This section of the site is dedicated to the research and interests clustered together within the UCL Centre for Digital Anthropology.
Patricia G. Lange, California College of the Arts Mary Douglas, a key figure in the field of anthropology, once famously asserted that in small-scale societies, “the cycling gift system is the society” (Douglas 1990). She was speaking about cultural groups that depended on elaborate systems of reciprocity—or mutual exchangeContinue Reading
By Patricia Lange, California College of the Arts in San Francisco [In this new series, part of the Digital World category, we publish author commentaries on recently published work in Digital Anthropology. First up: Patricia Lange discussing theories of reciprocity in relation to You Tube. Patricia G. Lange is an anthropologistContinue Reading
Yunchang Yang, PhD Candidate, UCL Anthropology On 3rd July 2019, I caught up with UCL Anthropology’s ASSA (Anthropology of Smartphones and Smart Aging) team at a local pub behind Euston Station. Most of the researchers had just returned from fieldwork and started data-sorting and writing. They shared some great stories fromContinue Reading
3- 4 June, 2019, Utrecht University Digitization and the use of social media has dramatically changed most aspects of our everyday practices, perceptions and cause severe changes in Human Mobility (Innes, 2016, Gray, 2018). While the importance and effects of technological innovations in social science research has been increasingly recognized,Continue Reading
Jennifer Fu and Gemma Tortella-Procter, MSc. Digital Anthropology at UCL “What exactly constitutes ‘digital anthropology’?” While the practical projects we worked on may not provide a comprehensive answer to this question (perhaps a ‘comprehensive’ answer doesn’t exist), it provides an idea of the things we care about as digital anthropologistsContinue Reading
Like many other London institutions seeking to shore up against an ever-rising digital tide, the Serpentine Galleries have announced a new annual “Digital Seasons” initiative that will recognize the works of artists working across digital media. Inaugurating this are acclaimed American artists Sondra Perry, whose work occupies the intersection betweenContinue Reading
Joseph Cook -MPhil/PhD UCL Anthropology @josephmcook The following is the transcript from a talk given on Monday 26th February as part of a range of student-led teach-ins and debates at UCL Anthropology. The teach-ins were held in support of the ongoing industrial action by the University and College UnionContinue Reading
The UCL Department of Anthropology has a new position, a lectureship in Digital Anthropology. Open to anyone with a strong ethnographic foundation to their research into the digital. Research areas can include robotics, artificial intelligence, the anthropology of data, social media, consumption, or other emerging topics within the field. For furtherContinue Reading
It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Gill Conquest on May 5, 2017. Gill was an exceptional student and an exceptional person. Her interests were broad-ranging, extending well beyond the academic through performances of traditional stories and pantomimes, to writing plays and science fiction, sailing andContinue Reading
Hannah Knox, UCL Anthropology When I was an undergraduate at the University of Manchester in the late 1990s I recall being introduced by John Gledhill to something called ‘Experience Rich Anthropology’. Established by the anthropology department at the University of Ken, the ERA project was an early attempt to useContinue Reading
Jamie Cross, University of Edinburgh Call for Contributions (max 300 words) In: Cultural Anthropology / Theorizing the Contemporary Our lives with electric things are positively charged with meaning. Our bodies are electric, our hearts and minds pulsing with electrical activity. Electric things have hope and anxiety, possibility and danger. OurContinue Reading