Monthly Archives: March 2020

What Anthropology Teaches Us about COVID-19, Part 2: An Optimist’s Scenario

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Here’s what I imagine could–and should–emerge from this viral nightmare. Locally, stranger-neighbors will (re)discover each other. Re-appreciate the bonds of co-residence. Translate that appreciation into forging new relationships, even new neighborhood groups. Friendly elevator chats, book groups, block parties, children’s after-school clubs. Remember that our common humanity unites us more

Climate change, Community, Cooperation, Covid-19, Creative thinking, Cultural Anthropology, Empathy, Environmental anthropology, Environmental issues, Fossil fuel industry, Humans as a social species, Politics and society, Public policy Read more

What Anthropology Teaches Us about COVID-19, Part 1-Early Thoughts

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Lesson 1: Like the ducks and brants my husband and I see congregating regularly by the dozens along the shore’s edge of Narraganssett Bay near our coastal home, we humans are a social species.  (Audobon’s description of the Brant: “Feeds in flocks at most times of year”), Whether indoors or

Anthropology, Community, Cooperation, Creative thinking, Empathy, Ethnography, Germany, Human evolution, Humans as a social species Read more