Diary for 15th January to 21st January 2009

THURSDAY 15TH JANUARY - The Digital Hunter

Many an anthropologist may think the life of the tech-savvy businessmen of today couldn't be further away than that of hunter-gatherers, as described in many an ethnographic study. However, today I'll be having a read of an article that argues that the Generation XYZers who work in the digital age have many similar tendencies in the way they live their lives. These 'Cyberforagers', according to author David Berreby, work intensely for brief periods, prefer a good work-life balance and aren't fond of hierarchy - similar to hunter-gatherer societies on the other side of the world. It's an thought-provoking piece of cross-cultural comparison - make up your own mind whether you agree...







FRIDAY 16TH JANUARY - The Impact of War

Today I will be passing my time at a deeply affecting exhibition at the Wellcome Collection, North London called 'War & Medicine'. It takes a look at how medicine has had to adapt to the increasingly sophisticated weapons used in warfare. The material focuses on conflicts from the time of the Crimean War right up to current happenings in Iraq and Afghanistan - and with regard to the latter location you can see some of the work of anthropologist Catherine Panter-Brick, from Durham University. She has been conducting a research project on the mental health of Afghanistani child refugees, and has contributed a group of Afghan children’s drawings on war and their memories and expectations; all part of her qualitative investigations. It's one of few existing studies on youth mental health in a war-affected setting. War and Medicine runs until mid-February and entrance is FREE - opening hours are 10.00 until 18.00.


SATURDAY 17TH JANUARY - Evolutionary thinking

Last week I mentioned the series of Radio 4 programmes on Charles Darwin, to celebrate the 200th anniversary of his birth. Today, I'll be checking out the specially constructed Darwin 200 website, which is full of resources and information about his work, as well as listing many exhibitions and events taking place around the country all year. For example, there is currently an extensive presentation of his work at The Natural History Museum in London - 'Darwin, Big Ideas' - but you can read about his impact in other parts of the country here, as well as search for other events taking place in your home town. And then you can have an animated discussion with someone about whether nature trumps nurture...


SUNDAY 18TH JANUARY - Where no man has been before?

Youtube has a massive amount of material related to anthropology available - watch out in coming weeks for more links - so today I'll be checking out the BBC series from last year that has been uploaded called 'First Contact'. It sought to document the phenomenon of 'ethnotourism' and investigate how and why travel companies are selling experiences for tourists where they are able to visit 'uncontacted' tribes. Some of the commentators in the programme are anthropologists who debate the ethical problems with the commercialisation of 'remoteness'. Of course the very making of the BBC film itself could be considered to be caught up in the dilemma it critiques - by filming the 'first contact' does the director become implicated himself....?







MONDAY 19TH JANUARY - The Hidden Museum

On Monday I thought I'd venture over to the Ethnographic Museum at University College London, where around 3000 artifacts lie in their main collection. They include the art, technology and material culture from a wide array of civilizations, including items such as jewellery, Maori cloaks and even pipes. The Museum is an exclusive one - visits are by prior appointment only with the curator, and usually need to be for a research or educational purpose. However, once inside it is well worth the effort, if only for the nuit carved bone eye shades from early 1800's!





TUESDAY 20TH JANUARY - The Best of the Rest

In my final installment of web-nostalgia for anthropology that appeared on the internet in the year just past, today I wanted to read through and check some of the links from the Neuroanthropology blog's review of the 'Best of Anthro Blogging 2008'. Divided into seven categories (Public Relevance; Anthropological Vision; Being Human; Controversy, Commentary and Critique; Empiricism and Scholarship, Language; Blogging) it gives a rundown of some of the highlights of the last 12 months. Most interesting perhaps is the first section, featuring pieces that have in some ways raised the profile of anthropology by commenting on matters of public interest. It includes a link to an article about the work of an 'anthropologist' employed by the US army as part of their highly controversial Human Terrain System in Afghanistan.








WEDNESDAY 21ST JANUARY - Right & Wrong

On Wednesday I'll be listening again to the sweet sounds of Thinking Allowed, which this week hosted a lively discussion on moral relativism. One of the main guests on the programme was Henrietta Moore, Professor of Anthropology at LSE - who has just published a book on the subject with two other academics, a lawyer and a sociologist. Relativism - i.e. the belief that different social and moral rules can apply in different societies - is a thorny issue in anthropology, since when taken to its logical extreme, it can potentially be used to justify pretty unpleasant abuses of 'universal human rights'. As always, it's a balancing act between understanding difference, whilst not excusing all behaviour just because it is the product of a particular social situation. This debate helps with that very dilemma. (The Thinking Allowed website has also had an overhaul and you can now view past episodes by handily divided thematic bookmarks...)

Diary for 8th January to 14th January 2009

THURSDAY 8TH JANUARY - A view on Iraq

This week begins with the book launch of a text called 'What kind of Liberation? Women and the Occupation of Iraq'. Organised by Open Shutters, an participatory media organisation, the book is a collection of written testimony and photography produced by Iraqi women in the time since since the US invasion. It aims to examine the invaders' rhetoric that their presence would improve the rights of the average Iraqi woman. It should be an interesting evening, as anthropologists are also often keen to investigate the discrepancies between what is said and what is 'real'. The evening features selected slides and spoken word from Open Shutters, a discussion and Q&A with some of those involved, and a drinks reception. It goes on between 18.30 and 21.00 at the Brunei Gallery in SOAS, and entrance is FREE. For more information you can contact N.S.Al-Ali@soas.ac.uk or telephone 020 7898 4547.




FRIDAY 9TH JANUARY - From apes to Melvyn Bragg

Today I'm planning to listen again to a radio series that was broadcast on Radio 4 this week. Darwin: In our Time was made to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth, and the 150th anniversary of the publication of The Origin of the Species. Evolutionary anthropology is a major sub-field of the subject, and the nature-nurture debate is one that still rages within anthropological, not to mention, wider circles. So this series of programmes, which takes a biographical look at the way Darwin's theory was put together, is of great interest whatever your specialisation. The episodes will be available on the iplayer for the next week.


SATURDAY 10TH JANUARY - Sounds of the Sahara

Come the weekend, I'll be revisiting the 'Moroccan Memories' season that I mentioned on the blog before Christmas. It's an oral and visual history project that aims to highlight the presence of the Moroccan community in the UK (dating back to before the 19th century!). The collection has now left London and is on a tour of the country. Over the next few days it will be in St.Albans, and events include several film screenings as well as a music workshop being given by Mustapha El Moumni. El Moumi grew up in the desert of South Morocco, renowned for its music of great rhythmic intensity, and over the years he has accompanied some of the finest Gnawa musicians. Everything takes place at the Town Hall, St Peter's Street, in St.Albans - open today between 10.00 and 18.00 - you can view the full schedule for the exhibition's tour here.








SUNDAY 11TH JANUARY - With you each day, home and away...

There's an exciting new exhibition at the Museum of Childhood in East London that has just opened, called 'Home and Away'. However, it's not a collection of images from the infamous Ozzie soap opera - much more interestingly it 's an exhibition based on the research of two Sussex anthropologists (Katy Gardner and Kanwal Mand) who have been working with a group of British Bangladeshi children from East London. They have been trying to question the stereotype that British Asian children are "caught between two separate cultures in two separate places" - in fact it seems as they see both places as both 'home' and 'away'. The exhibition runs until the end of March and admission is FREE.






MONDAY 12TH JANUARY - Learning something new

It's a Monday, and it's also still the season of New Year's resolutions, so today I'm going to look into the many part-time anthropology courses on offer at Birkbeck University in London. As you will see from the course list page, there are plenty of opportunities, with short courses available (normally around 16 weeks) to study the subject in connection with religion, tourism, architecture, morality and many others. Several of the courses have new cycles starting later this month, such as 'Anthropology, Development and Tourism', which comes in at a reasonable £150 for 16 sessions if you are eligible for a concessionary rate. So if one of your intentions for 2009 was to become a little more versed in the anthropological ways of the world, here's your chance...



TUESDAY 13TH JANUARY - Film tourism

Time flies when you're an anthropologist about town having fun, and so it appears that the next biennial RAI Film Festival is already on the horizon. This year it is in Leeds, and the underlying theme of the festival (and the subsequent conference) will be 'Emotion in Motion: The Passions of Tourism, Travel and Movement'. The website has recently been launched, and contains plenty of information to whet the appetite, including more information on the seminars and panels that will accompany film screenings, and also details for submissions - January 15th is the deadline for all you film-makers...


WEDNESDAY 14TH JANUARY - Rudeboys on the radio

Today I'm going to listen again to a recent Thinking Allowed that was aired all about gang culture, and investigating whether it is only a contemporary social phenomenon, or one that has been about for much longer. Included on the panel was Tara Young, who is currently undertaking fieldwork with young gang members to try and understand why people become members. They also discuss whether we can learn anything from the history of the 'hoodie' in order to manage the issue better nowadays. There's also an interesting brief youtube film from a lecture by anthropologist Neil Whitehead about violence, with his interesting take on how the opposing forces in a violent situation are in a 'social relationship' - you can even study the subject as an MA at Sussex...

Diary for 1st January until 7th January 2009

THURSDAY JANUARY 1ST - Better than a couple of paracetamol

Happy New Year to one and all - may 2009 be a year of adventure and endeavour for anthropologists everywhere! As many of you may be nursing a sore head today, what better way to recover than by listening to a selection of anthropological sounds from a recent anthropology/art collaboration done at the University of St.Andrews... You can banish that hangover by listening to sounds related to Efpraxia Pollatou's work on 'Fear, spoken words and fairies in a Greek island village' or 'Birds, Bells, car horns: acoustemologies across New Guinea, Europe, Africa' in the grandmaster of sound anthropology, Steven Feld's audiovisual lecture. There are many resources available on the website, all seeking to understand the many ways in which sound can be socially and culturally meaningful.






FRIDAY JANUARY 2ND - Images from history

A fantastic resource has just been launched by Google, called the 'Life Photo Archive'. It's an enormous collection of photographs dating back as far as the 1860s - many of which have never been published before. Imagery offers a great opportunity to see how 'others' live or lived their lives, as well as also a chance to interrogate how lives were represented pictorially - visual anthropologists are always trying to see beyond the surface level of an image. The archive currently contains 2 million images, but a further 8 million are set to be added, and you can search it by various useful categories...


SATURDAY JANUARY 3RD - Voodoo and Poppies

This weekend, given the freezing cold outside, I'm going to settle down with a couple of great anthropology-related books. First up, I'll be reading 'Devil Bones' by Kathy Reichs, which recently topped the Bestseller list of the New York Times. Kathy Reichs is a practising forensic anthropologist, and her latest installment in the investigations of the fictional Temperance Brennan sees him dealing with two victims of voodoo. I might also have a browse of Sea of Poppies, recently nominated for the Booker Prize - a tale set in the times of the Opium Wars, and written by Amitav Ghosh, who trained as an anthropologist. Plenty to get the year going....



SUNDAY JANUARY 4TH - Himalayan adventures

The British Museum should be early on in any New Year's list for an anthropologist about town, and today I'll be visiting their current exhibition, 'Between Tibet and Assam: Cultural Diversity in the Eastern Himalayas' which looks at the cultural differences and similarities between two tribes from the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh - the Apatani and the Monpa. It includes contemporary and historical objects, ranging from paintings to textiles, as well as an audio recording of a ritual text connected to the Apatani Murung Festival. Entrance to the exhibition is FREE, it runs until April and there is an accompanying book to complement the collection.










MONDAY JANUARY 5TH - Mindful anthropology

Today I'm going to listen to a paper given by an anthropologist at a Psychiatry conference late last year. John Curran was speaking at a conference on 'Innovative Approaches in Mental Health Research' about his role as an anthropologist in a South London practice where he acts as a sort of cultural broker between patients and doctors, many of whom come from different social backgrounds. His talk, 'The anthropologist on call: using anthropology in everyday psychiatry' is an interesting example of anthropological techniques being applied in the 'real world' (whatever that means...) He discusses such important issues as the distinction between conceptions of 'disease' and 'illness', and how different medical terms are viewed differently according to an individual's cultural standpoint. There's also an interesting introduction given by anthropologist Sue Estroff available.



TUESDAY JANUARY 6TH - Healing words

Back down at the British Museum today for an interesting talk on 'Healing and the Spirit World of Asia', given by Anouska Komlosy. She is the Curator of Asian Ethnography at the museum, and is particularly focused on cross-border cultures. She obtained a PhD in Social Anthropology in 2002, after long-term fieldwork with the Theravada Buddhist Tai people of Yunnan Province, China, so she definitely knows her stuff. The talk lasts 45 minutes, and you can just drop in - it's in Room 24 at 13.15 - entrance is FREE.

WEDNESDAY JANUARY 7TH - An anthropological view on The Crunch

Today I'm going to check out the website of an extremely prescient anthropologist who has been predicting the current financial meltdown for over 3 years. Paul Jorion, a Belgian anthropologist (and apparent soothsayer), has published three books on the issue and writes regularly about it on his blogs, in both French and English. His most relevant published text, on the sub prime mortgage bubble in the USA, came out in January 2007 just before everything went a little pear-shaped. So if you want to know how and why the economy is affecting people, then his blog seems a good one to keep reading....

Diary for 18th December to 24th December 2008

THURSDAY 18TH DECEMBER - Andean adventures

If Andean activities are your thing, then today's trip is ideal - I'll be following the sound of pan pipes to attend a lecture on “Rampant Reproduction: Shifting Landscapes of Music ‘Piracy’ in the Bolivian Andes” at the City University Music Department in London from 14.00. The talk will be given by Henry Stobart, an ethnomusicologist (someone who studies the social and cultural aspects of music), who specialises in the highland music of rural Bolivia, and also has his own Andean band. The talk is in Room AG09, college building - see directions here - and in the meantime you can find out more about the subject on the British Forum for Ethnomusicology's website.

FRIDAY 19TH DECEMBER - Celebrating the credit crunch?

In an effort to alleviate the all-permeating economic gloom, this afternoon I'll be at the British Museum for a timely talk on 'Money and Celebration'. Given by Jennifer Adam, an expert on coins and medals, the talk lasts 45 minutes and will cover a range of settings in which currency has a more extensive role in society than a purely financial one. It begins at 13.15 in Room 68 - admission is FREE and you can just drop in. As a warm-up for the talk, you might also be interested to watch anthropologist Keith Hart's lecture on 'Money in the making of a World society' which was posted in full on youtube last week. Hart is a renowned academic who has written widely on economic anthropology - you can also see a lecture on the crises in anthropology and capitalism on his website here.

SATURDAY 20TH DECEMBER - A job for life

If the credit crunch has still got you worried about your future, then today I thought I'd put forward a bit of evidence that a degree in anthropology can help you be successful in the world outside academia. First up, have a read about Pippa Small, who after doing an MA in Anthropology, launched her own ethical jewelry company which sells her own designs alongside many by indigenous peoples, from Bolivian pendants strung on alpaca wool to gold-plated bracelets made by the Kuna Indians from Panama. Or there's Roberto Ricci - a human rights investigator, who uses anthropology in his work looking at rights abuses that have occurred in various places around the world, better to understand "the social reality in which actions occur". Both of them are good examples of how anthropological sensibilties can help set up very different career paths...

SUNDAY 21ST DECEMBER - Festive countdown

Since the prizes for the top anthropology blogs were announced a few weeks ago - as mentioned on this blog - there seems to have been something of an explosion in the publicity for anthropology in cyberspace. Today I'm going to have a look at some of the entries on this list of the top 100 anthropology blogs. (Scandalously, my travails make no appearance...!). Handily, the list is divided into thematic groups - from ethnography blogs, to ones on museums, to my particular favourite at number 43 - for those with a special interest in ancient dentition. Happy reading...

MONDAY 22ND DECEMBER - Jingle all the way

Whether it's Rudolph, Dancer, Prancer or Blitzen that's your favourite, you might be interested to have a Yuletide read of 'Reindeer People', an ethnography of indigenous Siberian people who use their reindeer not just for transport, but also have a spiritual relationship with them, viewing reindeer as mediators between the physical realm and the spiritual one. Indeed, this belief is the reason behind the popular imagining of reindeer flying - since it is thought to be able to transcend earthly reality. The anthropologist who wrote the book, Piers Vitesbsky, has worked with the Eveny people for over 20 years and the book has been praised widely both within and outside academia.

TUESDAY 23RD DECEMBER - Follow your nose, listen with your ears

This time of year is one where smells are all around us, and I'm not just talking about the stench of soggy feet in the morning rush hour. Today I'll be listening again to Thinking Allowed form last week, which featured anthropologist Rod Watson discussing the hidden social meanings of perfume with a fragrance expert. It was in response to a recently published book 'The Guide to Perfumes', which investigated what someone's chosen scent says about their class, self-perception and even their race. If you want to get your nose into a book about the subject, there's also anthropologist David Howes, ' Aroma: The Cultural History of Smell' available online.

WEDNESDAY 24TH DECEMBER - What really goes on down the chimney?

For last minute Christmas shopping/reading options, I think I might have found the perfect item. Daniel Miller's Unwrapping Christmas looks at how and why Christmas is celebrated in various social contexts from Sweden to the UK to Japan, and also delves into the relationship between Christmas and materialism, as well as the place of the family in Christmas celebrations. Miller is a specialist in material culture, and the ways in which people create relationships of love and care with objects. He is also one of the editors of a blog about all things related to material culture, which you can browse here. Ho ho ho...




No blog next week, see you in 2009!

Diary for 11th December to 17th December 2008

THURSDAY 11TH DECEMBER - Flagging up a new exhibit

On Thursday I'll be heading over to the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology in Cambridge to have a look at their new exhibit. It's an eight-metre tall pouhaki, a flag pole-like structure carved from a single tree trunk, which was given to Prince Edward in 1920 by Tene Waitere (a famous Maori artist), but has long lain abandoned in a Portsmouth naval base. Last week the pouhaki was unveiled in a ceremony in which prayers of respect were said because "If the spirit does not settle, things can happen." It's the only one of its kind outside New Zealand and the oldest known in existence, so well worth a look - the museum is open Tuesday until Saturday between 10.30 and 16.30 - admission is FREE.








FRIDAY 12TH DECEMBER - Don't forget your hankerchief

On Friday I'll be at the Khalili Theatre in the School of African and Oriental Studies (SOAS) in Central London for their final anthropological film screening of term, which this week is Quand les Hommes Pleurant (When Men Weep). It's an award-winning work about the lives of North African migrants in Spain, exploring issues such as discrimination, labour and marginalisation. The film is being shown to provoke discussion about how the subjects are portrayed as victims, and whether that matters. The film begins at 13.00 and entrance is FREE - you just need to pick up a visitor sticker at the main entrance and find your way downstairs...







SATURDAY 13TH DECEMBER - Academic cinema

A real treat in store this Saturday as I'll be visiting the inaugural celebration of a decade of audiovisual practice-based phDs from across the UK. Drawing on anthropology, cultural studies, film and new media, Viva Viva, at the University of Westminster, is an exhibition of films and installations together with their accompanying written theses. Screening today from 13.00 onwards are three anthropology-inspired pieces: Transfiction, Domov and Mirror Mirror. Their subject matter ranges from femininty in the post-socialist Czech Republic (Domov) to work inspired by famous anthropological film-maker of the 1950s Jean Rouch (Transfiction & Mirror, Mirror). Those latter two emphasise the process of film-making as a collaborative creation between film-maker and 'subject'. On Saturday, there is also a student symposium, to which all are welcome - see here for more details. The exhibition is FREE, and full directions can be found here.


SUNDAY 14TH DECEMBER - Snacking on Ethnography

On Sunday I'll be browsing the interweb and viewing some of the work of a cyber-anthropologist who goes by the name of Ethnosnacker. Using his own youtube channel, he aims to "expose, breakdown and reconstruct ethnographic research or commercial anthropology for those who want to understand it better". His work is an interesting example of how anthropology is increasingly 'used' for commercial purposes. There is plenty of debate about whether this is an appropriate use for the discipline - his view seems to be that ethnography is suitable in any situation where it can help bring meaning to an event or activity....You can watch a introduction to the site here, as well as several interviews that both support and question his work.


MONDAY 15TH DECEMBER - Castanets a-go-go

Castanets and dancing shoes are the name of the game tonight as I'll be over at SOAS' Brunei Gallery for a night of music from Morocco. It's all part of the touring exhibition Moroccan Memories - look out for more dates around the country in the new year - and to launch its three-day stay at SOAS the Harir Band and Gnawa Blues will be playing out. Gnawa is traditionally performed as trance music in healing ceremonies across North Africa. The accompanying exhibition, whish also features films screenings and discussions, is at SOAS until 18th December - the website also has a wealth of resources including video and oral history to complement the live exhibition. The music this evenign begins at 19.00 and you can reserve a ticket online - entrance is FREE.


TUESDAY 16TH DECEMBER - Peace at last

A warm fireside and a cup of something hot today as I'll be settling down next to the radio and listening into Radio 4's Book of the Week, which features a Massobs text (those pioneers of everyday anthropology), called Nella's Last Peace. Read by none other than Imelda Staunton, the book recounts the daily life of a housewife, Nella, in Barrow-in-Furness, who regularly submitted her diaries to the Mass Observation offices in London. The book narrates her hopes and fears for the post-war world. It will be broadcast Monday to Friday at 9.45 and repeated each night at 23.30, as well as online on the Radio 4 website. You can buy a copy of the original book here.




WEDNESDAY 17TH DECEMBER - Back to Bam

On my brief trip to Paris last week I also came across an exhibition being put on by visual anthropologist Elhum Shakerifar (she studied the MA in Visual Anthropology at Goldsmiths). If you happen to be off to the French capital this week then you might also like to pop into 'Secrets de Bam' as well as the other anthropological bonbons I put on the blog last week. It's a collection of photographs from the Iranian town of Bam, which was destroyed by an earthquake in 2003. Shakerifar collaborated with some of the residents of Bam to put together a selection of commemorative portraits.The exhibition runs until 30th December and is open from Tuesday to Saturday between 12.00 and 19.00 at La Galerie Associative on 13 Rue de Cambodge 75020 - for more information email lagalerieassociative@gmail.com.

STOP PRESS

STOP PRESS

Hi everyone,
Unfortunately the screening at UCL of Holy Men & Fools has been cancelled - many apologies for the late notice - it has only just been brought to my attention.

See you next week,
Lucy

Diary for 4th December to 10th December 2008

THURSDAY 4TH DECEMBER - Fooling around on film

On Thursday I'm going to see Holy Men and Fools, a film made by Mike Yorke, who worked for many years at the BBC producing anthropological films. This feature-length documentary traces the pilgrimage of Hindu ascetics across the Himalayas, and seeks to understand their life of devotion and penance. Mike, who currently teaches visual anthropology at UCL and also sits on the Royal Anthropological Institute's Film Board, will be around for a Q&A afterwards - he is always an entertaining speaker. (You can also see some interviews with him here). The film begins at 18.30 in the Anthropology Department at University College London - for more details you can contact Dr. Paulo Favero on p.favero@ucl.ac.uk



FRIDAY 5TH DECEMBER - The grass is always greener (on the other side of the screen)

Tonight I'm heading down to SOAS to see 'Grass', a film made in 1924, about the spring migration of the Bakhtiari nomads of Southwest Iran, who traveled between the Khuzestan plains near the Gulf and the Zagros Mountains. The film-makers (who were later made their own version of King Kong!) were on their way to India and came across the Bakhtiari by chance while held up by the uneasy political situation in southern Iran at the time. The film is thought to be one of the earliest 'ethnographic' films, but has been widely criticised for the stereotypical way in which it depicts nomadic culture. It is showing in the Khalili Gallery at SOAS in London from 18.30, admission is FREE, and there will be a Q&A afterwards.




SATURDAY 6TH DECEMBER - Long lost images

On Saturday I'm heading down to a fascinating exhibition of photographs entitled "Tribal Portraits: Vintage & Contemporary Photographs from the African Continent". It includes over 200 rare images dating from 1865 to the present day, some of which have not been seen for many years as originals. Whilst the techniques of representation employed by the photographers (as always) are up for discussion, they are a stunning collection of images, as you can see from the few examples here. Many of the images were produced by or for anthropologists, and are at Bernard J Shapero Rare Books, 32 St George Street, London W1S 2EA from now until 23rd December....don't miss it.





SUNDAY 7TH DECEMBER - Lounging with Longinotto

Another pair of great films showing this afternoon, with the screening of Divorce Iranian Style and the lesser-known Runaway, both directed by Kim Longinotto at the Curzon Soho's Doc Days in London. Longinotto will be hosting a Q&A afterwards, which will no doubt be a chance to find out more about her observational style of film-making, similar to the way many ethnographic film-makers operate. You can watch Divorce Iranian Style on 4docs if you can't make it down, as well as an interview with the woman herself. The films begin at 12.00, and tickets cost £8.


MONDAY 8TH DECEMBER - A skeletal welcome

Concentration required to start the week, as today I'll be attending the 2008 Wellcome Lecture, this year being given by Professor Luigi Capasso on the subject of 'Paleobiology of the victims of the volcanic eruption of Herculaneum". Professor Capasso is an expert in Physical Anthropology from Italy, and he will be discussing what the preserved skeletons from Herculaneum (just down the road from Pompeii) can tell us about the physical conditions of Romans at the time of Vesuvius' eruption in 79AD. The talks beings at 18.00 at the Wellcome Collection, in north London, and entrance is FREE. Places should be booked in advance though, by emailing wellcomemedal@wellcome.ac.uk or calling 020 7611 8744.


TUESDAY 9TH DECEMBER - Native Paris

I'm hot-footing it over to Paris today for pre-xmas minibreak to check out an exhibition that comes highly recommended. 'Native Land', as far as I can tell from my rusty French, is a collection of films that seek to give voice to those people across the globe who have strong ties to their land and do not want to be relocated. It includes testimony from the Yanomani people of the Amazon, who have been widely studied by anthropologists over the last century. You can view a trailer of the main film 'Hear them speak' on the website. Directions to the exhibition at the Fondation Cartier, which costs to enter, can be found here.



WEDNESDAY 10TH DECEMBER - Happy birthday to an anthropological Grandfather

Today I'll be raising a glass to Claude Levi-Strauss, the French anthropologist who was at the forefront of the theoretical movement called structuralism, which flourished in the 1970s. Last week he celebrated his 100th birthday to almost cultish adulation. Structuralism, although now outdated for its overly rigid mathematical rationalisations of society, was important for turning anthropology away from a focus on traditional 'primitive' societies, to look at the complex inter-relationships at the centre of every community. I'll also be sticking around in Paris after my trip yesterday to visit Quai Branly - the Parisian anthropology museum whose structure and layout were inspired by the endeavours of Levi-Strauss, and includes ethnographic objects from his 1930s visit to South America.