Anthropology and the media...

Researchers have a communication problem.

In my previous life, I worked as a public health researcher for an Alaska Native tribal health organization.  As part of my work, I traveled around the state talking to Alaska Native community members and leaders about their experiences with and feelings about medical human subjects research.  While people generally felt that medical research could lead to beneficial advances, people had concerns related to their previous experiences.

While some of these concerns arose from encounters with unethical researchers or research projects with controversial findings, most conversation centered around the lack of communication from researcher to community.  Community members would talk about "mosquito researchers" that would appear during the summer, take blood or samples and disappear, never to be seen again.

While there's been a recognition in the research community that results of studies should be shared in a timely manner, the scientific language of a traditional research report can make it difficult for participants to recognize how their experience giving blood or taking a medication is reflected in those results.  Results of a large project might also come months or even years after the initial experience, long after the participant might remember the details of even a very clear consent form.

As an anthropologist and a member of a highly studied indigenous community, I've spent a lot of time dwelling on how to best keep lines of communication open with my interlocutors.  It's one of the reasons I've taken courses in ethnographic film and radio production.  I don't think I've got the answers yet, but I'll be working with a group of students in the next six weeks in a one credit course to look at the relationship of anthropology and the media.

We'll be playing with different ethnographic and media methods like photovoice, which combines traditional interview/focus group methods with participant produced photographs, podcasting, which can be a low tech way of putting together a compelling audio story, and digital storytelling, which uses photos and audio to craft messages.  These methods can be used in anthropology, health, marketing, communication, and multiple other formats.  They're also pretty fun!

I was on the radio this morning to talk about the class, which I hope might bring me closer to my goal of being a good communicator and not a mosquito researcher.

Listen to the interview here.

Intertidal foods - the gourmet bounty of the sea!

Though the environment around Ketchikan has been subtly changing over the past 10 years, traditional intertidal foods like gumboots, sea cucumbers, seaweed, limpets, beach asparagus, herring eggs can still be found in relative abundance, though not in the same numbers or locations as in the past.  

Gumboots from near Rotary Beach, a bit rubbery but full of iron and abundant!

Gumboots from near Rotary Beach, a bit rubbery but full of iron and abundant!

As part of my research project, I've been auditing a course that brings together biologists, anthropologists, and traditional food experts.  These past three weeks, we've been enjoying a variety of beach foods starting with gumboots, pictured in the top image, to a full multi-course meal including beach asparagus spring rolls, deep-fried seacucumbers, black seaweed fried rice, and halibut sweet and sour soup.  

While the people in the class have been invaluable in helping me think through my project, I must admit the food is a huge plus.