An open invitation to anti-racist anthropology.

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This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"The abundant vegetation in forested areas can obstruct the view of potential food sources giving animals that can locate food with senses other than sight an advantage. While researchers hypothesize that fruit aromas evolved to attract primates to effectively disperse the seeds they contain, it’s unclear whether primates can use odor cues to locate fruit outside of their visual range. A recent study tested whether ring-tailed lemurs could detect distant hidden fruit by scent alone. The researchers hid containers holding real and imitation cantaloupe 4-17 m away from a trail routinely used by lemurs. They found that the lemurs were able to locate the real cantaloupe when the wind blew its scent toward the trail but were unable to find the imitation cantaloupe. The lemurs also showed behaviors indicating that they were following the cantaloupe “odor plume..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This course examines the role of science and medicine in the origins and evolution of concepts of race, sex, and gender from the 17th century to the present. We analyze biological, medical, and anthropological studies and how they intersect with historical, social, political, and cultural ideas about racial, sexual, and gender differences. The course follows lecture/discussion format.

This advanced course in anthropology engages closely with discussions and debates about ethnographic research, ethics, and representation.

This course surveys canonical and recent theories and methods in science studies. We will organize our discussions around the concept of “reproduction,” referring variously to:

Scientific reproduction (how results are replicated in lab, field, disciplinary contexts)
Social reproduction (how social knowledge and relations are regenerated over time)
Biological reproduction (how organic substance is managed in the genetic age)
Electronic reproduction (how information is reassembled in techniques of transcription, simulation, computation).

Examining intersections and disruptions of these genres of reproduction, we seek to map relations among our social, biological, and electronic lives.

This subject presents a survey of social theory from the 17th century to the present. It focuses on the historical contexts out of which theory arises, the utility and limitations of older theories for present conditions, and the creation of new theory out of contemporary circumstances.

This course explores how social theories of urban life can be related to the city’s architecture and spaces. It is grounded in classic or foundational writings about the city addressing such topics as the public realm and public space, impersonality, crowds and density, surveillance and civility, imprinting time on space, spatial justice, and the segregation of difference. The aim of the course is to generate new ideas about the city by connecting the social and the physical, using Boston as a visual laboratory. Students are required to present a term paper mediating what is read with what has been observed.

In this video segment from Religion & Ethics Newsweekly, view the reactions of citizens from Lewiston, Maine as Somali immigrants settle in their community.

This Web site profiles AMNH's Southwestern Research Station (SWRS), a year-round field station that allows biologists, geologists, and anthropologists to study the diverse environments and biotas of the Chiricahua Mountains in southeastern Arizona. The site includes an overview of the field station and its work, information on courses offered, and information for visitors, researchers, interns and volunteers.

Clif Saunders discusses self-determination in the Native American community. Barbara Barrow discusses the recent executive order issued by Massachusetts legislature recognizing Native Americans with Clif Saunders, Director of the Boston Indian Council. Topics include the implications that recognition will have for Native Americans, the services Native Americans requested of the state before the executive order was issued (both socioeconomic and legal), the hopes for federal recognition, the still unacknowledged issues of Native Americans in the Boston area despite the executive order, issues raised on a recent Today show about Native Americans not wanting their land back, the 'paternalism' of the the United States government, and the desire for self-determination. Additional segments include a 1974 interview with an unnamed aboriginal man from Australia conducted by Dighton Spooner, commentary by David Crippens from Say Brother program 103 and the 'Community Calendar.' Produced by Barbara Barrow. Directed by Conrad White.

In this Moveable Museum lesson plan, students examine cultural artifacts from three different nomadic cultures, first on their own, and then in contextual photographs, gaining insight into the work of anthropologists. The 13-page PDF guide has educator materials including background information, teacher strategies, assessment guidelines, and detailed notes about the curriculum standards addressed. The Everyday Objects activity worksheet has isolated photographs of three cultural artifacts, with information on their materials and size. The Objects in Context activity worksheet has photographs of each object with explanatory text (object name, culture, use, and significance). The Putting It All Together activity has a list of discussion questions to help students further investigate material culture.

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Anthropologists attempt to answer the question of what it means to be human. In a sense, we all –do” anthropology because it is rooted in a universal human characteristic, curiosity. We are curious about ourselves and other people_ including the living and the dead. This course provides an introduction to the anthropological approach to the study of humans. It is a survey course that introduces anthropology as a four-field discipline, encompassing biological anthropology, archaeology, linguistics, and cultural anthropology. Aspiring to a holistic understanding of what it means to be human, anthropology is at the intersection of the humanities and the sciences, the most scientific of the humanities and the most humanistic of the sciences.The course begins with a basis in evolutionary theory and human variation. With this foundation, we will explore primate behavior and the fossil record to develop a better understanding of human evolution. We will discuss the archaeological record of early civilizations, the origins and use of language, and the concept of culture in the development of human societies, both extinct and extant. This class will also highlight the epistemological development of the field of anthropology and how religion, culture, and the scientific process pertains to the discipline of anthropology.

This BioBulletin Web site takes a close look at the medicinal power of plants. The site includes text, videos, photographs, and interviews with key scientists. Age-Old Remedies discusses how nearly 80 percent of the world's population relies on medicines made from natural ingredients. The Power of Traditional Medicine takes an historical look at medicinal herbs and traditional healers. Bio-Prospectors Needed reports on the symposium "The Value of Plants, Animals, and Microbes to Human Health" that was held at the American Museum of Natural History. Tracking Down a Power Plant tells the story of a tree in the Sarawak rain forest that contains a possible cure for AIDS.

This seminar is open to graduate students, and is intended to offer a synoptic view of selected methodologies and thinkers in art and architectural history (with many theorists from other fields). The syllabus outlines the structure of the course and the readings and assignments for each week; the goal is to become aware of the apparatuses of discourse, and find your own voice within them.

In this video, members of the Menominee nation discuss their experiences with climate change.

This video from Religion & Ethics Newsweekly features Timbuktu, one of the most remote and inaccessible places on the planet and a former thriving center of Islamic learning.

This OLogy activity offers kids a fun way to get firsthand knowledge of how archaeologists find lost sites. In Tools of the Trade, kids are given six cartoon frames, each illustrating a problem the archaeology team faced in locating a lost mission on St. Catherines Island. When kids select a frame, they are given details about the problem; they are then asked to pick which tool they think helped the team solve the problem. Each time they correctly identify a tool, they are given additional details of the story and the cartoon frame is "colored in." After correctly identifying the tools for all six cartoon frames, they have the option of printing a PDF of the full-color cartoon.

John Noble Wilford, a New York Times science writer, outlines various hypotheses on the origin of bipedalism.

The subtitle of this course for the spring 2003 term is “American Television: A Cultural History.” The class takes a cultural approach to television’s evolution as a technology and system of representation, considering television as a system of storytelling and myth-making, and as a cultural practice, studied from anthropological, literary, and cinematic perspectives. The course focuses on prime-time commercial broadcasting, the medium’s technological and economic history, and theoretical perspectives. There is much required viewing as well as readings in media theory and cultural interpretation.