San Francisco always seems imaginary to me. Unlike many of my friends I’ve never felt the urge to move here because it would be like asking to live in a daydream: beautiful and otherworldly but insubstantial. But then, the digital worlds that we build of which Silicon Valley is the spiritual home are no more … Continue reading
Tag Archives: anthropology
Mozilla Festival 2015
I went to Mozilla Festival again this year, Mozilla’s annual convention dedicated to building a better web. What I noticed most this year was the greater emphasis on discussion in sessions. The first two years that I went were much more focused on building and doing. I had mixed feelings about this: I always view … Continue reading
Who Needs an Ethnographer? Update
The folks over at Ethnography Matters picked up my post Who Needs an Ethnographer? considering the ways that a volunteer ethnographic project could be designed and how it could be community-led. I’m chuffed to bits to be featured on Ethnography Matters which I think is a fantastic publication with a great archive of useful insights. … Continue reading
Guest Post: Volunteer Ethnography
Following my post Who Needs an Ethnographer? a few weeks ago, I had several very interesting conversations on the purpose and possible methods of volunteering expertise as an ethnographer. One of these was with Eugenia Lee who is today’s guest blogger on her experience of working on a volunteer ethnography project in conjunction with Tufts … Continue reading
Blog for Little Miss Geek: Humanities Students Make Great Geeks
The lovely folks over at Little Miss Geek, who run an initiative designed to inspire more women and girls to get into technical careers, allowed me to write a post for them on why humanities students make great geeks. Digital technology pervades all aspects of our lives and careers, a trend that looks like it’s … Continue reading
Seams: Private and Public in Digital Lives
Last Tuesday night I was fortunate enough to hear Genevieve Bell, anthropologist, future-thinker, and director of Intel Corporation’s Interaction and Experience Research, speak. It was a really compelling talk with lots of big thoughts. There was a small one I wanted to pick up on, though: in a discussion about seamless technology integration, Bell told … Continue reading
RegentTweet: Theoretical Questions on ‘Lifestyle’
Let’s talk about ‘lifestyles’. Yesterday I found myself invited to a “lifestyle and shopping event for professional bloggers” called RegentTweet organised by some clever marketers over on Regent Street. I signed up for a chance to attend through London Girl Geek Dinners, a group which should be pretty self-explanatory. I didn’t think I’d get selected … Continue reading
Space for Anthropology: the new Star Trek movie
I have no qualms in stating that I love Star Trek. I’m a fan of rambling summer blockbusters generally, but Star Trek–Star Trek is a whole universe. And my favorite thing about the Star Trek universe is that it is founded on an idea of learning. More than that: Starfleet, at the heart of Star … Continue reading
Shake It Up
In the past few days I’ve been noticing more and more stories about the sudden emergence of the ‘Harlem Shake’ as a protest movement (in the most literal sense) across the Middle East. The Verge has a particularly good analytical piece on its development. Much commentary focuses on the bizarre or trivial nature of choosing … Continue reading
Fitzrovia Radio and Cantina
It being the last weekend of the London Wonderground festival, I thought I would stock myself up until next season by going to two shows one after the other. The delectable Fitzrovia Radio Hour, upon whom I have written many times before, were first with a new show fresh from the Edinburgh Fringe. I was … Continue reading
In a Merry Hour: Caitlin E McDonald 