News and Updates
When celebrating holidays feels like celebrating erasure: A reflection
In celebrating Independence Day with hot dogs, tri-color bunting and spectacles in the night sky, we become players in a national mythology of exceptionalism. The hard edges of our past are buffed to the point of being unrecognizable. This is not unique to the United States, of course, it is a global phenomenon of revisionist stories, markers and memorials, presidential decrees and official holidays designed to turn the page on histories of horror that have never been acknowledged, much less redressed. We must ask the question — at what cost do we celebrate erasure?
MoreAsk the Anthropologist: Q&A with Dr. Jodi Skipper
Dr. Jodi Skipper (she/her) is a Professor of Anthropology and Southern Studies at the University of Mississippi, who considers the role of historic preservation in imagining more sustainable and healthy futures for U.S. communities. In the Q&A, Dr. Skipper explains what inspired her to study anthropology, how she thinks academia can be more supportive of community work, and the fascinating research she’s recently participated in – in her own hometown.
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