So thankful for such (and many more!) wonderful, inspiring people to think with in this crazy world, as we all disperse back to our local contexts 🙏

I followed some fantastic panels discussing the cost /impossibility of religious, theological, political liberty and can't wait to dig anew into the highlighted books by @monaoraby.bsky.social, Beth Hurd, Kirsten Wesselhoefft, Deanna Womack, Valentina Napolitano, @clukasik.bsky.social ...

At Faneuil Hall gift shop, these displays sit next to each other, too. You can buy a "Betsy the colonial girl" sticker book as well as a underground railroad children's playbook, side by side. Which and whose history gets celebrated?

There is some reckoning on the red "freedom trail" with the slave labor and history that enabled white life in the colonies, but it feels like an afterthought - not central. What does #freedom cost, and who carries that cost? What other freedoms are eclipsed in the pursuit of liberty??

On the local level, there are *two* "freedom trails" in @boston.gov, one tracking independence from the British (red), one tracking black heritage and ways in which people assisted others in gaining freedom from slavery (blue). How can they be separate? What does this say about the city/country?

Student feedback:

💥"It's amazing to see what Anthropology can contribute to complex policy issues"

💥"I'm newly inspired to use my anthropological training in the real world"

💥"I understand how anthropologists can mediate in protracted conflict because they can untangle the perspectives"

Students learnt about how human/refugee rights can be instrumentalized by different actors and the way in which legal frameworks structure refugee experiences in a vast array of contexts - particularly through waiting. We thought about whether refugeehood can end for a person/group, and when?

Quote by Caleb Azumah Nelson, Small Worlds. Highly recommend!

@oxfordcsls.bsky.social @uni-konstanz.de @compasoxford.bsky.social @migobs.bsky.social

I also loved this!

- if we interpret the right shift as protest vote, "anti-structure" (there are other interpretations too of course). Here's the full article (paywall hence screenshot above):
www.suedkurier.de/region/kreis...