All stories

Several people crowd into the wide room of a museum exhibit. Beige statues depicting parts of posed human bodies line the side walls of the room.

How Museum Items Go Missing

After alleged thefts from the British Museum, a curator explains the challenges of keeping track of collections—and the legal limitations on returning cultural material to source communities.
A blue underwater scene features a scuba diver in a black wetsuit with a silver oxygen tank on their back. They point a light at a shipwreck of broken, moss-covered wooden beams.

Treasure Hunters Pose Problems for Archaeologists

Two scholars discuss the challenges of accurately studying underwater archaeological heritage—among them, unauthorized acquisitions.
Four deer with orange fur stand in a field of yellowing grass with a mountainous incline on the horizon.

Past and Present Approaches to the Management of Red Deer

An archaeologist weighs the pros and cons driving debates around the rising population of Scotland’s renowned animal and explains what historical archaeology could add to the conversation.
Two people in uniforms—one in black, the other in tan—wearing black boots and hats topped with matching fans face each other and kick one leg up, their feet traveling above their heads. Other people in uniform stand at attention along the roadside behind them.

Imagining Other Worlds at the India-Pakistan Border

For decades, soldiers at the border between Attari, India, and Wagah, Pakistan, have staged an elaborate ceremony for onlookers. An anthropologist reflects on the ceremony as a legacy of Partition—and imagines other futures for the two nations.
A dark building is featured with white trimmed windows, a white door, and six white columns underneath a dark clock face.

Predominantly White Institutions’ Overtures to Black Students OR This Is What They Tell You Without Telling You

A Black queer anthro-poet unveils the exploitative strategies of many predominantly White institutions that use BIPOC as a broom to sweep their racialized issues under the rug of "diversity."
An elderly woman with short brown hair and glasses wearing a blue, black, and white shirt stands in front of a portrait of a seated woman wearing a blue dress in front of pink curtains in Cyprus.

A Lens on Cyprus Reunification

An anthropologist walks around the circumference of this Mediterranean island, photographing people separated by political conflict and reflecting on the ties that bind divided communities.
Two white huts with conical thatched roofs are surrounded by a well-kept lawn and small bushes. A post with two signs is on the left.

What Does It Mean to Decolonize Heritage?

A new study led by an anthropologist and a heritage sites protection specialist offers a path forward for decolonizing heritage management in Rwanda—and beyond.
Four people wearing light-colored, wide-brimmed hats and holding hoes stand on dry dirt in an open area surrounded by small green shrubs.

Climate Migrants Are on the Move—And the U.S. Needs Their Help

A U.S. anthropologist who works in Guatemala argues that opening the Mexico-U.S. border must become a political priority in the fight against climate catastrophe—in part because people in the U.S. have much to learn from those who hold different values, perspectives, and knowledge.
Three colorful figures made of paper hold colored pencils and stand around a black book called “The Story of Migration.” A drafting table covered in scraps of paper fills the background.

Animating Stories of Global Migration

A short film animated by Karrie Fransman uses evidence-based research to explore how migration connects humans everywhere.
A black sign with white letters is on the left beside a grove of tall trees and the moss-covered ruins of a building.

When Asked if the World Would End They Answer No

An Indigenous anthropologist-poet visits Woody Island in Alaska, formerly the site of the Kodiak Baptist Orphanage in the early 20th-century, where her great-grandfather lived before being sent to the Carlisle Indian School.
A series of three paintings with gold backgrounds. Each painting shows a bullet wound surrounded by red blood splatter that turns into flower petals.

When “Voluntary” Return Is Not a Real Option for Asylum-Seekers

An anthropologist explains why successful integration into Austrian society—long argued to be a condition for acceptance—is not enough to guarantee asylum-seekers and migrants a safe home in the country.
Talea cellphone network - A campesino checks his cellphone while working in the fields outside of Talea de Castro, Mexico (the mountain village in the distance to the upper left).

Why a Mexican Village’s DIY Cellphone Network Matters

When an Indigenous community in Oaxaca, snubbed by telecom giants, created its own mobile network, things didn’t go exactly as planned. But the experiment revealed the strength of its social bonds.

What Problems Does Organic Cotton Solve?

Organic cotton agriculture in India fails, resoundingly, to produce as much cotton as conventional methods. But what if that’s not the point?
Chile democracy dignity - A protestor in 2020 in Santiago waves the Chilean flag.

A Radical Recentering of Dignity

An anthropologist explores the political demands that will rewrite Chile’s constitution—and the calls for joy, freedom, and dignity that may help democracy flourish.
american cultural divide

Bridging the American Cultural Divide

As Americans stand on the footbridge to the future, an anthropologist advises people to take a deep breath, seek wisdom from their elders, and be patient for cultural change.
The photograph features many people in a sunny, open plaza with buildings towering above on three sides.

Confronting the Colonial Legacies of Museum Collections

The Humboldt Forum, a new exhibition venue in Berlin, has raised questions about museum restitution and the importance of researching objects' provenance.