Author: wbtd

Scholar and activist, working on anthropology, ecology and Buddhism. Long-term research in ethnobiology of Asian mountain communities and culturally signficant landscapes (e.g. sacred sites, protected areas) and anthropogenic bidoversity (biocultural diversity). Visiting fellow at University of Hamburg.

  • The Wrong Logo

    I was in a supermarket yesterday, on my way back from other errands, buying a few staples. In my hand was a really well made cloth shopping bag from another...

    By Fomenting

  • Literatini

    I’ve been working on the anthropology of literacy, especially in Himalayan Buddhism, since 1989 – my first significant paper at Chicago was on the relationship between manuscript rituals and scholastic...

    By Fomenting

  • Subversion, Conversion and so forth:

    I’m on the train home after an intense conference on using anthropological and design tools to thwart planned obsolescence. Another view of the conference used ThoughtMesh to build a picture...

    By Events, Fomenting

  • Visuals

    I talked for a while today to my friend and colleague Trevor Stack’s class on California—or, to be more accurate, I was the exhibit for the day. Very odd to...

    By Events

  • Holi freezing heck!

    Okay: Bhavana had a great idea. Why shouldn’t the Anthropology Society, who are always up for a ritual, play Holi? The results speak for themself: see this, and this, and...

    By Events