Alright, then. My very first post, in which I’ll introduce myself, talk about what I’m doing these days and the purpose of this blog, and give some quick thoughts on Boas. Brevity is the goal, but I’m not making any promises.

For our first reading, we’ll be going through Franz Boas’ Race, Language, and Culture. For the next few weeks, we’ll be adding posts about our impressions, how this foundational (though now sometimes disparaged) thinker influenced more current trends with which both of us are more familiar. Expect the first posts in the next few days.

Franz Boas in 1895

Anxiety and insecurity are at the heart of this blog, or at least can be credited with its development. Anxiously waiting to hear back from grad schools, and insecure about our knowledge of anthropology’s theoretical canon, two apprentice anthropologists, David Platzer and Hannah Smith, decided to start this blog, to record our collaborative efforts to work through the history of anthropological theory. Over the coming months, we’ll be moving through an adapted syllabus from an intro theory course at Reed College, where we were both undergraduates, starting, appropriately, with Boas. Whether you are already a “guild member,” as an established anthropologist or graduate student, or someone who has  curiously stumbled upon this blog, you, our public, should feel quite encouraged to contribute, to correct our misreadings, or offer your own. Welcome!