For people in college or university communities, April is the cruelest month. April signals the fast approaching end of the academic year -- papers to complete, exams to take, classroom observations to turn in, evaluations to administer, budgets to compile, proposals to refine and submit. It's a race to the...

For someone who has taught college students for more than 30 years, it is troubling to see how the current mindlessness of narrow-minded politicians and bean-counting college administrators threatens to undermine the long established and productive foundation of higher education. In the U.S. anti-intellectual politicians like Rick Scott, Scott Walker,...

In the media world, it's been a bad time for anthropologists and anthropology. First, the Darth Vader of American politics, the incomparable Governor Rick Scott publicly stated that anthropology, his daughter's undergraduate major, was a subject without value. Governor Scott's demonstration of boastful ignorance sparked an outcry from...

Last week I had the distinct pleasure of taking two seven-year old kids, a boy and a girl, to see a local children's theater production of Pinocchio. We arrived about 15 minutes early -- to get good seats -- and had a bit of time to kill before the beginning...

In the wake of President Obama's second inauguration, military matters in West Africa continue to be in the news. In my more than 30 years as an anthropologist who specializes in the culture and peoples of West Africa, I have never enjoyed reading mainstream news reports from the region. The...

With the approach of the New Year, the pundits are once again pondering the state of American culture and politics. Much of the discussion, which is usually driven by events in the news, has focused on the major developments of 2012. There have been ongoing discussions of how the re-election...

Since President Obama's re-election there has been a great deal of political chatter about why Mitt Romney lost. Pundits have claimed that the GOP miscalculated or, worse yet, ignored dramatic demographic shifts in the U.S. population. We have heard that the increasing voter turnout of non-white American citizens (Latinos, Asians,...

Now that President Obama has been reelected I am wondering if his policies will bring forth positive change in American higher education. It goes without saying that a policy here and a program there may precipitate changes in course offerings or fund certain kinds of scientific research. But I'm afraid...

As the presidential campaign finally comes to its inevitable finish line, I've been thinking about quick fixes in American society. Many people in our society are impatient. We don't like standing in line. We don't like traffic jams. We don't like trains, buses or trains that are late. If the...

As Barack Obama and Mitt Romney near the dramatic finish line of an interminable presidential campaign, I've been remembering the soft voice of my mentor.

"In life," that voice used to say, "character counts."

"The betrayal of trust," that voice would suggest, "almost always ruins a friendship."

These...

If you want to assess the future of America, it's useful to consider the social lives of students in our high schools and colleges. What kind of contribution will these young people make to the future of our society? No matter how strong an image these students might present, they...

In America there seems to be an increasingly widespread aversion to the act of reading. In support of that aversion voters have elected public officials whose profound ignorance and boundless stupidity threaten our society--men and women, for example, who are suspicious of people who read. Consider a recent case of...

The buzz about the upcoming presidential debates between Governor Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama has made me think back to my first stint of anthropological fieldwork in West Africa. More than 35 years ago, I conducted a demographic survey to gather data on ethnicity and multilingualism in a small...

On August 24 Lance Armstrong decided to give up his fight against the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), which had accused him of using performance-enhancing drugs during his years of cycling competition, a charge that Armstrong continues to deny. In response to Armstrong's capitulation, USADA stripped him of seven Tour...

Several days ago, one of my Facebook friends, a woman, sent a post proclaiming that she liked Paul Ryan. She even provided a link so that people in her network could find out more about the ideologically conservative and physically fit congressman from Wisconsin. She will be voting for Romney-Ryan.

With all the hoopla about the anointment of Congressman Paul Ryan as Mitt Romney's running mate, it is easy to lose sight of potentially devastating educational developments that the latest news cycle has pushed into the background. Last week, for example, Missouri voters overwhelmingly passed a "right to pray" amendment...

My Facebook buddy is feeling frustrated again. My last blog post about how my West African immigrant friends distrust politicians like Mitt Romney who hide their money compelled him to express his frustrations -- a laundry list of fairly standard conservative complaints. He's tired of supporting lazy, unemployed people who...

My anthropological research often takes me to Harlem in New York City, where I visit West African merchant friends who sell a variety of goods at the wonderful Malcolm Shabazz Harlem Market. When you spend time among West Africans you understand quickly that the art of conversation remains highly appreciated....

As the American presidential campaign swings into high gear, recent events in the fabled city of Timbuktu remind us of the very real social and cultural costs of religious and political fundamentalism. For us, Timbuktu is the famed destination of such great European explorers as Mungo Park and Rene Caille....

One of my Facebook friends is a wonderful guy who sometimes lambasts my public criticism of trends in American society. Most recently, he didn't like the fact that I thought that the trains in Germany, which I rode in April, were fast, clean and on-time whereas the trains in the...