I am the director of the UMass Engaged Anthropology Lab located in Machmer Hall E-25.

We host a monthly brown bag in which we discuss issues related to Engaged Anthropology. Students, faculty and community members are welcome!

Topics of discussion at the brown bag include:

• ethical, practical, and structural challenges of doing community-based research

• strategies and skills for mobilizing knowledge outside of the academy for the benefit of communities and society

• decolonizing research practices and working in partnership with Indigenous communities

• measures of effectiveness and success in community-based research (including standards for tenure & promotion of engaged scholars)

Bring your lunch, share ideas & engaging conversation – join us!

What is Engaged Anthropology? How do those conducting various forms of engaged, activist, or transformative anthropology connect with and influence the world? In our globalized and fast-paced world with dwindling funds and pressure to make research relevant to the world outside the academy, why does anthropology matter? How do anthropologists at UMass Amherst address these concerns in their research? In spring 2014, UMass undergrads in my Public Anthropology course are considering these questions. Each student was asked to choose readings or a topic discussed in class and write a blog post about it. Their topics include discussions of the ethnography and archaeology of homelessness, structural violence, neoliberalism, community-based participatory research, and anthropologists’ use of wikipedia and social media. Read and comment on their blog posts.