Ep. #4 Killer Docs, Imaginary Landscapes, Political Lies, and Emotional Risk: this month on TFS

In this month’s panel discussion, Jodie (1:14) tells us about documents with agency: “Ideas just get up and grow legs, and they run away with themselves.” (Trigger warning: this segment mentions the recent Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. If you want to avoid that part, skip to 3:45.) Next, Ian (6:00) … Continue reading Ep. #4 Killer Docs, Imaginary Landscapes, Political Lies, and Emotional Risk: this month on TFS

Fieldnotes from the AAS/ASA/ASAANZ Conference 2017

Two of your familiar strangers are currently participating in the 2017 Australian Anthropological Society’s Annual General Meeting in Adelaide, this year held in collaboration with our UK and NZ anthropology colleagues. As such, we thought we’d do some “studying sideways” and take a look at some of the cultures of anthropologists in a conference setting. … Continue reading Fieldnotes from the AAS/ASA/ASAANZ Conference 2017

Unpicking an (A)moral Anthropological Stance: Ongoing Violence in Myanmar

Author: Justine Chambers, Doctoral candidate with the Department of Anthropology, School of Culture, History and Languages (CHL) at the Australian National University. You can read more about her research here. --- In August 2017, the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army attacked police posts and an army base in western Rakhine state Myanmar, claiming to fight for … Continue reading Unpicking an (A)moral Anthropological Stance: Ongoing Violence in Myanmar

Ep. #1 Campus free speech, mundane governance, truth in politics, and creeps v. @ssholes: this month on TFS

Jodie, Simon, Julia, and Ian preview what's coming up on The Familiar Strange blog in the coming month. On today's show, Jodie (1:40) follows up on 2015 fracas at Yale about free speech and Halloween, in response to a discussion on Sam Harris' podcast "Waking Up" (www.samharris.org/podcast/item/facing-the-crowd); Simon (7:10) takes us to Iran for a look … Continue reading Ep. #1 Campus free speech, mundane governance, truth in politics, and creeps v. @ssholes: this month on TFS

Ep. #0 Introducing The Familiar Strange Podcast

Welcome to The Familiar Strange! In this brief introduction, the four hosts of the show introduce themselves, the podcast, and The Familiar Strange blog. This is a podcast about doing anthropology. In intimate conversations and open panel discussions, the hosts (four PhD students) and our guests (senior academics and experts) explore the world by taking part … Continue reading Ep. #0 Introducing The Familiar Strange Podcast

When ‘White Privilege’ Becomes Uncomfortably Familiar

Author: Anonymous One of the unintended consequences of my fieldwork in Mumbai was that I spent ten weeks in bed with typhoid.The other was that I met my husband. The latter event means that Mumbai is now my permanent home, rather than a site of cultural intrigue demanding my scholarly attention. The process of making … Continue reading When ‘White Privilege’ Becomes Uncomfortably Familiar

(Just) A Primate Person

Author:  Rebecca Hendershott, PhD Candidate in Biological Anthropology at ANU.  When people ask her what this means, Rebecca says she chases monkeys through the forest. I study primates – both because they are interesting in their own right, and because they offer insight into our own species.  Each and every primate individual I’ve met has felt like … Continue reading (Just) A Primate Person