Bridging anthropology and its archives: an analysis from the Smithsonian's National Anthropological Archives

TitleBridging anthropology and its archives: an analysis from the Smithsonian's National Anthropological Archives
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2021
AuthorsMarsh, Diana E., Joshua A. Bell, Candace Greene, and Hannah Turner
JournalAnthropology Today
Volume37
Issue2
Pagination19-22
ISSN1467-8322
AbstractMuch has been written about the need to open up archives as part of the decolonial turn and decolonizing methodologies. What does this look like in practice for anthropology? Despite increasing interest in archives and ‘the archival turn’ among anthropologists, our study at the National Anthropological Archives (NAA) found that anthropologists who use archives in their work lack familiarity with organizational principles and histories that would help them navigate and gain access to these records, as well as critique them. Beyond reporting this recent research, we posit that the disconnect between archives and anthropology is not isolated to the NAA or the US, but is pervasive in the discipline. In sharing this work, we hope to inspire other similar institutional moves and to promote archival education and scholarly engagement in anthropology and its training programmes.
URLhttps://rai.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1467-8322.12643
DOI10.1111/1467-8322.12643
Short TitleBridging anthropology and its archives
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