“I realized that I profited from studying a group of people, pursing my own interests, my own questions, using my own methods, and (without intending to do so) I was perpetuating a colonial way of doing science that was not there to serve the populations that I studied. And it was a shock to me.”Sausage of Science Episode #71: The Making of Meaning with Dr. Jeff Peterson
“So it’s interesting thinking about with humans and dogs, how they share these ways of making meaning at a semiotic level, at an indexical level…”
Hear more about semiotics, human evolution, and dogs here.
Back in early March I was interviewed by Ted Fox for the With a Side of Knowledge podcast.
South Bend was getting what we all thought would be the last snow of the winter (we are expected to get 3-5 inches of snow tomorrow…April 17th). Spring Break was just two days away, and I had planned a cabin retreat to re-focus my energy on research. An official pandemic would not be declared for another two weeks.
When I returned from that cabin retreat to a different world. The severity of Covid-19 was finally being recognized, Notre Dame made the call to shift to remote instruction, and there was a run on toilet paper.
Listening to my interview now, I feel nothing but gratitude. I am grateful to have opportunities to talk about the work I love. I am grateful to have a job that supports me in doing the work I love. I am grateful for a job that continues to support me working safely from home.
This past month has been filled with difficult transitions, but today this podcast made things a bit easier for me.
I am going to try and be better about posting new podcast episodes!
Here is the most recent one where Dr. Sam Urlacher (Baylor Anthropology) discusses his work among Shuar children. His interview was also the first one we conducted while in quarantine, and so conversation is both insightful and meandering given the wear and tear of isolation.
Chris Lynn and I recently wrote an article for Practicing Anthropology discussing the how and why we podcast for the Human Biology Association. The short and sweet answer is that it is a labor of love. We love what we do and all the amazing people we get to interact with, and we want to share that through the Sausage of Science.
This article also provides a brief road map of how to go about making your own podcast if you are interested. Here is the link the article abstract, feel free to contact me for a pdf. Also, here is a link to the blog post Chris wrote about the article!
