The professionalization of Canadian anthropology in the first half of the twentieth century was tied closely to the matrix of the federal state, first though the Anthropology Division of the Geological Survey of Canada and then the National Museum. State anthropologists occupied an ambiguous professional status as both civil servants and anthropologists committed to the methodological and disci...

This historical account of the methods used by anthropologists studying kuru from 1961 to 2010 illustrates the identity of anthropology as both a humanist and natural science. To understand and analyze complex historical processes anthropologists employ both interpretive and explanatory research methods. This chapter documents the emergence of medical anthropology as a subfield in anthropology,...

When news of the novel coronavirus broke out, those us in Kenya, where I'm located, thought it would go away without ever causing havoc we have seen. After all, Africa has had its own share viral outbreaks, such as Ebola, bag mixed fortune, but emerged out these outbreaks. In any case, previous outbreaks Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) and severe acute (SARS) left unscathed. We were wro...

Although their customary role is the identification of decomposed human remains, forensic anthropologists are frequently called upon to provide evidence for or to testify about the circumstances that surrounded a particular death. The literature is ambiguous and contradictory about the role of anthropologists in death investigations. Relying upon traditional distinctions, we present three cases...

Mithen begins his book by first posing and then answering the question, ÒWhy ask an archaeologist about the human mind?Ó As he describes, there are many fields of study that can contribute to the discussion of the human mind. These include psychologists, philosophers, neurologists, primatologists, biological anthropologists, social anthropologists, and computer scientists. Mithen argues that pe...