Anthropology Magazine

Grief Can Make Us Wise

Reflections

  • public grief - A candlelight vigil on February 15 honored the victims of the recent mass shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida.

    Grief Can Make Us Wise

    Grief makes sense of loss and opens us to rebuilding all that is meaningful in life. Society would benefit if public grief were acknowledged more.

  • Racism by any Other Name Is Still Racism

    Americans look back with shame at Japanese-American internment during WWII. In this short documentary, two young Muslim-Americans reflect on how we are repeating past mistakes.

  • Icelandic Fisherwomen have played a significant role in Iceland’s history, and yet their contribution has been largely overlooked.

    Iceland’s Forgotten Fisherwomen

    Many Icelandic women fished in the 18th and 19th centuries, but their work has been largely unrecognized. Why did these female seafarers fade from the country’s memory?

  • In the oasis of his studio, Constantin Brâncuși revolutionized sculpture by drawing out the “being that is within matter”—the cosmic essence or spirit that exists underneath the surface.

    Wisdom Without a Country

    An encounter with a famous sculpture by Constantin Brâncuși raises questions about family, nationalism, and belonging; the role and refuge of art; and whether a country can ever recover from authoritarianism.

  • The construction of a proposed natural gas pipeline in Puerto Rico’s Jobos Bay would threaten one of the island’s largest estuaries and the people who depend on it.

    The Making of a Community Activist

    An impoverished region in Puerto Rico has long been under assault from environmental and social injustices. One remarkable woman is working to make sure the voices of disenfranchised local people are heard.