Posts having explicit or implied anthropological significance
… a compendium of interviews with hedge fund managers who survived and even profited during the meltdown. What did they know the others did not?
One day I asked my friend, a manger at Canadian hedge-fund giant DGAM, if he was aware that anthropology had a whole sub-area devoted to the study of risk and risk management. Of course he did not know that so I was pleased when he invited me to give a talk to his team which
Anthropology of Risk Read More »
I have written a feature essay on Serbian hip hop for the inaugural issue of Peeps, a new Canadian magazine which tracks global cultural trends. The editors call it anthropology for non-anthropologists. The first issue is titled The Modern Protagonist, and focuses on technology. Peeps is a quality production with only propriety, commissioned images not
Shakespeares in the the Ghetto: The Art and Economics of Serbian Hip Hop Read More »
Even the lowly USB flash drive presents opportunities for creative branding. After collecting a few dozen of these PR devices over the past couple of years I laid them side by side to see if there were any patterns of interest. Here’s what I saw. The first discernible pattern was based on a functional distinction.
Branding USB flash drives Read More »
What can you observe in 30 minutes? Last February 20th I had lunch at a local McDonald’s. While looking out the window I could see cars stopping at the drive-through telecom to order food. What caught my attention was how many high end cars in a row were driving up to order McDonald’s. I decided to conduct a tiny ad hoc research
Observing a McDonald’s Drive Through Read More »
Ashkuff.com is the brainchild of Al Ashkuff, a Florida-based business anthropologist. I was lured over to his site by a posting on LinkedIn advertising a free white paper titled BLOOD, SWEAT & ANTHROPOLOGY: a Tactical Guide for Aspiring Fitness Club Owners and Business Anthropologists. It is an engaging piece of auto-ethnographic writing. Told in Ashkuff’s
Business anthropologist Ashkuff packs a punch Read More »
One of my most memorable consulting projects as an applied anthropologist was a job I did for CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) via Kaleidovision (now TerraNova Market Strategies). From a large pool of applicants, CBC awarded Kaleidovision a contract to conduct qualitative research on the production and consumption of news. One of my duties was to
Applied Anthropology at the CBC Read More »
Forensic anthropologists provide expert testimony in courts of law from local to international jurisdictions. Physical, or biological, anthropologists – specialists in human anatomy – are employed in many cases having to do with crime scene investigations. For example, University of Toronto anthropologist Tracy Rogers led a team of excavators at the farm of serial killer
Forensic anthropology at Treblinka Read More »
Archaeologists debate the value of original Sex Pistols graffiti and scribblings. Should the buildings they defaced be designated “heritage” sites or demolished? It is fun to see the archaeologists entertain different perspectives as to what should be done with this stuff. Should it be venerated like the relics of saints or should it be discarded
Archaeology of The Sex Pistols Read More »