The SfAA Podcast Archive

Interview: Amelia Fiske

UNT anthropology students Ricardo Carrera del Valle and Natalie White sat down with 2026 Margaret Mead Award recipient Amelia Fiske to discuss her new book, Reckoning with Harm: The Toxic Relations of Oil in Amazonia. Recorded on March 20 at SfAA in Albuquerque, New Mexico. 

Interview: Michael Paolisso

UNT anthropology students Eva Perez Zepeda and Radhika Lade spoke with Michael Paolisso, recipient of the 2025 Sol Tax Award for Distinguished Service, about his career in natural resource management and applied anthropology. Recorded on March 19, 2026 at SfAA in Albuquerque, NM. 

Interview: Robert Rubenstein

UNT anthropology students Natalie White and Radhika Lade sat down with Robert Rubinstein, recipient of the 2026 Sol Tax Award for Distinguished Service, about his work bringing an anthropological lens to the field of international peacekeeping. Recorded on March 19, 2026 at SfAA in Albuquerque, NM. 

Interview: Roberto Alvarez

UNT anthropology students Eva Perez Zepeda and Ricardo Carrera del Valle sat down with 2026 Malinowski Award recipient Roberto Alvarez to discuss his life, his work on the border, and the future of anthropology. Recorded on March 19, 2026 at SfAA in Albuquerque, NM. 

Scaling Ethnography for Policy and Practice: What Works and Lessons Learned: Part II

CHAIR: MORRIS, Richard W. (MGI)
SINGH PUNI, Tirath and MILLER, Christine (SCAD) Breaking Barriers: Applying Ethnographic Tools and Service Design to Integrate Community-Based Research in Medical Education
HERMANNS, Kwela (SCAD) and GAGE, Marty (Lextant) What Industry and Education Really Want: Lextant & SCAD Partnership on User-Centered Design Research Training
MORRIS, Richard W. (MGI) Towards a Method for Scaling Ethnography by Integrating Anthropology and Engineering
DISCUSSANT: EDBERG, Mark (GWU)
 
For centuries ethnography has offered insights into culture, human behavior, language, social systems, and technology. Yet, they have often encountered barriers in translating their findings into policy and practice. In contrast, other disciplines (engineering and medicine) have proven methods for moving know-how into practice. Here the transfer of ethnographic findings into practice will be treated as a problem of scaling to practice, i.e., showing what applies to one or a few may also apply to many. Participants will report lessons learned and what works from their direct experience in scaling ethnography for business, education, public health, and product development.
 
SINGH PUNI, Tirath and MILLER, Christine (SCAD) Breaking Barriers: Applying Ethnographic Tools and Service Design to Integrate Community-Based Research in Medical Education. This study examines how ethnographic tools, applied through the lens of Service Design, can assist the medical school leadership of a satellite campus of a state university medical school to redesign their curriculum to incorporate community-based participatory research (CBR). By using mixed methods approaches such as contextual interviews, surveys, and co-creation workshops combined with journey mapping and blueprinting, the leadership can develop actionable strategies to integrate community research, fostering a deeper connection between academic structures and community needs. This approach highlights the potential for scaling ethnographic insights to reform curricula and educational institutions training future medical doctors.
 
HERMANNS, Kwela (SCAD) and GAGE, Marty (Lextant) What Industry and Education Really Want: Lextant & SCAD Partnership on User-Centered Design Research Training. A collaboration between SCAD and Lextant resulted in 1) curriculum re-designs to reflect actionable research and analysis approaches developed by Lextant in-house, 2) the creation of a textbook and 3) a stand-alone Certification in Design Research & Insight Translation for students. The session proposal falls into the panel’s focus on Educational Policy and Practice: Scaling ethnographic insights. The collaboration included shadowing and on-site participatory co-creation. The resulting curriculum redesign enables students to contribute to real-world problem solving in diverse sectors. This large-scale learning intervention constitutes a unique education / industry partnership within the US.
 
MORRIS, Richard W. (MGI) Towards a Method for Scaling Ethnography by Integrating Anthropology and Engineering. Here the author will identify recurring themes and assess them through the lenses of applied anthropology, praxis theory, and the Engineering Design Process (EDP), i.e., identify a problem, research solutions, pick the optimal solution, build a prototype, test-evaluate, implement pilot solutions, monitor and redesign (as needed), expand what works. Drawing from cognitive anthropology and discourse analysis, the author will evaluate the methods for scaling according to expressivity, precision, accuracy, relevance, endogenous acceptability, exogenous validity, and reduction to practice. He will propose a method for scaling ethnography to policy and practice.
Speakers
Richard Morris, MGI
Kwela Hermanns
Christine Miller, Savannah College of Art and Design, Professor of Design Management
Mark Edberg, George Washington University, Professor

Scaling Ethnography for Policy and Practice: What Works and Lessons Learned: Part I

CHAIR: MORRIS, Richard W. (MGI)
BRUNA, Sean (WWU) An Ethnographic Look Inside a Federal‬‭ Initiative‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬
MILLER, Christine Z. and SIGHN PUNI, Tirath (SCAD) Scaling Up: From Small Starts to Big Impacts
TELLIEL, Yunus Doğan (WPI) Translational Anthropology: Scaling Ethnographic Inquiry in‬ Human-Computer Interaction
MORRIS, J.S.K. (UWisc), LOUIS, C.N. (CNL), and MORRIS, Richard W. (MGI) A Tool for Scaling Ethnography to Support Decision Makers in Public Education
ZHENG, Mandy (SCAD) Digitalized Afterlife: A Study on the Management of Digital Preservation
 
For centuries ethnography has offered insights into culture, human behavior, language, social systems, and technology. Yet, they have often encountered barriers in translating their findings into policy and practice. In contrast, other disciplines (engineering and medicine) have proven methods for moving know-how into practice. Here the transfer of ethnographic findings into practice will be treated as a problem of scaling to practice, i.e., showing what applies to one or a few may also apply to many. Participants will report lessons learned and what works from their direct experience in scaling ethnography for business, education, public health, and product development.
 
BRUNA, Sean (WWU) An Ethnographic Look Inside a Federal‬‭ Initiative‬. In this presentation, a Senior Advisor at a federal agency explores the role of scaling from individual subject matter science to national policy and provides recommendations for anthropologists who wish to have their research inform national policy. Using a national initiative he led as a case study, he presents the strategic coordination of various components - research by scholars, national organizations, congress, career staffers, and representatives of multiple federal agencies, among others - to move from individual science to policy. While not ethnographic in the formal use of the term, he argues that the initiative's success stems from the application of ethnographic insights into the “field” of policy.
 
MILLER, Christine Z. and SIGHN PUNI, Tirath (SCAD) Scaling Up: From Small Starts to Big Impacts. This paper explores how student-led multidisciplinary collaborative projects with community actors can scale to have impact far beyond the classrooms in which they were initiated. We argue that applying a transdisciplinary approach that melds theoretical frameworks and methodological practice from anthropology with design’s communicative powers can boost the impact of “classroom projects” to resonate within networks over time. The temporal dimension is important to consider in thinking about scaling. Over time and through the strength of loose ties concepts and practices forged through transdisciplinary perspectives achieve scale in unanticipated ways.
 
TELLIEL, Yunus Doğan (WPI) Translational Anthropology: Scaling Ethnographic Inquiry in‬ Human-Computer Interaction. This paper focuses on challenges and possibilities of scaling ethnographic inquiry in two U.S.-based collaborative projects on human-computer interaction: the development of 1) an algorithm-based resource exchange platform for nonprofits and 2) of a large-scale program on (generative) AI literacy for faculty in higher education institutions. I have collaborated with industrial engineers in the first project and computer scientists in the second. Drawing on my fieldwork in these two projects, the paper shows that ethnographic inquiry can be used to create mobile and adaptable protocols for translation between different types of knowledge within the context of human-computer interaction.
 
MORRIS, J.S.K. (UWisc), LOUIS, C.N. (CNL), and MORRIS, Richard W. (MGI) A Tool for Scaling Ethnography to Support Decision Makers in Public Education. This paper shows how data gathered via participant observation can be refined and strengthened with parallel statistical analysis. An ethnography of STEM education in public schools of Maryland, Texas, and the District of Columbia over a three-year period is presented as the source of observations and potential insights which are in need of refinement and testing. These ethnographic insights are then evaluated in iterative fashion using principal component analysis (PCA), a method of multifactorial statistical analysis which can deepen understanding of context (co-occurrence) and salience (causality). This paper demonstrates how using ethnography and statistical analysis can enhance the conduct of ethnography and enable the transfer of qualitative research findings into practice.
 
ZHENG, Mandy (SCAD) Digitalized Afterlife: A Study on the Management of Digital Preservation. In today's digital age, people have on average 240 online account storing their personal data and information. However, there’s no standardized process for dealing with these digital accounts after death. The increase in online activity has created daunting obstacles in managing and maintaining a user's digital legacy. A systematic solution is urgently needed. This study explores the complexity of and necessity to manage digital legacy through a user-centered design approach. The study aims to raise awareness among users, organizations and society about the importance of digital heritage and to develop an effective, standardized framework for users to manage their digital assets.
Speakers
Richard Morris, MGI
Sean Bruna, Western Washington University, Associate Professor of Medical Anthropology (on leave)
Christine Miller, Savannah College of Art and Design, Professor of Design Management
Yunus Doğan Telliel, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Assistant Professor
J.S.K. Morris
Mandy Zheng

An Interview with Dr. Ralph Bolton

Addressing Cultural Contexts of Health and Wellbeing in Global Health

CHAIR: PAZ LEMUS, L. Tatiana (Vanderbilt U)
PAZ LEMUS, L. Tatiana (Vanderbilt U) Rethinking Childhoods and Childhood Obesity Through a Cultural Contexts of Health Approach
CUJ, Miguel (Vanderbilt U) Feasting on Knowledge: Exploring Guatemala’s Maya Food Groups in a Global Approach
KOSS, Sophia (Vanderbilt U) The Cultural Context of Heat: Addressing Heat in the U.S.
DISCUSSANT: HARVEY, T.S. (Vanderbilt U)
 
This session explores how many obstacles to health and wellbeing are grounded in colonial-legacy frameworks that privilege specialized scientific inquiry and give ‘individual autonomy’ and ‘personal responsibility’ outsized roles in their contribution to health outcomes and life chances. These papers will discuss the application of a Cultural Contexts of Health (CCH) approach to issues such as conceptions of childhood, pain, heat, and nutritional science. Building more just and equitable health futures requires addressing how unresolved colonial legacies in Guatemala, the US, and across the globe impact health and wellbeing.
 
PAZ LEMUS, L. Tatiana (Vanderbilt U) Rethinking Childhoods and Childhood Obesity Through a Cultural Contexts of Health Approach. This paper explores the application of the Cultural Contexts of Health approach to the conceptions of Childhoods and Childhood Obesity in Global Health. Based on the WHO’s Behavioral and Cultural Insights Unit model, the Vanderbilt Cultural Contexts of Health and Wellbeing initiative aims to show how accounting for cultural contexts and lived experiences can help identify upstream sources of health inequalities. In this paper, I aim to map out the colonial legacies in producing scientific knowledge about childhoods and childhood obesity, and the challenges of including medical humanities and children’s epistemologies in public health policy.
CUJ, Miguel (Vanderbilt U) Feasting on Knowledge: Exploring Guatemala’s Maya Food Groups in a Global Approach. This paper explores how the K’iche’ Maya people in Guatemala interact with the country’s food guidelines, regional food policies of classification, and nutritional global classification of food. The nutritional global and regional classification of food also influences recent food patterns of ultra-processed products in Guatemalan Indigenous communities. This biomedical approach dismisses Indigenous epistemologies and ontologies of food which classifies food according to relational taste and context. By analyzing contextual data, observing, and speaking with K’iche’ Maya ixoq’ib’ (women) in their food preparation and consumption practices, this paper highlights the cultural values of appropriate food that go unrecognized in food guidelines designed by global health experts.
 
KOSS, Sophia (Vanderbilt U) The Cultural Context of Heat: Addressing Heat in the U.S. As current heat waves affect different regions of the US, it is necessary to address how these impacts of heat are mostly human-created. As our bodies react to create environments and conditions that make us more vulnerable, exposure to heat can increase disparate health and wellbeing outcomes. This paper explores different angles where a cultural contexts of health approach can provide insights for heat and health policy in the US. By looking at global and local examples, I hope to highlight the potential importance of a cultural context approach to heat and health
Speakers
L. Tatiana Paz Lemus, Vanderbilt Cultural Contexts of Health Initiative, Program & Research Manager
Miguel Cuj, Student
Sophia Koss, Vanderbilt University
T.S. Harvey, Vanderbilt University, Associate Professor of Medical and Linguistic Anthropology

An Interview with Dr. Kelly Fayard

Kelly Fayard
University of Denver
Kelly Fayard is speaking at
(W-132) Preserving Heritage: Voices of the Poarch Band of Creek Indians
March 26, 2025
5:45 pm – 7:30 pm
Grand Ballroom II

Revitalizing Applied Anthropology Through Field Schools: Insights and Advice on Starting and Running Applied/Engaged Field Schools

CHAIRS: ROBERTSON, William (U Memphis) and FLEURIET, K. Jill (UTSA)
ROUNDTABLE PARTICIPANTS: FLEURIET, K. Jill (UTSA), LAMBERT-PENNINGTON, Katherine and ROBERTSON, William (U Memphis)
 
Many students gain hands-on experience and training in applied anthropology through the dozens of field schools offered around the world. Field schools are incredibly helpful for revitalizing applied anthropology because they present the next generation of applied anthropologists with opportunities for reflection on the discipline’s past while they help to build our discipline’s future. This roundtable brings together applied anthropologists who have established field schools around the globe to share insights and advice on how to begin a new field school as well as how to run a field school once it is established.
Speakers
William Robertson, University of Memphis, Assistant Professor
Katherine Lambert-Pennington, University of Memphis Full-time , Director School of Urban Affairs and Public Policy and Associate Professor of Anthropology