The Department of Anthropology at Harvard University Department of Anthropology at Harvard University
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- More information on ABC.com
- Interview with Dr. Theidon on Twitchfilm.net
Oscar Buzz...

"The Milk of Sorrow" (La Teta Asustada) directed by Claudia Llosa (Peru) has been nominated for an Oscar in the Best Foreign Language Film category. The film is inspired by the book "Entre Prójimos: El conflicto armado interno y la política de la reconciliación en el Perú" written by Kimberly Theidon.

guide to writing in Social Anthropology NOW AVAILABLE: A Student's Guide to Reading and Writing in Social Anthropology

Do you find it challenging to read ethnographic literature? Are you wondering how the goals and expectations for social anthropology papers might differ from those you have written for classes in other departments?

Read this guide to familiarize yourself with the expository strategies specific to scholarly writing in social anthropology. You’ll also pick up tips on how you can incorporate these strategies into your own coursework and research papers.


Spring 2010 Core Courses and Gen. Ed. Courses in Anthropology:

Pathways Through the Andes (Culture & Beliefs 21)
The Moche of Ancient Peru (A1125)
Urban Revolutions: Archaeology and the Investigation of Early States (SA50)
Culture, Illness and Healing (SA28)
Food and Culture (SA70)
The Politics of Language and Identity in Latin America (A1795 )

Complete list of Spring 2010 Courses


The Politics of Survival, written by Marc Abélès and translated from the French by Julie Kleinman (Ph.D. candidate, Anthropology/CMES) has been published by Duke University Press. In this provocative analysis of global politics, the anthropologist Marc Abélès argues that the meaning and aims of political action have radically changed in the era of globalization. As dangers such as terrorism and global warming have moved to the fore of global consciousness, foreboding has replaced the belief that tomorrow will be better than today. ...more information


Congratulations to J.P. Sniadecki (Ph.D. candidate, Anthropology)his video "Chaiqian" ("Demolition") has been recognized as an Official Section of the leading international documentary festival Punto de Vista, in Pamplona, Spain February 5-13 2010. "Chaiqian" was also winner of the Joris Ivens Award at Cinéma du Réel, 2009.


"Sweetgrass" New York Times Critic's Pick

The New York Times designates Ilisa Barbash and Lucien Castaing-Taylor's film "Sweetgrass" a Critic's Pick. The Boston Globe has also named Ilisa Barbash and Lucien Castaing-Taylor to their "2010 Notable Figures List". "Sweetgrass" will have a special showing at the Harvard Film Archive on March 5th; and opens at Kendall Square Cinema on April 2nd. More information: www.sweetgrassthemovie.com


01.06.10 Congratulations to Anthropology Department graduate student Aryo Danusiri on having his video, "On Broadway," (made in the Sensory Ethnography Lab) selected for the prestigious Rotterdam International Film Festival, 2010.

Kimberly Theidon Elected to LASA Executive Board

Associate Professor Kimberly Theidon has been elected to a three-year term on the Executive Council of the Latin American Studies Association.

Professor Theidon is an International Faculty Member to the new Master's Program in Community Psychology at La Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Perú. This program responds to the need for expanded mental health services across the country, and to the recommendations made by the Peruvian Truth and Reconciliacion Commission in their Integral Reparations Program. The PTRC called for recognizing health care, and mental health care, as a fundamental human right. Click here for further information.

Nicole Newendorp Wins Book Prize

Nicole Newendorp's (Anthropology Ph.D. '04) recent book "Uneasy Reunions: Immigration, Citizenship, and Family Life in Post-1997 Hong Kong" (Stanford University Press, 2008), was awarded the 2009 Francis Hsu Book Prize by the Society for East Asian Anthropology. Framed within the context of Hong Kong's 1997 reunification with the People's Republic of China, Uneasy Reunions focuses on the cross-border marriages between mainland Chinese women and Hong Kong men to explore notions of citizenship and belonging in post-colonial Hong Kong.

The Hsu Prize is awarded to the best ethnography of East Asia published in the previous calendar year.



Essays By and In Honor of David Maybury-Lewis

The entire Fall 2009 issue of Anthropology Quarterly is dedicated to essays by and in honor of David Maybury-Lewis; forward by Claude Levi-Strauss.
See the Fall 2009 Issue
Table of Contents


The Globalization of Japanese Cuisine

On November 8, 2009 Professor Theodore C. Bestor presented a keynote address on “The Globalization of Japanese Cuisine” at the Culinary Institute of America, Napa Valley, as part of a conference on Japanese food culture sponsored by the University of California’s Center for Japanese Studies. Another feature of the conference was a world-record breaking construction of the World's Longest California Roll, put together by 500 students at the University of California, Berkeley– the roll stretched 330 feet in length!

National Research Foundation of Korea

12.03.09 Michael Herzfeld has been appointed a member of the International Advisory Committee of the National Research Foundation of Korea, which is the major funding agency for scholarly research in Korea.



Justin Ide/Harvard Staff Photographer

Harvard President Drew Faust (center) visits the Yard dig outside her Massachusetts Hall office. Professor William Fash, Charles P. Bowditch Professor of Central American and Mexican Archaeology and Ethnology (left), Faust, and Executive Vice President Katherine Lapp examine an 18th century slate pencil found at the site.
Treasures Unearthed

Harvard students who have spent the semester digging through the dark earth of Harvard Yard showed off their treasures today (Oct. 29), including a slate pencil that confirms that, amid the eating, drinking, and smoking that their counterparts from yesteryear did, learning was going on too.

The pencil, a slim 2-inch gray piece of what may be compressed clay, was used to write on a personal slate that students held as they worked. That pencil and slate may have been used as a scratch pad to figure or compose on before committing pen to paper, according to Lecturer on Anthropology Christina Hodge, a class instructor.

Read the full article in the Gazette


International Journal of Transitional Justice 2009 Special Issue
Whose Justice? Global and Local Approaches to Transitional Justice
Kimberly Theidon, Guest Editor


"Guilty as Charged: The Trial of Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori for Human Rights Violations" by Jo-Marie Burt

"Seeking Truth after 50 Years: The National Committee for Investigation of the Truth about the Jeju 4.3 Events" by Hunjoon Kim

Harvard Library's Anthropological Literature E-Resources
Connect to the iSite "Using the Anthropological Literature E-Resource". This site is a guide to the many features of the Anthropological Literature e-resource. It also includes tools to assist users in understanding and utilizing the resource to its fullest extent. In addition, it highlights the rich interdisciplinary content of the database, as well as links to current research in the field of anthropology at Harvard. We are happy to accommodate requests for training, either for individuals, small groups or classes.
Access Anthropological Literature E-Resource
Anthropological Literature E-Resource Spotlights

Great Books Chosen by Harvard Anthropologists

Anthropological Influences: Great Books Chosen by Harvard Anthropologists
For over 140 years the collections of Tozzer Library have played an important role in shaping generations of anthropologists. In this virtual exhibition, which grew out of a 2006 celebration marking the addition of the quarter millionth volume to Tozzer Library, Harvard anthropologists (including faculty and graduates of the Anthropology Department and Peabody Museum curators) describe, in their own words, books that have inspired or guided or enlightened their scholarship and teaching.


An interview, in Greek, with Professor Michael Herzfeld
On 13 September the distinguished Greek newspaper To Vima published in its weekly magazine VIMAgazino an extensive interview, in Greek, with Professor Michael Herzfeld, of the Department of Anthropology at Harvard University. Titled "Harvard's Kapetan-Michalis [Captain Michael]," in an evocation of a famous novel by Nikos Kazantzakis, the interview-conducted by the journalist Eleni Xenaki-ranged over many topics: the role of the anthropologist in studying nationhood and identity, Greece's position in Europe, social activism, the extreme right and racism in Greece, the role of private universities, and the activities of the nascent "University of the Mountains of Crete" (of which Herzfeld was appointed a member of the Executive Committee earlier this year, participating in a press conference in Athens on 29 June). Download the interview (PDF)

Archaeologists Discover Oldest-Known Fiber Materials

Cambridge, Mass. - September 10, 2009 - A team of archaeologists and paleobiologists has discovered flax fibers that are more than 34,000 years old, making them the oldest fibers known to have been used by humans. The fibers, discovered during systematic excavations in a cave in the Republic of Georgia, are described in this week’s issue of Science. Full Press Release


Veiled Brightness: A History of Ancient Maya Color

Christina Warinner, a current graduate student in the Archaeology Program, and Alex Tokovinine, a Ph.D. recipient in Archaeology, have recently co-authored the book: Veiled Brightness: A History of Ancient Maya Color (University of Texas Press, 2009).


For Today’s Graduate, Just One Word: Statistics


By Steve Lohr, Published on August 5, 2009
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — At Harvard, Carrie Grimes majored in anthropology and archaeology and ventured to places like Honduras, where she studied Mayan settlement patterns by mapping where artifacts were found. But she was drawn to what she calls “all the computer and math stuff” that was part of the job.
Read the article in the New York Times

Peruvian Forensic Anthropology Team
The Equipo Peruano de Antropología Forense (or Peruvian Forensic Anthropology Team – EPAF) applies forensic anthropology to the search for forcibly disappeared persons during the period of internal political conflict from 1982- 2000. It is their final goal to restore the identity of the thousands of missing Peruvians that rest in hidden burial sites across the country. Associate Professor, Kimberly Theidon has written a short piece for their recent photo-catalog highlighting their work.





On July 1, 2009, the program of Biological Anthropology in the Department of Anthropology of Harvard University was reconstituted as the new Department of Human Evolutionary Biology. The Department of Anthropology will continue as the home of vibrant programs in Archaeology and Social Anthropology. Both Anthropology and Human Evolutionary Biology will continue their close collegial relationships in research, graduate student training, and undergraduate education.

For information on the Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, please see www.heb.fas.harvard.edu


links

Anthropology Sponsored Lecture Series:

East Asian Archeaeology Seminar Series
Harvard Archaeology Lecture Series
Social Anthropology Program Seminar Series


Research Interests by Area:

Archaeology Research Google Map
Social Anthropology Research Google Map
Harvard World Wide

Anthropology Libraries and Museums:
Peabody Museum
Tozzer Library
Anthropological Literature E-Resources

Related Departments and Centers at Harvard:
African and African American Studies
Asia Center
Center for Middle Eastern Studies
David Rockefeller Center for Latin Am. Studies
Harvard Divinity School
Dept. of Global Health/Social Medicine at HMS
Humanities Center
Film Study Center
Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations
Social Studies
Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality
Visual and Environmental Studies
Weatherhead Center

Related Schools and Divisions:
Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS)
Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS)
Social Sciences




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Department of Anthropology
Harvard University
Peabody Museum
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Cambridge, MA 02138
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