Anthropologists like to quote the saying, “it would not be a fish that would discover water.” In order to know more about ourselves and our culture, we have to encounter people who are very different from us. Anthropology is the study of humankind, past and present, that draws and builds upon knowledge from social and biological sciences, as well as the humanities and the natural sciences. 

You’re invited to hear Dr. Michael Wesch speak about digital anthropology at 7 p.m. Friday, April 4, in the Community Room. Dubbed "the explainer" by Wired magazine, Michael Wesch is a cultural anthropologist exploring the effects of new media on society and culture, including the culture at Meadowlark Hills.

Dr. Wesch will introduce anthropology by sharing stories from his research in Papua, New Guinea, where he studied a remote indigenous culture for eight years. The purpose of such exotic anthropological research is not just to understand another culture, but also to understand ourselves in new ways. Such research allows us to "jump out of the water" so we can see the culture in which we have been swimming all this time. 

Dr. Wesch will explain the inspiration for asking his students to study Meadowlark Hills and explain some of the key insights and questions that have emerged so far in the research.