High rates of migrant fatalities at the U.S. southern border represent an ongoing mass disaster that is the product of Prevention through Deterrence policies funneling migrants into remote and deadly terrain. Due to a fragmented, underresourced, and overwhelmed medicolegal system in South Texas, the majority of unidentified migrant decedents recovered in the region are buried without proper investigation

Anthropologists have struggled with the issue of how to “give back” to the people who have welcomed us, collaborated with us, and become our friends. Expert witnessing for the asylum cases of members of communities that have opened their doors to us is one way of addressing uneven relationships and power dynamics. I provide expertise for cases almost exclusively from a place where I have worked for

Unlike other expert witnesses, cultural anthropologists must not only provide expert evidence on the case but also convince judges of its validity for meeting the Daubert standard. In this article, I juxtapose two expert testimony reports I have written in criminal and asylum cases. For the first, I conducted cultural consensus analysis, a formal quantitative technique, to gather data on beliefs about

Do expert witnesses enable legal violence by participating in a repressive immigration system? Drawing from over 20 years of court watching, accompaniment, and expert witness testimony, this article discusses some of the complications, contradictions, and ethical dilemmas in applying anthropological knowledge to immigration proceedings particularly for child applicants. For example, how might we effectively

This article focuses on how to use ethnography and theory to disrupt binaries between “state” and “non-state” actors and violence and “private” and “public” actors and violence. I also touch on expanded use of the political opinion basis for asylum in relation to women resisting violence and immigrant rights activists who are undocumented.

The concluding reflection of the special section “Expert Witnessing in Asylum Practice” puts the particular challenges for anthropologists in context. It highlights the ways that issues of essentialism are particular to our discipline and points to current and future general challenges for expert witnesses working in the U.S. asylum system.

Expert witnesses are key players in immigration asylum proceedings. In many cases, their testimony is the difference between prompt deportation and some form of relief. However, political and economic structures overdetermine the factual and legal dimensions of immigrant asylum claims. The U.S. immigration system from its inception has been heavily politicized and discriminatory. The problem has become

Developing ethnographic knowledge is largely about understanding and retaining nuance, complexity, and, even, contradiction. In the asylum courtroom, however, the law looks for certainty, clear percentages of likelihood of harm, and general, essential claims that a given people/country are a particular way. In this essay, I reflect on the ways in which the asylum system, by requiring that individuals

In this essay, I use a case of testifying as an expert witness to argue that the anthropological focus on multicausality, context, and the social/cultural origins of persecution is useful and necessary in asylum cases. The government attorney argued that the persecutor's violence was “personal,” related only to his alcoholism, not the victim's identity as his wife. I argued that regardless of his personal

Homeland Security lawyers routinely ask experts in immigration court cases about compensation for their labor. The suggestion is that if money has been exchanged, perhaps their opinions have been bought. Meanwhile, pro bono offerings can be seen as “activism”—motivated beyond the court-framed “truth.” Even as I offer many declarations pro bono, I have come to recognize, uneasily, my role in an extended

The decision for academics, especially ethnographers whose contributions involve rapport and friendship, to serve as expert witnesses, particularly for the growing numbers of applicants from northern Central America, should involve ethical and professional considerations. While expert witnesses do not determine the veracity of individual cases, they should at least reflect when people from populations

This Introduction highlights the dynamic nature of expert witnessing by highlighting some of the major areas of change and challenge: Our understanding of the immigrant and the asylum seeker reflected in changing legal categorizations, changing conditions in sending and receiving countries, and the changing and expanding field of anthropology that provides new critiques, materials, and perspectives

Providing expert testimony in asylum proceedings for mentally ill Mexicans, we are regularly asked to reduce individual subjects to diagnostic categories and an entire country to one of its most dysfunctional institutions. How, attorneys and judges ask us, does Mexican “culture”—through its institutions and psychiatric hospitals—treat the mentally ill? To adjudicators of asylum claims, there must be

In this article, I explore some challenges and strategies for anthropologist expert witnesses working on cases where home-country governments depict an overall more positive situation than what the applicants claim. Drawing upon an anonymized Honduran asylum case, I discuss the utility of state theory for debunking fallacious home-government sources that downplay dangerous situations while exaggerating

The last decade saw a 32 percent increase in the number of immigrant children and youth in Japan and the educational difficulties they experienced. Part-time high schools have played a critical role in furthering equity and inclusion by securing ibasho (places where one feels comfortable, safe, and accepted) toward these students. Drawing on the participatory action research approach, we collaborated

This special section examines the enactment of participatory action research (PAR) across three distinct educational contexts: a public library program for teens, an after-school program in Japan, and a prison-based adult language and literacy program. This introduction provides an overview of the principles associated with PAR and outlines potential tensions and challenges associated with partnering

The continued dearth of realistic, culturally diverse characters in children's literature corresponds with the lack of diversity among those who create, publish, and review books. To address this problem, the researcher collaborated with six culturally diverse high school aged girls for a participatory action research (PAR) project that involved critical analysis of children's picture books that mirrored

Research focused on minoritized communities has predominantly been conducted by individuals associated with universities who have little connection to or investment in these communities beyond their research agenda. Oftentimes, this research benefits the researcher more than the community. This study of a peer-taught, prison-based, adult language, and literacy program challenged traditional research

This essay explores how to broaden the scope of what constitutes anthropological and ethnographic research by cross-fertilizing with data science. I discuss four types of relationships anthropologists have sought to foster with data science: anthropology of data science, anthropology over data science, anthropology with data science, and, the least developed of the four, anthropology by data science

Since its initial conception in 2017, the University of Denver Ethnography Lab (DUEL) has aimed to catalyze collaborations between students, faculty, and community organizations. Inspired by community–campus partnerships implemented in the past across the United States, DUEL seeks to cultivate a community of practice centered on ethnography in action, and to draw on strengths and opportunities specific

Recently resettled refugees from the Congo Wars continue to struggle with food insecurity that, in many cases, extends to before their camp and war-time experiences. Beginning in 2016, a team from the University of South Florida has studied dietary adaptation and nutritional status among refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Population census data, in-depth interviews with household heads

While applied anthropological research is sometimes envisioned as a linear process, we present an alternative view based on our research with frontline workers providing long-term care (LTC) for older adults during COVID-19. We completed a rapid qualitative assessment in central North Carolina from May to November 2020. We conducted data analysis as we continued to collect data and implemented activities

Every conflict referred to as a war results in the horror of loss and death. This is true of any war, and the Spanish Civil War is a good example. Many people disappeared and were never found again, mainly because nobody ever looked for them. There were several counteroffensives on the eastern war front in Spain's Levante region during 1938, which, although ending in Pyrrhic victories for the Republican

The increasingly intractable nature of many social problems has given rise to cross‐institutional and interdisciplinary collaborations in order to respond to social problems that no single entity can resolve on its own. One value of anthropology lies in its capacity to provide culturally tailored strategies for successful collaboration between different stakeholders in communities, across disciplinary

In this essay, we tackle the challenge of adapting the dominant way we think about health in the United States—through an individualistic, technocratic, biomedical lens—to address social problems rooted in structural inequality. As scholar activists, the authors participated in a coalition effort to improve community health in a postindustrial New Jersey city. Adopting a social determinants of health

In this article we consider applied anthropology as it exists at the program level. While individual faculty can promote applied training, sustainability in applied education is only possible when entire faculties—and the college and university administrations that provide the necessary financial, structural, and social support—are committed to this approach. While many options for program development

Participation in research prepares students for conducting future projects, academic, and professional success. Service learning combines classroom instruction with meaningful community engagement. This article presents an example of a class project that combined service learning and research to increase knowledge of and familiarity with fruits and vegetables through hands‐on food identification. The

In this paper we define “The Memphis Model,” or the type of praxis‐oriented, critically engaged anthropology developed and used by the Department of Anthropology at the University of Memphis. This model draws inspiration from the Grit and Grind ethos of the city of Memphis, along with its deep cultural and political traditions of grassroots activism for social justice. Here, we define how this is done

Students' education in applied anthropology can occur through a variety of sources including classroom instruction, hands‐on experience and professional mentorship. Anthropology programs, and especially those with an applied focus, can help facilitate these types of experiences. This article details one such attempt: the creation and implementation of a local conference. The Texas Applied Anthropology

A growing literature evaluates online learning outcomes and pedagogy within the virtual classroom, though assessments of entire online programs are comparatively rare. As online learning takes place through multiple modalities in multiple contexts, we were particularly eager to explore the informal and hidden curricula within the University of North Texas (UNT) online program in applied anthropology–the

This paper reports the results of the National Association for the Practice of Anthropology‐sponsored 2019 American Anthropology Master's Career Survey. Aimed at replicating the 2009 American Anthropological Association/Committee on Practicing, Applied, and Public Interest Anthropology MA Career Survey, the purpose of this new survey was to understand 1) how master's degree anthropology alumni have

This essay examines the tensions between participatory ethnographic research methods and newly emerging legal regimes of data protection and privacy. Drawing on the example of recent grant‐funded research in Mexico, the essay charts how the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation impedes the practices and ethos of participatory research in significant ways. In particular, new legal requirements

As the adage goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. Yet, anthropologists have not typically sought study‐participant drawings. Using a protocol in which a request for a drawing was embedded, this study captures the internal dynamics of three successful university‐based teams. Our questions followed a specific Describe–Draw–Explain sequence. All interviewees offered some novel element in their drawings

To write about Indigeneity means already being deeply enmeshed in identity politics. The much researched rural south of Mexico City is a case in point. Anthropologists have described the Nahuatl speakers of Milpa Alta as “heirs of the Aztecs,” and knowledge of Nahuatl and folklore has become key to maintaining municipal land rights in the context of current multiculturalist politics. Thus, Nahuatl

This introduction explores particular ways in which participatory research is practiced in Mesoamerica by ethnographers. It provides an introduction to the history of participatory research and its interlinkages to a host of ethical concerns that are explored in greater depth in eight, reflexive ethnographic essays by anthropologists who conduct research in Guatemala and Mexico. This introduction and

This essay explores various reasons and politics behind learning a field research language that go beyond the merely pragmatic function of being a tool to collect data. Moreover, the role of language competency in one's field language is interlinked with the ethics of conducting research and by reflecting on specific ethnographic contexts in Guatemala, it is possible to explore some of the contours

This article reflects on the current status of participatory research in anthropology. I draw on my work at the Instituto Superior Intercultural Ayuuk (Ayuuk Intercultural University) in Oaxaca, Mexico to sketch some of potentials and pitfalls for participatory research during the preliminary, data‐collection, and postfield phases. My argument is that while anthropologists as individuals tend to find

In this essay, I contemplate the ethics of community engagement based on my work as an applied medical anthropologist in Guatemala. During my dissertation fieldwork in a highland community, I lived with a local Mayan family, and our lives together centered on discussing their goals, community organizing, and strategies for improving indigenous rights. I describe how the relationships I built with this

This article examines the sexual culture of gay men in Budapest, Hungary, based on research in 2011. HIV prevalence in Hungary is relatively low, compared with the United States, Western Europe, and parts of Eastern Europe (where injecting drug use is common, elevating the HIV rate). This preliminary, qualitative study of 21 gay and bisexual men, examines their social and sexual culture (their norms

Collaboration has been a hallmark of applied anthropology for as long as anthropologists have been putting anthropology to use. The very process of applying anthropological methods and theories to real‐world problems requires an understanding of the needs of the people experiencing the problem. Collaboration also has a long history in both archaeology and ethnography in Mesoamerica. This article explores

The context of Mexican anthropology affects their institutional and ethical research protocols, and in turn, this context affects how foreign researchers should comply with these, in addition to the codes of their home professional associations and funders. This article examines research permissions and dissemination of results and products, in terms of Mexican protocols and the American Anthropological

In this essay, I reflect on six years of collaboration between myself and an organization of indigenous midwives in Mexico. I interrogate the process of finding common grounds between researchers and activists, which includes building a shared political vision of indigenous midwifery and negotiating disagreements on the different ways to impulse change. Building on my experience with Mexican midwives

Here I argue that anthropologists, whether we want it or not, affect the localities and the people at our fieldwork sites. These effects can be short, medium or long‐term, depending on the place and the circumstances. Short term help may mean helping to pick up fruit or vegetables for dinner or lend a hand during the harvest. Mid‐term engagement may mean to set up a school for local teachers wanting

It is difficult to canonize anthropology and anthropological concepts, in part because of the creative tensions within the discipline's contradictions: a desire and deep respect for local knowledge with a global, comparative perspective, what might be called the “anthropological imagination.” Firmly rooted in—and in defense of—an inclusive vision of humanity, an anthropological imagination inspires

In recent years, many anthropologists in the United States have become involved with organizations that serve newly resettled refugees, especially as budgets for the agencies have been severely cut since 2017. Here, we reflect on some of our experiences working with Refugees from the Congo Wars (RFCWs) and address some of the challenges we have faced as applied/practicing anthropologists and resettlement

Issues with land ownership and engagement in forestry have been intractable problems that have long impeded wealth development among African Americans in the rural South. Over a 6‐year period, an integrated outreach and research program, the Sustainable Forestry and African American Land Retention Program, implemented community‐based projects, built networks among relevant organizations, changed policies

Water insecurity is a condition when affordability, reliability, adequacy, or safety of water is significantly reduced or unattainable resulting in jeopardized well‐being. Water insecurity co‐occurs with poverty and social and economic exclusion. It is gaining increasing attention from the scholarly community, but most work has focused on low‐ and middle‐income countries. In this article, we explore

Ethnographic research on childcare has focused on understanding the influence of cultural contexts on childcare. The research, however, lacks discussions of a child's caregiver as a position of power, and analysis of the knowledge underpinning childcare. Consequently, much remains unknown about the adults responsible for childcare, the significance of their roles, and the values that shape their actions

Visualizing environmental change is one way people experience ecological degradation and changes in land‐use practices. In Placencia, located in Belize, the intensity and scale of development has been increasing without participation by local populations. Through interviews and photovoice, we document the ways residents have encountered changing environments, in order to explore how global and local

This article provides an overview of a project combining anthropological practice and research to examine various aspects of U.S. Marine Corps culture, conducted at the organization's request, in the wake of significant gender‐related misconduct involving Marines on social media. We examine the context and practice leading up to the research, address research design and execution, and describe both

Theories of vulnerability have constituted the conceptual core of the anthropology of disaster for roughly 40 years. Yet, there is an undercurrent of disquiet among disaster scholars and community leaders who worry that vernacular uses of vulnerability can be insulting to individuals and communities with whom we work, and/or with whom we identify. There is a growing discomfort that categorizing the

This article explores the potentials and challenges of employing digital and interactive media as part of the research–design process. The Portal to Peru project features an online exhibition of Andean textiles, focusing on the work of the Center for Traditional Textiles of Cusco, Peru. The website shares the rich weaving traditions of the Andes with a broad public, including Andean studies scholars

This study analyzes the strengths and challenges of a microenterprise program developed for refugees in a city of the U.S. South region. By offering a microfinance loan of about $4,500 per client, the microenterprise program, run by a nonprofit resettlement agency (RA), hopes to provide economically poor and newly resettled refugees, who have no credit history with banks, with low‐interest loans and

The article examines smartphone use among Middle Eastern refugee families recently resettled in northern New Jersey as an opportunity to reconceptualize the language barrier during the early stages of refugee resettlement. Smartphone access and use among families reveal the interlinguistic conditions of life in resettlement, and ethnographic research demonstrates the way a tech‐savvy population, conventionally

Anthropology departments are increasingly faced with the challenge of developing assessment strategies to document and assess student learning as it relates to university‐ and state‐level learning objectives. This article draws on the work in applied anthropology as it relates to assessment and team‐based qualitative data analysis to develop and test a model for mapping assessment in higher education

Most households in Timor‐Leste use lali'an, a traditional open fire method of cooking that has considerable environmental, health, and social impacts. Many of these impacts can be mitigated using simple, low‐cost, and more fuel‐efficient improved cook stoves (ICSs). Drawing on qualitative data from householders, key informants, and the researcher's observations, this article explores women's experiences

In this article, I analyze the successes and challenges of the first year of a four‐year applied anthropology project conducted on Wyoming's Wind River Reservation intended to help mostly white educators of Arapaho children who develop culturally relevant classroom pedagogy. Educators of Arapaho children have expressed concerns that student achievement is low, but also that the curriculum is largely

This article describes how seed funding from one major Australian University, designed to encourage interdisciplinary collaborations among academics, led to the implementation of a safe and sustainable energy supply at a community development project in remote Timor‐Leste. This article reflects on the process, the results, and insights developed during the project primarily from the point of view of