A poet-historian in Tanzania remembers those who have passed but who are still nearby. “Bila Mwili” is part of the…
Fishing for DustA poet-historian from Manipur, India, shapes tensions between violence and beauty into an allegory, calling residents and readers alike to…
At the Intersection of Sarinah Plaza, Thamrin StreetA poet-anthropologist in Indonesia criticizes extremist militants who use religion to commit violence. “At the Intersection of Sarinah Plaza, Thamrin…
Taking on Parkinson’s Disease—With Boxing Gloves and Punching BagsIn a California gym, people living with Parkinson’s practice noncontact boxing to redefine their experience of the disease and maintain…
Earlier I Had Nightmares, Now I Have InsomniaA Kashmiri poet-anthropologist records the restless despair many feel under Indian occupation. If you missed the introduction to “Earlier I…
This MilitarizationA poet-anthropologist conveys her life when she was coming of age under the increasing mobilization of military forces in Indian-occupied…
Sex, Lies, and Science WarsThe Mead-Freeman controversy reaches its climax. Scientists, scholars, and Samoans debate the nature of sexuality, culture, and truth. After anthropologist…
Into the LightChristianity and colonization deeply reshaped Samoan culture starting in the 1830s, complicating how anthropologists Margaret Mead and Derek Freeman saw…
We Need to Tell Our Own StoriesIn the controversies swirling around Margaret Mead’s work in American Samoa, one set of voices has too often been left…
Flapper of the South SeasA young anthropologist named Margaret Mead journeyed to American Samoa in 1925 and claimed she found a culture where teenagers…