Some months ago, I went for an early morning run with a mate at my fieldsite. After a short trot together, she left for work, and I decided – against all advice from my adopted Aboriginal family and many others – to put off my fieldnotes and continue a few more kilometres on the road alone. A short way up, I saw in the distance a lone figure seemingly dancing about on the road. I was all at once entranced, curious, astonished, and frightened. I turned and returned speedier than ever before!
knowledge
Ep. #34 Knowledge Making: Emma Kowal talks Indigenous health care, difference & genomics
“A lot of what individual white anti-racists, as I called them, but also the broader policy frameworks are struggling with is the question of how do we enact Indigenous equality; how do we make the lines on the graphs that we draw of Indigenous versus non-Indigenous; how do we make those lines converge and ‘close the gap’, while maintaining Indigenous difference?”
How academic culture gives us permission not to know
Every way of knowing is also a way of not knowing. Privileging one point of view, or one form of evidence, requires the erasure of other ways of perceiving and understanding the world. What do our cultures give us permission not to know? By what means are we permitted to blinker ourselves? And do our cultures ever encourage us to see those truths again?
Saying No to the CIA… and Other Anth Fantasies
It doesn’t go without saying, so I’ll say it: I’ve never worked for the CIA, or done any intelligence or security work of any kind, nor would I. But all through my years living abroad, in Indonesia and Australia, I harbored a secret fantasy, that maybe, one day, I would be tapped.
What Do We Owe the Informants Whose Data we Don’t Use?
Ana provided me with generous amounts of knowledge, time, and care. She knew I was doing a doctorate, and the understanding between us was clear: her knowledge, and her story, would be at its core. Now, that isn’t going to happen. I can use her information for articles, but it doesn’t feel the same.
In Agreement with Krista Tippett
While sitting in the audience at a live Krista Tippett talk recently, I found myself in strong visceral agreement with words that I hadn't anticipated would arrest me so much. Already a fan of Tippett’s for the ease at which she converses with people about challenging topics, I hadn’t really thought about potential vocational crossovers … Continue reading In Agreement with Krista Tippett
Anthropological Hot Takes
Anthropologists everywhere are reaching out to engage the public. Blogs. Podcasts. What we have to say matters, and we want to be heard. And I don’t think it’s working. Why not? Is it the jargon? The interdisciplinary turf wars? Could it be the ontological turn? While all of those things certainly contribute to anthropology’s general … Continue reading Anthropological Hot Takes
Academic Jargon & Knowledge Exclusion
Author: Alex Di Giorgio, PhD Candidate in Anthropology at the University of Tasmania and Research Assistant for Larrakia Nation I remember my first year of university as being an introduction to the big bad world of academic writing. Taking home my first reading brick - back when they still existed – I was faced with … Continue reading Academic Jargon & Knowledge Exclusion
Academic Neologisms & Knowledge Exclusion
Author: Alex Di Giorgio, PhD Candidate in Anthropology at the University of Tasmania and Research Assistant for Larrakia Nation I remember my first year of university as being an introduction to the big bad world of academic writing. Taking home my first reading brick - back when they still existed – I was faced with … Continue reading Academic Neologisms & Knowledge Exclusion
The Familiar Strange 