeks scholarly submissions from undergraduate and graduate students worldwide, in particular those emphasizing anthropology’s capacity to shape public issues, social problems, and global realities. These submissions should contain original research.

The two types of submissions accepted include:

1. Scholarly articles: under 6,000 words in length, subject to a peer review process.

2. Commentary submissions: opinion or theory pieces that are the original work of the author. Commentary submissions might include such mediums as written pieces (approx. 2,000 words in length), photo essays (10 photos + 1,000 words of commentary in length) and videos/YouTube© clips (10-minute maximum in duration + 1,000 words of commentary in length).

The deadline is Monday, April 1st. For more information, click here.

Applications invited for Summer Enrichment Program in Tibet

Machik is once again offering its Summer Enrichment Program (SEP). All volunteers must arrive on July 12th, and depart on August 10th. There will be a mandatory orientation for all volunteers on July 13, 14, and 15. Please read the application guidelines carefully before initiating your application. Application deadline is March 25, 2013.

Journal issue on applied anthropology of tourism

The latest issue of Anthropology in Action includes the uses of tourism development projects in solving the problems of inter-communal violence, the politics of representation as well as understandings of audiences and media-based constructions of “‘the toured;” and the ways in which the state and capital intersect in the development of tourism policy. This journal is not open access.

Assisted reproductive technologies: reviewing recent perspectives and addressing research gaps in medical anthropology

Guest post by Jessica Grebeldinger

Icsi — ICSI is a common form of IVF in which sperm is injected directly into the egg. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia.

In 1978, Brigitte Jordan published her foundational cross-cultural ethnography Birth in Four Cultures, declaring that childbirth “is everywhere socially marked and shaped” (Jordan 1993[1978]:3). This publication signaled the birth of reproduction as a focused field of anthropological inquiry. That same year, the world’s first “test tube baby” conceived through in vitro fertilization (IVF) was born, ushering in the age of assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs). Over thirty years later, both biomedical reproductive technologies and anthropological attention to technological approaches to reproduction have increased substantially. Anthropologists are engaged in studying the intersections of technologies and reproduction because they are deeply connected, indeed, central, to many other aspects of human life, including gender, kinship and notions of the family, individual identity, religion, social inequality, globalization, and health care policy. Concerning ARTs, Rapp has stated that “there can be no more hallowed or classic ground on which anthropological interpretation reverentially and critically occurs” (2006:421).

birthin4cultures — Birth in Four Cultures by Brigitte Jordan

ARTs developed and spread rapidly, if not evenly, throughout the globe after the birth of the first baby conceived through IVF. An estimated 5 million babies have been born using ARTs since 1978, with an average 27% of treatment cycles resulting in the birth of a baby, the majority of these resulting from traditional IVF or intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), in which fertilization is achieved by injecting a single sperm into the egg (ESHRE 2012). Assisted reproductive technologies created new opportunities to study biomedicine’s involvement in conception, and, indeed, medical anthropologists have answered Ginsburg and Rapp’s (1995) call to situate reproduction at the center of social analysis. The importance of ARTs to this effort is evidenced by the number of edited volumes produced in the last 15 years that are devoted either completely or in part to the study of these technologies (Birenbaum-Carmeli and Inhorn 2009; Browner and Sargent 2011; Culley et al. 2009; Dumit and Davis-Floyd 1998; Davis-Floyd and Sargent 1997; Franklin and Ragoné 1998; Inhorn 2007a; Inhorn and van Balen 2002; Inhorn et al. 2009; Morgan and Michaels 1999).

The review that follows presents a survey of some of the most recent anthropological literature on reproductive technologies, focusing on those published in the last 5 years (2007 and forward). The review demonstrates the breadth of this field of research, which has produced important insights on such topics as infertility experiences, the commodification of reproductive bodies, the phenomenon of international reproductive travel, new kinship configurations, among others. However, the review reveals that this research area has also suffered from a narrowed field of focus resulting from certain gaps in the literature along racial, socioeconomic, geographic, and gender lines. These imbalances problematize our ability to document the varied uses and impacts of reproductive technologies at global and local levels. I discuss this problem after the review section and underscore some recent studies that point the way toward a more inclusive and complete field of reproduction-focused medical anthropology.

Continue reading “Assisted reproductive technologies: reviewing recent perspectives and addressing research gaps in medical anthropology” →

War hurts

arlington cemetary — Arlington National Cemetery, U.S. Photo courtesy of National Park Service

Just published: findings on “Long-Term Impact of War on Healthcare Costs” from an eight-country comparative study. No surprises. War hurts and war costs. I think we can safely assume that the impact of war on healthcare costs also indicates long-term impact of war on people’s very health in the first place.

But that’s too simple a conclusion to need stating. Or maybe it isn’t so simple. Since in some cases, a “good” war that pre-empts mass murder and genocide, launched at the right time, could prevent death and suffering in the short-term and the long-term.

Source: PLOS ONE: Long-Term Impact of War on Healthcare Costs: An Eight-Country Study

Position announcement in environmental anthropology

Western Carolina University in Collowhee, North Carolina, invites applications for a visiting assistant professor of sociocultural anthropology with a specialization in environmental anthropology, beginning August, 2013. Applicants should have a PhD in Anthropology (in hand by time of appointment) from an appropriately accredited institution. The successful candidate will have ethnographic experience and will be qualified to teach an upper-level course in environmental anthropology as well as other courses focused on their regional or topical interests. Application details are available here.

Society for Medical Anthropology launches newsletter

Welcome to the new quarterly electronic newsletter from the Society for Medical Anthropology: Second Opinion: News and Ideas. The first issue features details on a joint international conference with a thematic focus on “encounters and engagements” in Tarragona, Spain, recent awards and achievements of SMA members, and a new anthropology and medical health interest group.

Engaged anthropology with and for Latino immigrants

The University of South Florida News carried an article about ongoing research into the consequences of new Latino immigrants, African Americans and working class Whites coming face to face at work in the U.S. South and how to better bridge differences. The project is led by cultural anthropologist Angela Stuesse, an assistant professor at the University of South Florida. Here are some excerpts, with some paraphrasing, from the article:

angela stuesse — Angela Stuesse accompanied leaders from a Guatemalan Mam immigrant community on a political education tour in Mississippi. Photo by Angela Stuesse

Recent immigrants and people descended from earlier immigrants – whether voluntary or forced – often eye each other warily, sometimes finding themselves at odds. Making a connection can be as simple as knowing how to start a conversation – one that can become the basis for working together – rather than a fight. But as Stuesse has found, such conversations often don’t just happen. And if they do, they can be touchy. “Across cultures, knowing what not to say can be as important as knowing what to say and how to say it,” points out, and “Immigrants, too, may hold racial and other biases toward those they come into contact with. There’s a need to help groups understand each other. Ideally, they can work together and develop mutual respect.”

Stuesse’s research has produced her forthcoming book, Globalization ‘Southern Style, which describes the transformation of small-town Mississippi when Latino immigrants begin working and organizing alongside African Americans in the area’s chicken processing plants.

While working in Mississippi, Stuesse was a founding collaborator of the poultry worker center, MPOWER, where she drew upon her research to help facilitate structured dialogue and spaces for political education and cultural sharing among immigrant and U.S.-born poultry worker leaders.

She has also developed Intergroup Resources, a comprehensive new online resource center that is becoming a national network. The user-friendly Intergroup Resources website built and designed by Stuesse’s research team offers curricula, dialogue guides, educational materials and descriptions of the efforts of various groups.

2013 Methods Mall: Training for cultural anthropologists

The 2013 Anthropology Methods Mall is online. This site has info about six, NSF-supported opportunities for methods training in cultural anthropology.

1. Now in its ninth year, the SCRM (Short Courses on Research Methods) program is for cultural anthropologists who already have the Ph.D. Two five-day courses are offered during summer 2013 at the Duke University Marine Lab in Beaufort, North Carolina.

Behavioral Observation in Ethnographic Research (Instructors: Raymond Hames and Michael Paolisso) July 15-19, 2013

Methods of Ethnoecology (Instructors: J. Richard Stepp and Justin Nolan) July 29-August 2, 2013

APPLY TO THE SHORT COURSES ON RESEARCH METHODS HERE. DEADLINE FEB. 15, 2013.

2. Now in its 18th year, the SIRD (Summer Institute on Research Design) is an intensive, three-week course for graduate students in cultural anthropology who are preparing their doctoral research proposals. The 2013 course runs from July 14-August 3, 2013 at the Duke University Marine Laboratory. Instructors: Jeffrey Johnson, Susan Weller, Amber Wutich, and H. Russell Bernard.

APPLY TO THE SUMMER INSTITUTE ON RESEARCH DESIGN HERE. DEADLINE March 1, 2013.

3. Now in its second year, the EFS (Ethnographic Field School) in Tallahassee, Florida is a five-week field school in ethnographic methods and community-based participatory research. The program is open to graduate students in cultural anthropology. The 2013 field school runs from July 7-August 10, 2013 and is coordinated by Clarence (Lance) Gravlee. Guest faculty include Sarah Szurek, Tony Whitehead, and Stephen Schensul.

APPLY TO THE TALLAHASSEE FIELD SCHOOL HERE. DEADLINE FEB. 15, 2013.

4. Now in its fifth year, the SIMA (Smithsonian Institution Summer Institute in Museum Anthropology) is open to graduate students in cultural anthropology and related, interdisciplinary programs (Indigenous Studies, Folklore, etc.) who are interested in using museum collections as a data source and who are preparing for research careers. The course runs from June 24-July 19, 2013. Instructors: Candace Greene, Nancy Parezo, Mary Jo Arnoldi, Joshua Bell, and Gwyneira Isaac, plus visiting lecturers.

APPLY TO THE SUMMER INSTITUTE IN MUSEUM ANTHOPOLOGY HERE. DEADLINE March 1, 2013.

5. Now in its ninth year, the WRMA (Workshops in Research Methods in Anthropology) program offers one-day workshops in conjunction with national meetings of anthropologists. Click HERE for information about the next workshops at the meetings of the American Anthropological Association in San Franciso, California,November 14-18, 2013 and the Society for Applied Anthropology in Denver, Colorado, March 19-23, 2013.

6. Now in its second year, the DCRM (Distance Courses in Research Methods in Anthropology) is open to upper division undergraduates, graduate students, and professionals. Four courses are offered in summer 2013: Text Analysis, Geospatial Analysis, Network Analysis, and Video Analysis. The development of these fee-based courses is supported by the National Science Foundation. Enfollment is limited to 18 participants.