Anthropology at Aberdeen

26/08/2026

Congratulations to Emma and Willow on the opening of their exhibition at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, curated as part of their Museum Studies Work Placement.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1491940436307101&id=100064734756828

07/08/2026

Funded PhDs starting in October 2026 are available through the AHRC ‘North Sea Heritage in Transitions’ doctoral focal award, which is a partnership between the University of Aberdeen, Robert Gordon University and the University of the Highlands and Islands. Three projects are supervised by staff in the Department of Anthropology and we are hoping for some strong applications!

• The visual, ecological and creative landscapes built around Nawken (Gypsy/Traveller) stopping places (Supervisors: Prof David Anderson, Dr Michael Stratigos, Dr Jim MacPherson)
• Walking the energy transition: Art, anthropology and heritage at the North Sea coast (Supervisors: Dr Jo Vergunst, Dr Andrew Whitehouse, Dr Jen Clarke)
• Making heritage otherwise: Material lives and afterlives in the North Sea region (Supervisors: Dr Jen Clarke, Dr Jo Vergunst)

Deadline is soon – 29 August.

A national centre for excellence addressing the role of art history, visual arts and creative practice in a region undergoing cultural transition

06/07/2026

We had lots to celebrate last week. CONGRATULATIONS to all our new graduates who received degrees in Anthropology and Museum Studies at Tuesday's ceremony. Well done to you all!

02/06/2026

Great to be launching an anthropologically-informed outdoor learning resource for schools: ‘A Treescapes Curriculum: Learning with local trees and woods’, from Jo Vergunst’s recent project. On Wednesday 3 June 4-6pm we are hosting Aberdeen school teachers at the Cruickshank Botanic Garden to learn more about it. Feel free to pass this on to any of your school / education contacts! More details in the link.

A new toolkit from researchers at the University of Aberdeen reveals how trees in school grounds and nearby woodlands can power learning across the Curriculum for Excellence.

26/05/2026

We are very much looking forward to PeopleFest, the ASA's public anthropology festival, in Edinburgh 29-31 May. Highlights from Aberdeen anthropologists are:

Roundtable on Food Sovereignty led by Peter Loovers, Friday 29 May 11.00
https://theasa.org/conferences/peoplefest2026/events/foodroundtable.phtml

Sounds like Edinburgh: A listening walk through the city and Holyrood Park, Jo Vergunst and Andrew Whitehouse, Saturday 30 May 10.00
https://theasa.org/conferences/peoplefest2026/events/soundslikeedinburgh.phtml

Living in Unprecedented Times roundtable discussion featuring Andrew Whitehouse, Sunday 31 May 14.30
https://theasa.org/conferences/peoplefest2026/events/unprecedentedtimes.phtml

If you’re at the festival please come and join us!

Anthropology of Time Network

07/05/2026

If you're around and on campus tomorrow morning, come to F61 Edward Wright Buildling 10-12. PhD students Maria, Turkhan, Edda and visiting Phd Student Lena will be sharing experiences and reflections from their fieldwork research in Northern Sweden, Mongolia, Brazil and Siberia. Not to be missed!
Department of Anthropology Spring 2026 Post-fieldwork PhD student presentations.
All welcome!

-Maria Nordvall, Tracing Sámi dwellings.
-Turkhan Ajaloghlu. ‘Moving Across Worlds with Reindeer: Dwelling practices of residentially mobile Duha community in the mountainous taiga.’
-Edda Starck, ‘Landscapes of Music: The more-than-human lives and politics of musical instruments’
-Lena Popova (Visiting PhD student, University of Fribourg, Switzerland), ‘Science and Arctic Indigenous knowledge in the Anthropocene in the context of climate change’

And if you can't make it in person, here's the Teams link: https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/326301928446378?p=X0gJjzcINEfjNzgzR3

17/04/2026

Anthropology Masters student, Izzy Fernando, makes the news!

Izzy is working on Samish and Scottish weaving traditions for her dissertation and took part recently in a weaving retreat hosted by and for citizens of the Samish Nation in Skagit County, Washington State, USA.

You can read more about the retreat in this article: https://www.seattletimes.com/life/culture/samish-tribe-holds-first-weaving-retreat-to-unite-tribal-citizens/?fbclid=PAZnRzaARMMWhleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZA8xMjQwMjQ1NzQyODc0MTQAAadDa4ab8Td0jb_pEguFIiDWH6_SCma82eP_w-MLEwMWOxzk-DP72xgJ5o_NgQ_aem_OuBWFsn9FqMeOTd8EAQlQw

The weaving retreat is part of a larger effort to bring tribal members across the region and beyond “home” to their community.

06/02/2026

An inspirational multi-modal artistic methods workshop yesterday as part of our seminar series. 'Sampling Artistic Methods to Decolonize Ethnography' designed by guest anthropologist Michele A. Feder-Nadoff. Experiential and experimental exercises included: drawing, painting, stitching, filming our Edward Wright hallway environment with crayons for rubbing textured surfaces and iphones strapped to our limbs. Fun, but also tied to memory work. Quoting Michele, helping 'participants bond and correspond to each other with care, as fellow-collaborators “compañeros,” rather than as adversarial academic competitors'. Here are a few photos.

17/11/2025

Centre for Images and Texts in Antiquity, University of Aberdeen
Inauguration event

Professor PHILIPPE DESCOLA (Collège de France)

Seminar:
‘Forms of the Visible: Anthropology and Ontology’
Sir Duncan Rice Library, Floor 2, Room 224
Thursday, 20 November 2025
10:00-11:45 am

Lecture:
‘World-making: An Anthropology of Figuration’
Sir Duncan Rice Library, Floor 7, Meeting Room 1
Thursday, 20 November 2025
5:30-6:15 pm
(followed by Q&A and reception)

Registration available at: https://www.abdn.ac.uk/dhpa/events/23113/

08/11/2025

Scottish Arctic Expedition fund. Funding under-30s for different types of excursions. Might be worth a try?