What do you think of when you picture an anthropologist? Is it a suave, Indiana Jones type with a fancy hat and a bad attitude? Perhaps it’s someone in an unfamiliar place, frantically scribbling notes about rites of passage and kinship structures? Or, maybe, you can’t see anyone at all because you have no idea what an anthropologist is or does or why I’m asking you all these questions. Anthropology ̶ ̶ the study of people ̶ ̶ is admittedly amorphous. After all, “people” do a pretty wide variety of things! Luckily, there’s a new group on campus that’s looking to introduce their beloved discipline to the wider undergraduate body: The Harvard Anthropology Club. I spoke to Anne Lheem ‘21, a senior in Anthropology and a representative of the club, to learn more.
According to Lheem, there have been previous iterations of the Anthropology Club that have been discontinued for whatever reason. The movement to start this most recent iteration of the Harvard Anthropology Club was initially spearheaded by Dr. Ieva Jusionyte and a group of Anthropology concentrators including Lheem. After helping the club get its footing, Jusionyte chose to take a back seat, giving students the reins and allowing them to take the club in whatever direction they thought best. Lheem expressed her excitement about the club being student-led saying, “A lot of the ideas and programming will be geared towards what people are interested in and what is wanted from the Anthropology community… we’re doing things that will be helpful and beneficial and fun for undergraduates.”
A lot of the Anthropology Club’s programming this semester will be geared toward students who hope to study or concentrate in Anthropology. Some of the events with a more explicitly academic focus are the “Get to Know Your Faculty” series, which Lheem says will run throughout the Fall, a Q&A event that will be co-hosted with the Anthropology Peer Concentration Advisors, and a book club where members can discuss exciting things they’ve been reading and recommend texts to others.
But the club doesn’t plan to focus solely on academics. According to Lheem, the anthropology building, Tozzer, is a popular social space when campus is functioning normally: “People come in and out…there’s a coffee machine there. There’s usually, like 8/10 times food, just like lying around. It’s honestly just a nice place to stop on by in between classes.” Lheem explained that the club is trying to find a way to replicate that space virtually and facilitate, “just a free-for-all kind of get together for Anthro students, concentrators, and secondary students to get to know each other a little bit more.” The club also plans to co-host a virtual version of the Anthropology department’s annual Halloween event, “Nightmare on Divinity Avenue.” This event provides an opportunity for potential concentrators and members of the department to mingle with each other and eat good food.
While the Anthropology Club is geared toward those with an interest in the discipline, Lheem stressed that you don’t have to be a concentrator or pursuing a secondary to join. She hopes that, “The Anthropology Club can be a place, and space, where people can explore broader interests and really learn what anthropology is beyond the classroom.” She encourages anyone who’s interested to get involved saying, “There’s just a lot you learn by being in a room with other anthropologists. I think anthropologists are some of the coolest, most interesting people.”
If you would like to get involved with the Harvard Anthropology Club, Lheem encourages you to reach out to the club’s faculty advisor Dr. Ieva Jusionyte (jusionyte@fas.harvard.edu) to be added to the mailing list.
Cade Williams ‘23 (cadewilliams@college.harvard.edu) thinks people are worth studying.