The Department of Anthropology at Harvard University

The Department of Anthropology at Harvard University Department of Anthropology at Harvard University

The Globalization of Japanese Cuisine

On November 8, 2009 Professor Theodore C. Bestor presented a keynote address on “The Globalization of Japanese Cuisine” at the Culinary Institute of America, Napa Valley, as part of a conference on Japanese food culture sponsored by the University of California’s Center for Japanese Studies. Another feature of the conference was a world-record breaking construction of the World's Longest California Roll, put together by 500 students at the University of California, Berkeley– the roll stretched 330 feet in length!

Annual Eilert Sundt Lecture, University of Oslo

On November 12, 2009 Professor Michael Herzfeld will deliver the annual Eilert Sundt Lecture at the University of Oslo, Norway. His topic is "The Death of Responsibility: An Ethnographic Critique of Neoliberal Governance."
And in conjunction with the lecture, Professor Herzfeld will hold a seminar for the Institute of Anthropology at the University of Oslo, titled "Blues: Neoliberalism and Traditionalism in the Thai Past-in-the-Present."

Justin Ide/Harvard Staff Photographer

Harvard President Drew Faust (center) visits the Yard dig outside her Massachusetts Hall office. Professor William Fash, Charles P. Bowditch Professor of Central American and Mexican Archaeology and Ethnology (left), Faust, and Executive Vice President Katherine Lapp examine an 18th century slate pencil found at the site.

Treasures Unearthed

Harvard students who have spent the semester digging through the dark earth of Harvard Yard showed off their treasures today (Oct. 29), including a slate pencil that confirms that, amid the eating, drinking, and smoking that their counterparts from yesteryear did, learning was going on too.

The pencil, a slim 2-inch gray piece of what may be compressed clay, was used to write on a personal slate that students held as they worked. That pencil and slate may have been used as a scratch pad to figure or compose on before committing pen to paper, according to Lecturer on Anthropology Christina Hodge, a class instructor.

Read the full article in the Gazette

International Journal of Transitional Justice 2009 Special Issue

“Whose Justice? Global and Local Approaches to Transitional Justice”
Kimberly Theidon, Guest Editor

"Guilty as Charged: The Trial of Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori for Human Rights Violations" by Jo-Marie Burt

"Seeking Truth after 50 Years: The National Committee for Investigation of the Truth about the Jeju 4.3 Events" by Hunjoon Kim

Harvard Library's Anthropological Literature E-Resources

Connect to the iSite "Using the Anthropological Literature E-Resource". This site is a guide to the many features of the Anthropological Literature e-resource. It also includes tools to assist users in understanding and utilizing the resource to its fullest extent. In addition, it highlights the rich interdisciplinary content of the database, as well as links to current research in the field of anthropology at Harvard. We are happy to accommodate requests for training, either for individuals, small groups or classes.
• Access Anthropological Literature E-Resource
• Anthropological Literature E-Resource Spotlights

Great Books Chosen by Harvard Anthropologists

Anthropological Influences: Great Books Chosen by Harvard Anthropologists
For over 140 years the collections of Tozzer Library have played an important role in shaping generations of anthropologists. In this virtual exhibition, which grew out of a 2006 celebration marking the addition of the quarter millionth volume to Tozzer Library, Harvard anthropologists (including faculty and graduates of the Anthropology Department and Peabody Museum curators) describe, in their own words, books that have inspired or guided or enlightened their scholarship and teaching.

An interview, in Greek, with Professor Michael Herzfeld

On 13 September the distinguished Greek newspaper To Vima published in its weekly magazine VIMAgazino an extensive interview, in Greek, with Professor Michael Herzfeld, of the Department of Anthropology at Harvard University. Titled "Harvard's Kapetan-Michalis [Captain Michael]," in an evocation of a famous novel by Nikos Kazantzakis, the interview-conducted by the journalist Eleni Xenaki-ranged over many topics: the role of the anthropologist in studying nationhood and identity, Greece's position in Europe, social activism, the extreme right and racism in Greece, the role of private universities, and the activities of the nascent "University of the Mountains of Crete" (of which Herzfeld was appointed a member of the Executive Committee earlier this year, participating in a press conference in Athens on 29 June). Download the interview (PDF)

Archaeologists Discover Oldest-Known Fiber Materials

Cambridge, Mass. - September 10, 2009 - A team of archaeologists and paleobiologists has discovered flax fibers that are more than 34,000 years old, making them the oldest fibers known to have been used by humans. The fibers, discovered during systematic excavations in a cave in the Republic of Georgia, are described in this week’s issue of Science. Full Press Release

Veiled Brightness: A History of Ancient Maya Color

Christina Warinner, a current graduate student in the Archaeology Program, and Alex Tokovinine, a Ph.D. recipient in Archaeology, have recently co-authored the book: Veiled Brightness: A History of Ancient Maya Color (University of Texas Press, 2009).

For Today’s Graduate, Just One Word: Statistics

By Steve Lohr, Published on August 5, 2009
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — At Harvard, Carrie Grimes majored in anthropology and archaeology and ventured to places like Honduras, where she studied Mayan settlement patterns by mapping where artifacts were found. But she was drawn to what she calls “all the computer and math stuff” that was part of the job.
Read the article in the New York Times

Peruvian Forensic Anthropology Team

The Equipo Peruano de Antropología Forense (or Peruvian Forensic Anthropology Team – EPAF) applies forensic anthropology to the search for forcibly disappeared persons during the period of internal political conflict from 1982- 2000. It is their final goal to restore the identity of the thousands of missing Peruvians that rest in hidden burial sites across the country. Associate Professor, Kimberly Theidon has written a short piece for their recent photo-catalog highlighting their work.

On July 1, 2009, the program of Biological Anthropology in the Department of Anthropology of Harvard University was reconstituted as the new Department of Human Evolutionary Biology. The Department of Anthropology will continue as the home of vibrant programs in Archaeology and Social Anthropology. Both Anthropology and Human Evolutionary Biology will continue their close collegial relationships in research, graduate student training, and undergraduate education.

For information on the Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, please see www.heb.fas.harvard.edu

• China Social Anthropology Search

Anthropology Sponsored Lecture Series:
• East Asian Archeaeology Seminar Series
• Harvard Archaeology Lecture Series
• Social Anthropology Program Seminar Series

Research Interests by Area:
• Archaeology Research Google Map
• Social Anthropology Research Google Map
• Harvard World Wide

Anthropology Libraries and Museums:
• Peabody Museum
• Tozzer Library
• Anthropological Literature E-Resources

Related Departments and Centers at Harvard:
• African and African American Studies
• Asia Center
• Center for Middle Eastern Studies
• David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies
• Harvard Divinity School
• Dept. of Global Health/Social Medicine at HMS
• Humanities Center
• Film Study Center
• Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations
• Social Studies
• Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality
• Visual and Environmental Studies
• Weatherhead Center

Related Schools and Divisions:
• Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS)
• Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS)
• Social Sciences

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Department of Anthropology
Harvard University
Peabody Museum
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