Anthropology / Everything Human

Where Do “New” Languages Come From?

  • Crossroads

    new languages

    Where Do “New” Languages Come From?

    Anthropologists and linguists are working to understand how complex systems of communication emerge—and what they reveal about how to keep rare or threatened languages alive.

  • Matters

  • Crossroads

    postindustrial world - Steel mills were the economic backbone of many cities across the Midwest and Northeast until the 1980s. When the industry left, former workers not only took a hit economically—they also felt displaced and suffered disillusionment and a loss of identity.

    Life and Death After the Steel Mills

    In her study of a community devastated by industry's flight, anthropologist Christine Walley raises questions about how to create and support meaningful work in a postindustrial world.

  • Crossroads

    Rwandan genocide rescuers - During the 1994 Rwandan genocide, more than 800,000 people were slaughtered over 100 days. Amid the chaos there were heroes—those who put their own lives on the line to save others during the massacre.

    In a Genocide, Who Are the Morally Upright?

    A Georgia State anthropologist explores what motivated rescuers during the Rwandan genocide—and what their stories reveal about courage and selflessness in the midst of total destruction.

  • Unearthed

    Stones with names of towns and villages, where the victims came from, are seen on the grounds of the former German Nazi Death Camp Treblinka.

    The Darkest Truths

    After the Nazis' three so-called Operation Reinhard camps swallowed more than a million and a half Jewish lives, the camps were themselves destroyed. Forensic archaeologists are finally exploring what lies beneath the earth—but not without resistance.