The Department of Anthropology partners with the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History and other major institutions to produce collaborative research projects, organize fieldwork and supplement coursework with unique opportunities. The department also contributes 3D printing services to museum exhibits and benefits from curators who serve as adjunct faculty.
IFER is housed in the Department of Anthropology and brings together scholars from the department as well as external institutions to collaborate on intellectual, ethical and practical issues in ethnographic theory and method. Chartered in February 2001, IFER publishes Anthropological Quarterly, a leading journal of sociocultural anthropology. IFER also supports field research and other scholarly activity. The institute is funded by subscriptions, private donations and royalty and distribution partnerships.
IFER Leadership
Director: Richard Grinker
Anthropology Faculty Members: Attiya Ahmad, Joshua Bell, Alexander Dent, Ilana Feldman, Hugh Gusterson, Joel Kuipers, Stephen Lubkemann, Sarah Wagner, Erica Wortham
Mary Jo Arnoldi (Smithsonian's African Ethnology and Arts), Joyce Y. Chung (National Institutes of Health), Igor Krupnik (Smithsonian's Arctic Studies Center), Mary Linn (Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage), William Merrill (Smithsonian's Department of Anthropology), Adrienne Pine (American University Dept. of Anthropology), Paul Taylor (Smithsonian's Asian Cultural History Program) and Susan Terrio (Georgetown University Department of Sociology and Anthropology)
The Institute aims to protect and preserve cultural heritage through advocacy programs and initiatives by utilizing the multitude of diplomatic and governmental resources in the Washington, D.C., area. It also offers an academic setting that provides unique opportunities for students, academics and professionals through lecture series, academic programs and research opportunities. Eric Cline is the director.
Under a cooperative agreement, scholars from GW and the Smithsonian engage in collaborative research. Stephen Lubkemann works with curator Paul Gardullo on an international project to locate, document and secure shipwrecks from the era of the slave trade. Joel Kuipers and curator Joshua Bell study the political ecologies of cell phones and the new cultural patterns associated with their use.
