EPIC 2013
EPIC 2013 is coming. The Call is out and can be found here. Tickets will be going on sale in March.
Category Archives: Anthropology & Ethnography
What are traditional societies for?
From a great review of Jared Diamond’s book The World until Yesterday, by Wade Davis in The Guardian “Traditional societies do not exist to help us tweak our lives as we emulate a few of their cultural practices. They remind … Continue reading
EPIC – a few pictures
Some pictures of EPIC 2012 which was held in Savannah and which, as co-chair, I am too fatigued to write about but here are just a few of the pictures I took.
Relations and Relatedness
Thanks to the Wayback machine I found an old post I wrote on kinship and social networks from Ideas Bazaar (2004 vintage). I’m in the midst of writing something about big data, and I’m struck by what, at the time of … Continue reading
Why study consumption?
There’s probably no one better placed that Danny Miller to answer this question:
Silence and silos
Couple of years old now but well worth watching in full – Gillian Tett, Managing Editor of the FT in the US addresses the 2010 AAA on “Silence and Silos: The Problems of Fractured Thought in Finance”. 2010 AAA Inno-vent: … Continue reading
Anthropology and the abduction of strategy
I gave a talk last week at a UK UPA event on ethnography in design and innovation. I somewhat subverted the intent of the session by not talking about ethnography but instead focused on anthropology. My argument being that the … Continue reading
Embedded Anthropology: My Talk from the RSA Design Society Event
On Monday I spoke at an RSA event on Embedding Design organised by Emily Campbell as part of the . As I said at the time, saying anything valuable in ten minutes is far beyond my abilities. So here's something you … Continue reading
Book Review: Ethnography and the Corporate Encounter
Ethnography and the Corporate Encounter: Reflections on Research in and of Corporations - Edited by Melissa Cefkin It is now safe to say that the introduction to the story of ethnographic and anthropological praxis within industry has been written. This … Continue reading
The Comfort of Things
I won't even pretend to have read it yet but having looked at two posts about Danny Miller's Book The Comfort of Things, I'll be picking up a copy as soon as I can. In the meantime, two quotes, lifted … Continue reading
Mapping Work
Two rather different maps of work – one a Google map of anthrodesign type people globally. The other a freelancers map of London, with handy hints on all the best places to meet and work called You are Here. At £3 shipped … Continue reading
Wanted: Interns
We're looking for a couple of interns to join the social science research and design team here at Digital Health's Product Research and Innovation team in Ireland. the blurb is below, please contact me if you're interested and send on … Continue reading
What shape are you?
Picture cred – via the fabulous One Letter Pool on Flickr What shape are you? I ask this not to see if you're comfortable with your weight and body, but if you (or your country) is prepared for the future. … Continue reading
Give thanks for think tanks?
Source This can be read as a justification for a plug. The plug is for a series of events that I’m running at the Science Gallery in Dublin, exploring the role of social science in R&D, innovation and job creating … Continue reading
Ageing in Ireland
I've got a book review forthcoming in Ageing and Society – people interested in Ireland, ageing and multi-method social research might be interested in it. Carmel Gallagher, The Community Life of Older People in Ireland, Peter Lang AG, Bern, Switzerland, … Continue reading
Post Scientific Society and R&D 2.0
I've spent the best part of a year on a Foresight Working Group exploring the role of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (AHSS) in the culture, economy and well-being of Ireland. As the year has progressed, and the Celtic Tiger … Continue reading
Neophytes Wanted
Some top secret fun and games are being cooked up for EPIC 2009 and we're looking for people with between 1-3 years experience working as ethnographers in an industry setting. If you fit the bill please drop me a line … Continue reading
Book Review: Doing Anthropology
I've got a book review out in the latest edition of Anthropology in Action (16:1), which is a Special Joint Issue with the Irish Journal of Anthropology. it is a review of Doing Anthropology in Consumer Research – Patricia Sunderland and Rita … Continue reading
Alan Turing eat your heart out…
I've always felt that anthropologists are curiously uncomfortable creatures socially. For a group of people for whom their bodies and selves are their key weapon, or shall we say central mode of knowing, theyare often feel ill at ease in … Continue reading
Midas Touch
In his review of FT, Assistant Editor Gillian Tett's new book Fools Gold, Howard Davies makes the following observation on her 'academic identity': The best journalism, they say, is the first draft of history. There is no doubt that Tett’s reporting … Continue reading