Anthropology

  • #Hackademics-  Hacks for Succeeding in Academia #1: Balancing Family Drama Trauma Fieldwork & Teaching

    I recently participated in a webinar with the American Association of Biological Anthropologists and the Sausage of Science Podcast. We discussed mental wellbeing in academia and Dr. Rebecca Lester’s and my recent article on the subject: “Mental health in academia: Hacks for cultivating andsustaining wellbeing.”

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  • “Of Peccaries and People: Perception and Politics in the Texas Hill Country” RAI Anthropology and Conservation Conference Talk 2021

    On October 27, I presented some of my preliminary research at the Royal Anthropological Institute’s 2021 Anthropology and Conservation conference at the “Living with Diversity in a More-than-human World” panel. In this talk, I discuss a multispecies community in the Texas Hill Country, centering on human-javelina relations.

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  • “Of People and Peccaries: Perception and Politics in the Texas Hill Country” Transcript (RAI Anthropology and Conservation 2021)

    Presentation Slides: INTRODUCTION On my first day of fieldwork, I climbed a steep hill where my collaborator, Roger, reported a group of javelinas lived on his property. As I crested the hill, I noticed shapes obscured in the shade of the Ashe juniper trees. Unsure at first, I was met by a musky smell followed…

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  • Abstract: Of People and Peccaries: Perception and Politics in the Texas Hill Country

    I am giving a talk in October for the Royal Anthropological Institute: https://www.therai.org.uk/conferences/anthropology-and-conservation/panels#10866 Here is the abstract for my talk based on original research at one of my fieldsites in the Texas Hill Country. Javelinas (Pecari tajacu) are porcine-like mammals that range from the southwest United States to northern Argentina. While common in west and…

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  • Fall 2021 Syllabus: Introduction to Anthropology

    (NOTE: SOME OF THE FORMATTING IS OFF IN TRANSLATION FROM WORD TO THE BLOG. I HAVE MADE THE PDF AVAILABLE BELOW) ANTH 103: Introduction to Anthropology Virginia Commonwealth University, Fall 2021 Location: Canvas/Zoom Time: Mondays and Wednesdays 7:00pm-8:15pm Instructor: Adam Johnson Email: Office Hours: By appointment This syllabus contains policies and expectations I have established…

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  • Making a Multispecies Community: A Personal Journey

    Since the start of the pandemic, my partner and I have worked to transform our San Antonio, TX backyard to a wildlife-friendly space. It began with a small garden pond just outside of our dining room picture window. The pond has been a hit! We have mosquito fish that are friendly and keep the mosquito…

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  • My Reflections Two Years After Surviving a Classroom Shooting

    Today marks two years since a classroom shooting happened while teaching my final class at University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Six students were shot, two of which did not make it. I wrote about my thoughts and experience a few days after it occurred: The Story of a Mass Shooting Survivor and Anthropologist I’ve…

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  • A Brief Lindbergh Update

    One of my more popular posts of late has been The Fall and Rise of Lindbergh: A Javelina Story. In that post, I tell the story of a javelina in one of the groups that I work with in the Texas Hill Country. In brief, Lindbergh was outcast from their group and I recount the…

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  • The Fall and Rise and Lindbergh: A Javelina Story

    I have been working with javelinas in Texas for nearly a year. My first encounter with them occurred at Big Bend National Park and I have since visited groups all over Texas. The group that I am currently most fond of–partially because they are easiest to hang out with and partially because of the wonderful…

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  • Shadows, Ambiguity, and More-Than-Human Politics

    I am currently working on a manuscript exploring the ways that both literal and metaphorical shadows produce ambiguity in more-than-human communities. In order to be participating members of these communities, we have to find ways to engage in a politics that bridges evolutionary, ontological, and perceptual barriers. I attempt to do so through the ethnographic…

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