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Training

Table of contents

Introduction 0 Why Write for the Public? 1 What to Expect, from Pitch to Publication 2 How to Write a Pitch 3 How To Tell a Great Story, Part 1: Structure 4 How To Tell a Great Story, Part 2: Style 5 Navigating Ethics and Reducing Harms 6 Habits of Thriving Public Anthropologists 7 Cultivating the Craft of Writing 8

Table of contents

Introduction 0 Why Write for the Public? 1 What to Expect, from Pitch to Publication 2 How to Write a Pitch 3 How To Tell a Great Story, Part 1: Structure 4 How To Tell a Great Story, Part 2: Style 5 Navigating Ethics and Reducing Harms 6 Habits of Thriving Public Anthropologists 7 Cultivating the Craft of Writing 8

Teaching

The Problems With Coming of Age

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Unit 5

Samoan Voices

Three young men stand on a beach, wearing island-style shirts.

In this unit (to accompany SAPIENS podcast S6E3), students will compare the different responses of Samoans to Margaret Mead’s work and her publications on American Samoa. Using Mead as a guide, students will examine how “outsider” anthropologists study cultures different from their own and the significance this has on global views of those societies. Students will examine how Samoans, being the “insiders” in their culture, viewed Mead’s outsider perspective and the conclusions she drew. This concept of outsider and insider will be further examined to explain how conclusions made by Western outsiders shaped the global view of non-Western cultures.

Learning Objectives

Compare the different responses Samoans had to Margaret Mead’s work.
Inspect how outsider anthropologists represent the Other and the consequences of this on global views.

Sapiens articles

A photograph features the corner of a large bookcase filled with books. The books’ various multicolored covers evoke patterns common on African wax print fabrics.

Can Anthropology Be Decolonized?

Deborah A. Thomas and Kamari Maxine Clarke

In recent years, anthropology has increasingly reckoned with its colonial and racist roots. In a special forum, scholars weigh in on what “decolonizing” means—and share their visions for the future of the field.

A black-and-white photo features a man and child sitting next to another man who sits cross-legged and takes notes. Behind him, a woman also takes notes.

Unsung Native Collaborators in Anthropology

Anthropologists such as Franz Boas and Margaret Mead could not have achieved success without their local assistants’ insider knowledge and extensive labor.

Keywords

View All in Heritage

The ruins of a gray stone building stand below a cerulean sky with fluffy white clouds.

essay / Standpoints

How Colonialism Invented Food Insecurity in West Africa

Archaeological evidence and Oral Histories show people in what is today Ghana lived sustainably for millennia—until European colonial powers and the widespread trade of enslaved people changed everything.

A black painted hand covered in red paint holds a skull figure decorated with floral patterns in shades of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. Painted white with black accents to resemble a skull, the face—and also gray hair and flower headband—of the person holding the skull are blurry in the background.Cindy Ord/Getty Images

poem / Phenomenon

Harvest Song

Durba Chattaraj

A poet-anthropologist celebrates relatedness across difference in a poem that honors the festivals of Navratri, Durga Puja, Kali Puja, Day of the Dead, and Halloween—all of which draw on otherworldly connections and mysteries.

Massive vertical and horizontal stones stand in a field at night, with the sliver of a silver moon above.

essay / Unearthed

The Distant Origins of a Stonehenge Stone

Nicholas Pearce, Richard Bevins, and Rob Ixer

After two decades of research, scholars find that Stonehenge’s giant Altar Stone came from northeast Scotland.

Dozens of papers with text on them are punctured and strung horizontally on wires.

poem / Human Rights

Archived Haints

SAPIENS’ 2024 poet-in-residence conjures the voices of those imprisoned in archives.

An ancient circular stone structure lies exposed under the ground surface. In the distance, light-red and tan mesas and flat desert expanses lie under a piercing blue sky with scattered fluffy white clouds.

interview / Counterpoint

Digging Into an Ancient Apocalypse Controversy From a Hopi Perspective

When producers for a popular Netflix series sought a permit to film on public lands in the U.S. Southwest, many Native leaders objected. A Hopi tribal official, Stewart B. Koyiyumptewa, shares his views.

Amid a rocky landscape, a grove of gnarled olive trees stands under a nearly cloudless blue sky.

poem / Expressions

Griko’s Poetic Whisper

Manuela Pellegrino

In two poems, an anthropologist speaks to the timelessness and constant change of the minority language Griko in the Italian landscape.

View All in Politics

A photo shows the back of a person in a dark suitcoat standing at a podium and speaking to a large, captive, seated audience. Most onlookers wear red MAGA hats and Trump T-shirts.

essay / Standpoints

Five Reasons Why Trump Won Again

In an effort to address toxic polarization in the U.S., an anthropologist of the “Trumpiverse” explains MAGA supporters’ thinking in the 2024 U.S. presidential election.

Two pairs of scissors, two rocks, and two slips of paper rest on a pale-yellow surface.

essay / Field Notes

Playing Rock, Paper, Scissors Across the Red-Blue Divide

As toxic polarization deepens in the U.S., some global conflict prevention experts are now addressing political violence at home. An anthropologist shares three key insights from a community action program in Wisconsin.

A close-up view features an art exhibit composed of multiple photographs arranged side by side. The photos show people riding a horse, receiving medical care, and speaking at a women’s event.

essay / Crossroads

Fighting for Reproductive Rights in Retirement

An anthropologist conducts research in an Arizona retirement community, where older women share hard-won insights about how limitations on sexual and reproductive freedom impacted their lives.

A woman’s legs and a man’s leg are shown against the backdrop of a stage where red, white, and blue colors are prominent. The man wears a black cowboy boot and black pants. The woman wears a cream-colored skirt and dark-blue high heels.

column / Viewpoint

The Shortcomings of Height in Politics

Why is height a focal point for some politicians? An anthropologist explores the significance of height—explaining how cultural perceptions influence and distort political dynamics in the U.S.

Amid a political rally where red, black, and green colors are prominent, a smiling woman wearing glasses, a khaki shirt, and a black headscarf holds aloft a sketch of a person’s face that says, “Khan Is Hope.”

essay / In Flux

The Rise of Aunties in Pakistani Politics

Middle-class, conservative women in Pakistan have found a political voice as supporters of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party—putting them at odds with the secular women’s movement their own daughters support.

A dark shelf leaning against a wall covered in gold-tinted wallpaper displays the personal items of a missing loved one, including a portrait of the person dressed in a black suit and tie, a photograph, a red plastic hard hat, and books.

essay / Wayfinding

For Families of Missing Loved Ones, Forensic Investigations Don’t Always Bring Closure

An anthropologist working in Azerbaijan looks beyond forensic science to understand the value of culturally specific ways people navigate uncertainty in protracted conflict zones.

View All in Science

An ape-like mannequin, with protruding facial features and a body covered in fur, stands in a museum exhibition under dramatic lighting. Next to it, a text panel starts, “The human story begins.”

essay / Origins

Lessons From Lucy

Fifty years ago, the remains of an Australopithecus afarensis ancestor, named “Lucy” by archaeologists, rewrote the story of human evolution.

A dark shelf leaning against a wall covered in gold-tinted wallpaper displays the personal items of a missing loved one, including a portrait of the person dressed in a black suit and tie, a photograph, a red plastic hard hat, and books.

essay / Wayfinding

For Families of Missing Loved Ones, Forensic Investigations Don’t Always Bring Closure

An anthropologist working in Azerbaijan looks beyond forensic science to understand the value of culturally specific ways people navigate uncertainty in protracted conflict zones.

A stone figure with the body of a seated lion and the head of a person wearing a headdress sits in the foreground with a large stone pyramid towering in the distance.

op-ed / Viewpoint

Why I Talked to Pseudoarchaeologist Graham Hancock on Joe Rogan

An archaeologist explains his motivations and strategies for appearing on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast with a purveyor of misinformation about the ancient past.

essay / In Flux

Excavating the Coexistence of Neanderthals and Modern Humans

An archaeologist explains how remains recently recovered from a cave in present-day Germany suggest that Neanderthals and modern humans populated Europe together for at least 10,000 years.

In a dark and rainy forest, a large Tyrannosaurus rex stares into a green car with its headlights on. The car has a yellow and black graphic on its hood with text that reads, “Jurassic Park.”

essay / Lab Bench

Celebrity Status Almost Ruined Ancient DNA Research

Cecilia Padilla-Iglesias

An evolutionary anthropologist draws lessons from paleogenetic’s journey from Jurassic Park fiction to Nobel Prize reality.

On a paved city street fenced off and lined with people, three people wearing colorful clothing stand and hold signs. These read: “Monogamy is not for everyone,” “I love my girlfriend’s boyfriend,” and “Sharing is Caring.”

op-ed / Human Nature

What Is “Natural” for Human Sexual Relationships?

A biological and anthropological researcher explains how humans' diverse ways of mating might have evolved.

Glossary

Emic

An approach where an anthropologist studies a culture from inside the culture; also known as the insider perspective.

Etic

An approach where an anthropologist studies a culture from outside the culture; also known as the outsider perspective.

Multivocality

Meaning “many voices”; an approach in anthropology that emphasizes the voices of experts from different ethnicities, genders, classes, etc.

Professor Talking Points

Mead asked, “Are the disturbances which vex our adolescents due to the nature of adolescence itself or to the civilization? Under different conditions, does adolescence present a different picture?” Discuss the conclusions Mead drew based on these questions. Ask students if they believe the “disturbances” are because of nature or civilization and to expand on their answers.
Many Samoans have not read Mead’s or Derek Freeman’s writings, yet they have opinions on the conclusions of both anthropologists. Discuss why some Samoans may be unfamiliar with these works, and why others may have chosen to not read them. More broadly, discuss the problems of drawing conclusions based on hearsay.
Discuss the problems of categorizing a culture based on an outsider’s writing about the culture and compare Mead’s and Freeman’s conclusions and the methods they used to reach them.
Many Samoans rejected Mead’s conclusions and were upset after hearing what was written about them. Mead wrote about what she saw as less restrictive attitudes around sex and sexual conduct in American Samoa compared with those in Western cultures. Some Samoans argued that Mead neglected to examine the ceremonial importance of virginity in some sectors of Samoan society. Discuss how two opposite claims can be made about the same culture. Discuss how being an insider (emic) or an outsider (etic) can influence perspective.
Both Mead and Freeman used Samoan society as the basis for their research, but the voices of native Samoans were missing from the debate. Based on chapter nine in Paul Shankman’s 2009 book The Trashing of Margaret Mead and the SAPIENS podcast on Mead, discuss some of the reactions by Samoans to the anthropologists’ works and how they categorize adolescence and the adolescent experience on their island.

Academic Articles

Miller, Daniel. 2020. “How Can Anthropological Research Impact the Populations It Studies? Six Steps for Creating Inclusivity and Accessibility with Ethnographic Monographs.” Impact of Social Sciences (blog), August 18.
Naaeke, Anthony, Anastacia Kurylo, Michael Grabowski, David Linton, and Marie Radford. 2011. “Insider and Outsider Perspective in Ethnographic Research” Proceedings of the New York State Communication Association 2010 (9).
Pink, Sarah, and Vaike Fors. 2017. “Ethnography, Stakeholders, and Audiences: Toward Openness and Inclusivity.” Sociological Research Online 22 (4): 169–173.
Shankman, Paul. 1996. “The History of Samoan Sexual Conduct and the Mead–Freeman Controversy.” American Anthropologist 98 (3): 555–567.

Student Discussion Questions

What does it mean to be an outsider anthropologist? What are the benefits of an outsider anthropologist studying another culture? What are the disadvantages?
How did Samoan people react to Mead’s published work?
How has Mead’s work and writing influenced the West’s view on Samoa and the Samoan people?
Who gets to tell the story of a people? Whose voices are elevated, and whose are often buried? What effect does that have on the story?

Activities

Create a Venn diagram to compare at least two Samoan responses to Mead’s writing.

Create a trifold to compare three Samoan responses to Mead’s work.

Write an essay comparing Mead’s ideas with the Samoan people’s response to her ideas.

Who should tell the story? Write an argumentative essay explaining who should write about a culture and why. Explain the perspective of an outsider anthropologist and discuss why you think they should or should not be the one writing about a culture different from their own.
Describe how Samoan culture was viewed globally based on anthropological research about it. Include Mead’s perspective.

Slides

Infographic: “Samoans’ Responses to Mead’s Work”

Presentation: “The Voices of Samoans”

Additional Resources

Article: New York Times’ “Samoan Leader Declares ‘Both Anthropologists are Wrong’”
Book: Paul Shankman’s The Trashing of Margaret Mead
Exhibition: Library of Congress’ Margaret Mead: Human Nature and the Power of Culture

Videos

Unit By

Jasmine Rubel, Freedom Learning Group

The Problems With Coming of Age

Positioning the Anthropologist

Two legs in flipflops hang off a cliff, taken from the perspective of the person sitting there. The ocean is soft focused in the distance. The overall effect is topsy-turvy.