Anthropology Beyond the Academy

Filmmaker Josh Appignanesi started out in Social Anthropology at Cambridge before becoming a filmmaker working in documentary, fiction, and the spaces in-between. His six feature films have been shown theatrically in over thirty countries, and in competition at festivals including Berlin, Tribeca, Rotterdam, Cannes/ACID...

Panel discussion on the value of disability, neurodiversity, and other 'non-normal' lifeways within anthropology Panel members: Prof Nora Groce, Leonard Cheshire Chair of Disability and Inclusive Development Julia Sauma, Goldsmiths Julia Modern, Disability London Harshadha Balasubramanian (UCL) Chaired by Kelly Fagan...

Q&A lunch and roundtable discussion of barriers to inclusion in anthropology with two former members of the department: Harshadha Balasubramanian (UCL), and Julia Modern (Inclusion London). This event is part of the celebration of the launch of the book Inaccessible Access (2024), edited by Kelly Fagan Robinson, Mark T...

Mahua as Gift and Commodity Rahul Srivastava The talk centres around the risks involved when expanding the trade of a sacred product, which is also a source of basic income for indigenous communities in a threatened environment. The product is mahua, a traditional alcoholic spirit made from the flowers of the mahua tree...

Event Introduction: Digital Ethnography, Storytelling and Grassroots Community Building How can academic research, particularly digital ethnography, transcend the boundaries of academia to create real-world, community-driven impact? In this session, we’ll explore how research skills can be effectively applied to grassroots...

Jonathan Woolley is an environmental anthropologist/ behavioural scientist, currently advising on the design of funding schemes for environmental land management in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). He completed his PhD in the Department of Social Anthropology in 2018, which focused on the...

Anthropology beyond the Academy: A conversation with Xara Zabihi Dutton (Gemic) In recent years, companies, NGOs and other organisations have increasingly turned to ethnographic and other qualitative methods to shape their policy and strategic decisions. What is it like to work at this interface? How do you build a career...

Dr Carine Durand (Musée d'ethnographie de Genève) Recognizing indigenous peoples' rights through museum practice in Switzerland Bio: Dr Carine Ayélé DURAND is a social anthropologist who graduated from Cambridge University in 2010. Over the past 20 years, she has held various positions as curator and researcher in cultural...

Writing for journalism – a masterclass with Dr Johannes Lenhard As anthropologists, we are well trained to write. We rarely use this skill beyond academia, however. Writing well does not only still sell reasonably well but is also an important counter-force against mis-information, clickbait and the like-economy. In this...

Sandi Toksvig is a writer, comedian and broadcaster, and co-founder of the Women’s Equality Party. She’s currently in Cambridge, having been awarded the first Q+ fellowship by the LGBTQ+ research programme of the Department of Sociology. As an undergraduate, she studied Archaeology and Anthropology, and she’ll be talking...