Neuroanthropology best anthro blog not ending in ‘Matters’

Like Daniel, I’m at the San Francisco meetings of the American Anthropology Association, where we’ve been busy plotting the future of this site and other projects (more on these soon). But I wanted to stop to thank you all for your support in the voting for the First Annual Anthropology On-line Awards (or whatever the title officially was). Last night, in an awards ceremony that can only be described as soulful and heartfelt, in a hotel lobby surrounded by people who were unaware what was going on, the very good folks from Savage Minds, the ‘papa bear’ of anthropology blogs, gave out their first annual awards. The winners were:

Most Excellent Blog
Runner up: Anthropologi.info
Winner: Culture Matters

Most Excellent OA Journal
Runner Up: Cultural Analysis
Winner: Anthopology Matters

Most Excellent Blog or Journal that does not end in “Matters” (The Category formerly known as Most Excellent Unclassifiable Digital Thingamajob)
Runner Up: Digital Anthropology
Winner: Neuroanthropology

I can’t tell you how proud Daniel and I are (mostly because I don’t really know how proud Daniel is), but my heart swelled to receive the Spinning Pen and to feel the love, especially knowing that we had single-handedly moved the category name itself by our failure to use the word ‘Matters’ in our title (We are considering fixing that and going head to head with the ‘-Matters’ crowd…).

Thanks to you all, our readers, for stuffing ballot boxes, hacking Diebold voting machines, intimidating supporters of our rival blogs, and everything else that you did in our support. I think it’s fair to say that the surge in late voting that came about when Paul posted a brief note about the voting impressed (or ‘mortified’ might be more accurate) the international election observers sent in to make sure that the process was fair.

In all seriousness, I’m really glad that Savage Minds is doing this. They’re taking a really crucial role in promoting on-line anthropology, open access publishing, and a host of other efforts. A lot of our readers wander over from psychology, brain sciences, and other fields, and we welcome you all, but we’re also really pleased to get noticed by other anthropologists. Thanks to Savage Minds for their contribution to the future health of our field and to helping us get more widely noticed within it.

Published by

gregdowney

Trained as a cultural anthropologist at the University of Chicago, I have gone on to do fieldwork in Brazil and the United States. I have written one book, Learning Capoeira: Lessons in Cunning from an Afro-Brazilian Art (Oxford, 2005). I have also co-authored and co-edited several, including, with Dr. Daniel Lende, The Encultured Brain: An Introduction to Neuroanthropology (MIT, 2012), and with Dr. Melissa Fisher, Frontiers of Capital: Ethnographic Reflections on the New Economy (Duke, 2006). My research interests include neuroanthropology, psychological anthropology, sport, dance, human rights, neuroscience, phenomenology, economic anthropology, and just about anything else that catches my attention.

2 thoughts on “Neuroanthropology best anthro blog not ending in ‘Matters’

  1. I’m so confused! Should I be apologetic or happy? What did you guys win? A spinning pen???
    A signed Savage Minds post?
    A case of Arctic Man Deoderant?
    Valuable caches of cowrie shells and dried beans?

    …anyway, I’m glad to hear the AAA session on the Encultured Brain went well! :o)

Leave a comment