Welcome to the work bench!

Hello everyone and welcome to the inaugural post of The Anthropological Toolkit! The idea for this blog is something I've kicked around for some time but I finally decided to take the plunge and start it. When I was a student and needed advice on which field camera to use or a voice recorder that was hassle-free, I would always ask around my fellow anthro students and faculty and then scour the web looking for any additional advice I could find. Now that I am a professor... I still ask around and scour the web anytime I need to buy a new piece of equipment or supply. To be honest, I think I enjoy the hunt. :)

I imagine this blog as multi-faceted containing posts about the kinds of tools I use in my anthropological research and teaching and new tools as I find them. One of the things I appreciate about the word tool is that it has both literal and metaphorical meanings. Of course, it includes things like physical tools, equipment, and supplies. But tool also carries a more abstract meaning-- methodological and theoretical tools such as ideas for breaking the ice and building rapport or ways to structure a class discussion. My hope is that over time, other voices will be added to the blog to bring additional perspectives.