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Seeing the relevance of Anthropology in Everyday Life

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Wizards, Vampires, Klingons, and Other Alternative Cultures

August 16, 2018 by Carie Little Hersh 1 Comment

Wizards, Vampires, Klingons, and Other Alternative Cultures

On the last day of my introduction to anthropology class, we watch scenes from the documentary Trekkies. Students grin at the sincere folks dressed as Starfleet officers and Borg members, raise their eyebrows at Klingon language camp, and outright laugh at the backyard celebration of Captain Kirk’s birthday, in which a member brags that “this year a girl came”. But they always sober up when people begin discussing why Star Trek is so important to them. One group of women talks about how different they are in their lives and politics, yet they feel most at home and accepted when they are spending time together at the Star Trek conventions. Others talk about how Star Trek inspired careers in astrophysics or medicine. Most powerfully, perhaps, one woman describes how her father was raised … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Culture, Fiction Tagged With: All Souls Trilogy, Anthropology, art, Culture, Deb Harkness, diversity, ethics, fiction, Gail Carriger, gender, Harry Potter, Hogwarts, J.K. Rowling, Klingons, Language, legal anthropology, LGBTQ, mudbloods, muggles, nature, Outlander, Parasol Protectorate, power, race, racism, sex, Star Trek, Steampunk, Trekkies, Vampires, Wizards

An Anthropologist’s Obsession with Outlander

May 3, 2018 by Carie Little Hersh 139 Comments

An Anthropologist’s Obsession with Outlander

I have been on hiatus from blogging for some time, mainly due to two factors. First, I launched a public anthropology podcast, Anthropologist on the Street (huzzah!), which has been a fabulous excuse to spend hours talking to brilliant, and often funny, anthropologists and to force them to explain in plain English why their work is important. It’s like free college, but with fewer exams and hangovers. The second reason is because I recently discovered the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. Eight books and 7500 pages later, I popped my head up to observe that my children had outgrown all their clothes and had resorted to eating grass, as mommy hadn’t bought groceries because MOMMY WAS READING. After feeding the darlings and reenrolling them in school, I dragged my husband into watching … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Fiction, Gender, Sex, & Sexuality, Identity, Social Systems Tagged With: #MeToo, A Breath of Snow and Ashes, An Echo in the Bones, Anthropology, Caitriona Balfe, Claire Fraser, Cultural Anthropology, Diana Gabaldon, Dragonfly in Amber, Drums of Autumn, gender, humanism, Jamie Fraser, Outlander, Sam Heughan, Starz, The Fiery Cross, Voyager, Written in My Own Heart's Blood

Of Fantasy and Daughters

October 31, 2016 by Carie Little Hersh

Of Fantasy and Daughters

I recently had the excellent fortune to guest blog on The Horn Book's new venture: Family Reading about my love of reading fantasy, and sharing the books with my young daughter. Fantasy (not, I'm slightly ashamed to admit, ethnography) remains my favorite genre, largely because of the way it allows us to work through complex concepts with fresh eyes. Fantasy takes cultural elements, values, and dialogues we are familiar with, and detaches them from their embedded cultural context. In other words, it lets us talk about tricky subjects - race, gender, power, religion - without all the baggage that normally accompanies the concept. As a mom, it is especially important to me that I give my kids thoughtful ways to tackle these tough subjects, while also giving them a space outside of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Children, Family, Kinship, Literature Tagged With: children, daughters, Diana Wynne Jones, empowering, fantasy, gender, girls, Harry Potter, Howl's Moving Castle, J.K. Rowling, literature, mother-daughter reading, Terry Pratchett, The Horn Book, Wee Free Men

When Nature Has to Conform to Culture: Highly Sensitive People in a Nonsensitive Culture

August 19, 2016 by Carie Little Hersh 3 Comments

When Nature Has to Conform to Culture: Highly Sensitive People in a Nonsensitive Culture

Elaine Aron’s book The Highly Sensitive Person was like my own personal Da Vinci Code—riveting, compelling, and totally solved a mystery about myself I didn’t know existed. My whole life I felt more worn out than others, more overwhelmed and overstimulated. But being raised in a Catholic family with a Protestant work ethic and an American intolerance for anything perceived as weak, I saw my sensitivity and heightened perceptivity as personal failings to overcome. Why do I notice the tension in a couple’s conversation across the room when their immediate neighbors are chatting happily unaware? Or the fact that a child is about to fall off a chair fifteen feet away from me when his babysitter is oblivious next to him? <Just mind your own business.> Why do sore muscles, or tight … [Read more...]

Filed Under: American Culture, Culture, Enculturation / Learning Culture, Gender, Sex, & Sexuality, Parenting Tagged With: Canada, China, cultural context, Culture and Personality, Elaine Aron, gender, gender roles, introversion, introvert, Japan, Margaret Mead, mental health, overstimulation, sensitive, sensitivity, shy, shyness, temperament, The Highly Sensitive Child, The Highly Sensitive Person, United States

Dr. Carie Little Hersh

Dr. Carie Little Hersh is an American cultural anthropologist, former attorney, and teaching professor in Anthropology at Northeastern University. This is her personal blog about anthropology and its relevance to everyday life.

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As someone who was an attorney for between 3-7 minutes, I feel compelled to state that the views on this blog are mine and don’t reflect those of my employer.

 

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Bonus Disclaimer: References to specific products and services on this podcast do not constitute or imply an endorsement and the views and opinions expressed by guests do not necessarily state or reflect those of either relevANTH or Dr. Hersh.

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