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Several people wearing matching brown jumpsuits sit on a long brown bench, holding landline phones and facing a large clear wall. On the other side of the first window, a person with a white headscarf on cries while holding a phone.

How Israeli Prisons Terrorize Palestinians—Inside and Outside Their Walls

An anthropologist in the West Bank explains how Israel’s prison regime dehumanizes Palestinians, who nevertheless dream of freedom and resist erasure.
A header image on a cellphone of several people wearing military uniforms and holding hands is above a yellow logo and white text that reads, “Israel Defense Forces.” White text underneath reads, “Official IDF Twitter account. We tweet real-time information and updates in 7 languages—choose yours.”

The Viral Atrocities Posted by Israeli Soldiers

Tracing 75 years of Israeli war photography, an anthropologist explains how images that reframe disproportionate violence as proof of victory have intensified in the war on Gaza that erupted in 2023.
A large, tan cardboard box sits on a shelf with a label that reads “C2” below it. On two small pieces of black tape on the box’s front side, white letters read “Infant” and “Name Once Known.”

Infant, Name Once Known

A poet-anthropologist of the Chickasaw Nation honors infant remains historically used in teaching collections at the University of Illinois.
A person with short black hair looks away from the viewer out of a window on the room’s back wall. Between the person and the window is a narrow bed with blue, pink, and red linens.

What It’s Like to Grow Old on the Margins

In a brief documentary, an anthropologist provides a glimpse into the precarious lives of poor older Peruvians whose experiences mirror those of countless elders around the world.
An older person wearing a black headscarf and embroidered skirt sits on the ground, resting against a concrete wall.

Living as Stateless Palestinians in Jordan

Israel’s war on Gaza that erupted in 2023 continues a long history of systemic displacement of Palestinians. Over 2 million Palestinian refugees currently live in Jordan in indefinite exile, tens of thousands without citizenship in any country.
Shot from above, a close-up photograph features a cluster of flowers with white petals and yellow centers with green blades of grass growing out of a rough, rocky plot of brown soil.

Expert Witness Reviews Exhibits for Asylum Proceedings, Franco-González Class Member

A poet-anthropologist who has been an expert witness in asylum proceedings for Mexican nationals resists dehumanizing legal and political language to make space for the humanity of asylum-seekers.
With human figures painted as dark silhouettes, a large mural depicts a soldier wearing a helmet and large backpack reaching toward two children holding flags with orange, white, and green horizontal stripes. They stand against a bright yellow, orange, and red background with three black helicopters—one displaying the same flag—flying overhead.

This Militarization

A poet-anthropologist conveys her life when she was coming of age under the increasing mobilization of military forces in Indian-occupied Kashmir.
A photograph taken from under a large building’s awning looks out to show a fountain with green and red tress lining either side. The building’s stone pillars line the foreground.

When I See Spring in Your Eyes/yeli bU’ vuċh canen Ạċhen mnz nō bhar

A poet-anthropologist from Indian-occupied Kashmir speaks of hope as inherited through memories of resilience in the past and present.
A photograph features a person in a hooded windbreaker in the foreground looking left, away from a large tiered moss-covered stone structure in the background.

The Colonial Roots of Peru’s Troubles

An archaeologist traces the current protests in Peru to exploitive labor policies enacted in silver mines during Spanish colonial rule from 1532 to 1800.
An adult and three children huddle by a grassy hill in the dark with a tall wire fence in the background.

Archaeology at the Borders of the Refugee Crisis

Archaeological methods, which are typically used to study the past, can also illuminate the experiences of today’s displaced people.
A person with blonde hair and a black-and-white shirt with a fist on it stands among a group of people who wear red robes and white triangular hoods. She holds up a silver blister package of pills and a white box with red writing that says, “Safe abortion with pills.”

We Should Talk More About the Abortion Pill

The abortion pill revolutionized activists' fight for reproductive rights in Ireland in the 2000s—but in the U.S., cultural narratives have been slow to catch up to how medication has transformed abortion access.

 
Rows of wooden tables with lamps and wooden chairs line a white stone hall with four tall pillars at the entrance and a blue and white ceiling with glass skylights.

#MeToo Anthropology and the Case Against Harvard

When anthropologist John Comaroff at Harvard University was put on unpaid leave for allegations of sexual misconduct, a network of colleagues rallied to support him—revealing how entrenched systems in academia often allow sexual violence and other power-based abuse to continue.
The image shows the dark bottom of a boat floating on the water and the outline of small fish.

Middle Ground

A poet-bioarchaeologist of the African diaspora confronts echoes of the Middle Passage in contemporary anti-Black environments.
More than 100 orange hearts sit on the side of a grassy hill with small lights in front of each one.

Archaeology’s Role in Finding Missing Indigenous Children in Canada

Evidence of unmarked children’s graves on the sites of former Indian Residential Schools has triggered a long-overdue national awakening. Will it be enough to spur lasting action?
A black-and-white portrait shows a woman in a white shirt with light hair against a white background.

Kenyan Mothers Take on Police Violence

In Nairobi, members of the Mothers of Victims and Survivors Network, who have lost family members to police violence, are turning their grief into determined activism.

Why Are Black People’s Remains in Museums?

Two archaeologists consider how the remains of thousands of Black people ended up in U.S. museums and what it would take for these institutions to address the harm they have caused.