The Familiar Strange · Ep #97: AI Art & Activist Anthropology Revisited: This Month on TFS This week we’re joined by Familiar Strangers Kathy, Lachlan, Alex and Sean to talk all things AI Art and activism. Alex kick’s us off by asking us to consider the recent developments in AI image creation. Alex dives into … Continue reading Ep #97: AI Art & Activist Anthropology Revisited: This Month on TFS
Iran
Ep #52: An exploration of truth & trust: This month on TFS
Welcome to our first podcast of 2020! And to kick of the new year season of TFS, we are joined by the lovely Kirsty Wissing, PhD candidate from the School of Culture, History and Language at the Australian National University. Alex [1:16] begins off our discussion with a bit of activism. Referring to the work … Continue reading Ep #52: An exploration of truth & trust: This month on TFS
Ep. #51: Newsworthy stories, Becoming projects, Ethics of danger & Balancing values: This month on TFS
Jodie [1:26] begins our panel this month with a recent incident in Canberra, Australia, where a woman was shot by a 'random' gunman. Luckily her wound was not life-threatening. This story was HUGE here, but at the same time the story was released, Australia was (and currently still is in some places) on fire. Jodie … Continue reading Ep. #51: Newsworthy stories, Becoming projects, Ethics of danger & Balancing values: This month on TFS
Eating Iran: From the delicious to the inedible
I was having second thoughts, but pressed on safe in the knowledge that I was performing an act that would raise my esteem in the eyes of those present and help to rapidly acculturate me. Biting down on the now-charred-still-white pieces, to be sure, the flesh was not as bad as I expected. Neither good nor bad, it was remarkably neutral in taste - flavoured only with a little bit of salt and eaten with lavash bread. My guide smiled as I ate. “They say it’s good for your virility”, he chuckled, “but not even us locals really eat it that much”.
Ep. #31: Field ties, clear truth, cringy rap & liminal states: This month on TFS
In this panel, we welcome Shamim to the Familiar Strange podcast. Shamim is working with Dee on a TFS video project that they hope will be released later this year - exciting! This month Ian (1:15) starts us off by asking how we maintain relationships with people that we met in the field. Whether it’s … Continue reading Ep. #31: Field ties, clear truth, cringy rap & liminal states: This month on TFS
Misinterpreting People
Anthropology has long ago dispensed with the notion that there is any ‘one’ truth. But I think most ethnographers still hope that in describing a group, the people within that group still see at least a reflection of themselves; still understand it as describing something that is legible to them.
Talking like a child: Language learning for anthropology fieldwork
In preparing for fieldwork, I took a class on language training with Piers Kelly. While Piers was talking more specifically about learning in a context where a language hadn’t been written down before or had very limited resources, I think there was a nice takeaway for any learner of a second (or third, or more…) … Continue reading Talking like a child: Language learning for anthropology fieldwork
Beyond Stereotypes: Success, failure, and the complexity of women’s education in Iran
During my 15 months of fieldwork in Iran, the gripe that a bachelor’s degree was now equivalent to that of a high school certificate from a few years earlier was pervasive. This has seen a tandem effect of young men who historically belonged to the educated classes now frequently forgoing tertiary study, and moving straight into the job market. However, such options are rarely open to women, leaving education as one of the main, if not the only way for improving social standing.
Ep. #19 Anthro & policy-making, digital disruption, online research, & what is love? This month on TFS
This month, Simon starts us off (1:08) asking, how can we make the knowledge we gain from anthropology matter for policy and government? "There’s no reason why [anthropology] can’t be scaled up. There’s no reason why there shouldn’t be a chief anthropologist to the government.” As Jodie argues, "unless, as a discipline, we are willing … Continue reading Ep. #19 Anthro & policy-making, digital disruption, online research, & what is love? This month on TFS
Does Anthropology Have a Point?
Even as I attempted to (re-)present my research as anthropological, on its journey into the public sphere and a wider audience, it was interpreted and reinterpreted as ‘international relations’. When I was interviewed, I was introduced and thanked as a generic ‘PhD researcher’.
The Familiar Strange 