Voices from SAR: A Blog 
Gwinnett County, Georgia: a Microcosm of a National Conversation. SAR Resident Scholar on Immigration, Urban Planning, and Politics
For SAR’s 2018-2019 Mellon Fellow John Arroyo, the hotly contested gubernatorial race in Georgia is more than just a news story passing through his feed. Since July 2016, Arroyo, the MIT-trained urban planner, has been visiting Gwinnett County, Georgia, and researching Mexican immigrant experiences in the region. Arroyo’s timely ethnographic research illustrates the importance of new perspectives based on interdisciplinary research that bridges urban planning with migration studies, Latinx studies, and urban sociology.
SAR Curated. The Gustave Baumann Map of 1927
SAR Curated is a series on the SAR blog exploring the collections, archives, campus, and institutional history. In this edition, the SAR Press acquisition editor highlights a map of the historic campus created by artist Gustave Baumann in the 1920s for the original owners, Elizabeth and Martha White. The map now hangs in SAR’s administration building and visitors can see the piece on campus tours. Schedule a tour by calling 505.954.7200.
SAR Resident Scholar Represents United States in Vatican City Conference on Immigration
William Calvo-Quirós, one of SAR’s 2018-2019 Mellon Fellows, was one of three Americans invited to join 230 global participants in the World Conference on Xenophobia, Racism, and Populist Nationalism in the Context of Global Migration.
Ayahuasca Tourism In Perú: A Tale of Violence and Indigenous Resistance
Abou Farman (Anthropology, The New School) was recently at SAR as a participant in the advanced seminar “Death Culture in the 21st Century,” co-chaired by Shannon Lee Dawdy (University of Chicago) and Tamara E. Kneese (U. San Francisco). Knowing about my interest in Amazonia, Abou passed along information on a recent tragedy in Amazonian Peru that took place not far from the major city of Pucallpa.
A Continued Practice: Pueblo Textile Traditions Highlighted in IARC Tour
On a recent Sunday afternoon at the Indian Arts Research Center, Pueblo weavers Aric Chopito (Zuni Pueblo) and Louie Garcia (Prio Manso Tiwa tribe of Guadalupe Pueblo) and embroiderer Isabel Gonzales (Jemez Pueblo) came together with director Brian Vallo for a guided tour of the collections. The tour followed a panel discussion with the participants for SAR members and the public about the history and revitalization of the Pueblo weaving tradition, as well as the physical, financial, and cultural struggles that these artists continue to face.
The Sound of Prehistory
SAR scholars have pursued many unusual research projects over the decades, but one of the more memorable of recent years was that of Miriam Kolar (Weatherhead Resident Scholar, 2016-2017). Kolar, who received her doctorate from Stanford, is a prominent practitioner of the emerging specialty of archaeoacoustics, which brings together acoustic science and archaeology in an effort to understand how sound was used in used in prehistoric times to coordinate collective activity and, in some cases, to inspire awe during religious rituals.
Climate Change, Skepticism, Scale
On June 1, 2018, the School for Advanced Research and The Nature Conservancy in New Mexico hosted New Yorker staff writer Elizabeth Kolbert at Santa Fe’s Lensic Performing Arts Center. The event drew a capacity crowd of more than 700. Kolbert presented a 30-minute talk that was followed by an on-stage Q&A by Terry Sullivan, director of The Nature Conservancy NM, and SAR president Michael Brown. This event, the title of which was “The Fate of the Earth,” was presented under the auspices of SAR’s annual President’s Lecture.
Are Human Bodies Private Property or Part of a Commons?
Are Human Bodies Private Property or Part of a Commons? Michael F. Brown On Wednesday, April 17, 2018, SAR was pleased to host presentations by Nancy Scheper-Hughes (Chancellor's Professor Emerita, UC-Berkeley) and Òrla O'Donovan (School of Applied Social...
The Great Land–Thomas Michael Swensen post
Katrin Lamon Fellow Thomas Michael Swensen explains his book writing project, The Great Land, which he is completing during his 2017-2018 residency at SAR.
Immigration, Race and Place: Roots and Raices in Los Angeles
Sociologist Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo summarizes the research underlying the book she is writing at SAR, examining the transformation and persistence of communities in South L.A., which has seen a tremendous influx of Latino/a immigration and is no longer predominantly African-American. She focuses on three neighborhoods, on generational differences, and particularly on changing uses of public spaces such as parks.