Arch Support
BU profs seek to unlock mysteries of the human foot By Amy Sutherland Last winter Jeremy DeSilva and Simone Gill met over coffee to talk shop about how the human foot works. DeSilva is interested in prehistoric feet, how their anatomy changed when our ancestors gave up tree climbing for walking upright. Gill studies modern […]
Afghanistan: A Cultural and Political History
Thomas Barfield introduced the audience to the bewildering diversity of tribal and ethnic groups in Afghanistan, explaining what unites them as Afghans despite the regional, cultural, and political differences that divide them. He showed how governing these peoples was relatively easy when power was concentrated in small dynastic elite, but how this delicate political order […]
10 Years Later: Islam in the U.S.
Robert Hefner, professor of anthropology and director of the Institute on Culture, Religion, and World Affairs (CURA) at Boston University, discusses the state of Islam and Muslim society in the U.S. since the September 11th terrorist attacks.
The World, Post 9/11
BU faculty and staff on what’s changed in decade since Edited by John O’Rourke By sheer coincidence I was teaching Sophocles’ Antigone in my course on conflict resolution on that fateful September day that changed the world—alas not for the better, at least not so far in America.
One Class, One Day: Studying What You Eat
CAS course examines how food defines culture By Amy Laskowski Class by class, lecture by lecture, question asked by question answered, an education is built. This is one of a series of visits to one class, on one day, in search of those building blocks at BU.
African Language Scholar Wins Guggenheim Fellowship
CAS prof sheds light on centuries-old written language By Susan Seligson When he was growing up in Senegal, Fallou Ngom spoke six languages. He has applied his fascination with language toward cultivating knowledge of, and respect for, a written derivative of Arabic script called Ajami. Although long ignored by colonial powers and the West, Ajami […]
Professor Cheryl Knott featured at NSF.org
For the last 18 years, Cheryl Knott of Boston University has been racing the clock. While she researches orangutans in the rainforests of Gunung Palung National Park in Borneo, the numbers of this magnificent ape steadily plummet. The outlook for orangutans–one of human’s closest relatives–is dire because there are only a few tens of thousands […]
Two BU students featured in Anthroworks
Doctoral dissertations are an excellent indicator of the health of a discipline. They are a weather vane pointing toward where the discipline is heading. They represent a huge chunk of work by the researcher and his/her mentors as well as generous contributions from people in the field site(s). With luck, they are a crucial basis […]
We Are Told to Call It Chicken: Airline Food & How to Fix It
BY Corky White @ The Atlantic I’m sick and tired and I am not going to take it anymore. A week ago on YouTube I saw a horrible thing: extruded chicken mass, like piles of pinkish silly putty spiraling out of a faucet. This is the stuff that goes into your chicken patties and nuggets. […]
Bikes Not Bombs: Anthropology Alum in BU Today
David Branigan uses pedals to empower poor communities By Andrew Thurston So much for the fancy job title. When I meet the international programs director for nonprofit Bikes Not Bombs (BNB), he’s dismantling a greasy handlebar stem, his hands speckled with oil.