Tag Archives: anthropology

Autoimmune Disease & Vitamin D Deprivation

In the Northern Hemisphere, we are now moving into the Fall and Winter Seasons. This period of time is also when Vitamin D deprivation increases unless individuals increase their daily intake of Vitamin D3 supplementation.

Please listen to this Mentza conversation to learn more about the relationship between autoimmune diseases and Vitamin D deprivation.

International Women’s Day

March 8 is International Women’s Day.

More than a day to celebrate women, it is a day to consider what actions still need to be taken for all women to achieve equity with men so that women can live the lives of their own choosing.

Watch these videos to learn more about the societal changes that are needed to improve the lives of women.

Playlist: International Women’s Day

Dr. Anth Talks YouTube Channel

Greetings, Everyone,

Between March 2, 2021 and April 19, 2021, I published 15 short videos on my Dr. Anth Talks Channel. Each week, 2 short videos are published on topics related to being human in a complex world.

Dr. Anth Talks

Check out the past videos and make sure not to miss any in the future by subscribing to my Dr. Anth Talks Channel.

Thank you!

Anthropology Careers

My state legislature, along with those of some other states, continues to cut funding to higher education.  Anthropology is one of the subject areas that is on the bubble.

My institution requested that I create, for a campus careers day, a presentation on careers that require Anthropology.  The video shown below provides a sampling of those careers.

However, Anthropology is for more than just a career.  Anthropology courses provide students with the knowledge and skills they need to live in a globalized, inter-connected world no matter what their career goals may be.

Refugee Crises

As an Anthropologist, I try to create activities and projects for students in my college classes that encourage them to learn more about themselves and others.  Last semester, I decided to take that a step further by having the students do a Capstone Project that would also serve the community.

On the first day of class, the students are randomly assorted into groups.  The name of each group is that of one of the world’s remaining foraging populations.  Their first activity is to learn about the group and share that information with their fellow group members.  They will sit with their group members throughout the semester and do activities with their group.

The Capstone Project is the final group activity.  Each group is assigned a different aspect of a current refugee crisis. Using an anthropological perspective, they must research that crisis.  From their research, they create a slide presentation that will be shown to the class during the final exam period.  All students evaluate each presentation as part of their final exam grade.

During the semester break, I select from the information the groups have gathered to create a blog page devoted to that refugee crisis. The page is part of a new blog devoted to Refugee Crises.  Each semester, students will study a new crisis and new pages will be added to the blog.

This Capstone Project provides students with a tangible result that helps embed in their memories the most important theme of Anthropology:  Build Bridges, Not Walls.

Cleverman, Season 2

Last Fall, I encouraged everyone to watch the Netflix series Cleverman.  This fall, the second season dropped.  It continues to be a great series with a strong anthropological focus.

Cleverman, Season 2

Season 2 focuses on forced acculturation.  Forced acculturation is a process driven by the group in power and is enacted on a group that is to be stripped of all power and cultural identity.  In the United States, white men in power did this to slaves and to the First Nations.  Forced acculturation continues to be used by those in power to maintain their control.

If you have not yet watched Season 1, set aside a 12-hour stretch because you will find it hard not to binge through Season 2.  Each season has six episodes.  I look forward to there being a Season 3 of Cleverman.