The SfAA Podcast Archive

Interview: Amelia Fiske

UNT anthropology students Ricardo Carrera del Valle and Natalie White sat down with 2026 Margaret Mead Award recipient Amelia Fiske to discuss her new book, Reckoning with Harm: The Toxic Relations of Oil in Amazonia. Recorded on March 20 at SfAA in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Interview: Michael Paolisso

UNT anthropology students Eva Perez Zepeda and Radhika Lade spoke with Michael Paolisso, recipient of the 2025 Sol Tax Award for Distinguished Service, about his career in natural resource management and applied anthropology. Recorded on March 19, 2026 at SfAA in Albuquerque, NM.

Interview: Robert Rubenstein

UNT anthropology students Natalie White and Radhika Lade sat down with Robert Rubinstein, recipient of the 2026 Sol Tax Award for Distinguished Service, about his work bringing an anthropological lens to the field of international peacekeeping. Recorded on March 19, 2026 at SfAA in Albuquerque, NM.

Interview: Roberto Alvarez

UNT anthropology students Eva Perez Zepeda and Ricardo Carrera del Valle sat down with 2026 Malinowski Award recipient Roberto Alvarez to discuss his life, his work on the border, and the future of anthropology. Recorded on March 19, 2026 at SfAA in Albuquerque, NM.

Scaling Ethnography for Policy and Practice: What Works and Lessons Learned: Part II

CHAIR: MORRIS, Richard W. (MGI) SINGH PUNI, Tirath and MILLER, Christine (SCAD) Breaking Barriers: Applying Ethnographic Tools and Service Design to Integrate Community-Based Research in Medical Education HERMANNS, Kwela (SCAD) and GAGE, Marty (Lextant) What Industry and Education Really Want: Lextant & SCAD Partnership on User-Centered Design Research Training MORRIS, Richard W. (MGI) Towards a Method for Scaling Ethnography by Integrating Anthropology and Engineering DISCUSSANT: EDBERG, Mark (GWU)   For centuries ethnography has offered insights into culture, human behavior, language, social systems, and technology. Yet, they have often encountered barriers in translating their findings into policy and practice. In contrast, other disciplines (engineering and medicine) have proven methods for moving know-how into practice. Here the transfer of ethnographic findings into practice will be treated as a problem of scaling to practice, i.e., showing what applies to one or a few may also apply to many. Participants will report lessons learned and what works from their direct experience in scaling ethnography for business, education, public health, and product development.   SINGH PUNI, Tirath and MILLER, Christine (SCAD) Breaking Barriers: Applying Ethnographic Tools and Service Design to Integrate Community-Based Research in Medical Education. This study examines how ethnographic tools, applied through the lens of Service Design, can assist the medical school leadership of a satellite campus of a state university medical school to redesign their curriculum to incorporate community-based participatory research (CBR). By using mixed methods approaches such as contextual interviews, surveys, and co-creation workshops combined with journey mapping and blueprinting, the leadership can develop actionable strategies to integrate community research, fostering a deeper connection between academic structures and community needs. This approach highlights the potential for scaling ethnographic insights to reform curricula and educational institutions training future medical doctors.   HERMANNS, Kwela (SCAD) and GAGE, Marty (Lextant) What Industry and Education Really Want: Lextant & SCAD Partnership on User-Centered Design Research Training. A collaboration between SCAD and Lextant resulted in 1) curriculum re-designs to reflect actionable research and analysis approaches developed by Lextant in-house, 2) the creation of a textbook and 3) a stand-alone Certification in Design Research & Insight Translation for students. The session proposal falls into the panel’s focus on Educational Policy and Practice: Scaling ethnographic insights. The collaboration included shadowing and on-site participatory co-creation. The resulting curriculum redesign enables students to contribute to real-world problem solving in diverse sectors. This large-scale learning intervention constitutes a unique education / industry partnership within the US.   MORRIS, Richard W. (MGI) Towards a Method for Scaling Ethnography by Integrating Anthropology and Engineering. Here the author will identify recurring themes and assess them through the lenses of applied anthropology, praxis theory, and the Engineering Design Process (EDP), i.e., identify a problem, research solutions, pick the optimal solution, build a prototype, test-evaluate, implement pilot solutions, monitor and redesign (as needed), expand what works. Drawing from cognitive anthropology and discourse analysis, the author will evaluate the methods for scaling according to expressivity, precision, accuracy, relevance, endogenous acceptability, exogenous validity, and reduction to practice. He will propose a method for scaling ethnography to policy and practice. Speakers * Richard Morris [https://whova.com/embedded/speaker/-vHpg428p-DFDYnXBdAr7-aF6aMf80mNKMRgKNKHhnk%3D/45345510/], MGI * Kwela Hermanns [https://whova.com/embedded/speaker/-vHpg428p-DFDYnXBdAr7-aF6aMf80mNKMRgKNKHhnk%3D/45345593/] * Christine Miller [https://whova.com/embedded/speaker/-vHpg428p-DFDYnXBdAr7-aF6aMf80mNKMRgKNKHhnk%3D/45345511/], Savannah College of Art and Design, Professor of Design Management * Mark Edberg [https://whova.com/embedded/speaker/-vHpg428p-DFDYnXBdAr7-aF6aMf80mNKMRgKNKHhnk%3D/45345246/], George Washington University, Professor