How does one wind up in Northeastern Siberia? Dr. Susan Crate recounts her almost 30 years
conducting research in Russia, a journey that began with an interest in Russian folklore and a
Bridges for Peace trip and resulted in a thirst to learn the Russian language and travel to Siberia.
New Slavix host Lera sat down with Dr. Crate to talk about her research interests concerning
cultural practices, kinship systems, climate change in Northeastern Siberia.
ABOUT THE GUEST: Dr. Susan Crate is a professor of Anthropology in the Department of Environmental Science and Policy at George Mason University. The bulk of her research centers on environmental and cognitive anthropology and human ecology among Viliui Sakha of Yakutia, Northeastern Siberia, but her research on the effects of unprecedented climate change has expanded to Canada, Mongolia, Peru, Wales, Kiribati, and the ever-so exotic Chesapeake Bay. She is the author of Cows, Kin, and Globalization: An Ethnography of Sustainability (2006), the coeditor of Anthropology and Climate Change: From Encounters to Actions (2009) and its second volume, Anthropology and Climate Change: From Actions to Transformations
(2016), and a lead author on Chapter 1 of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s “Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate”. She also stars in The Anthropologist (2015).
From the documentary review by the New York Times: "The film follows Susan Crate, an anthropologist at George Mason University, and her daughter, Katie Yegorov-Crate, as they globe-hop to places where climate change is having a dramatic effect. In Siberia, they see hayfields that are underwater because of the thawing of the permafrost layer. In Kiribati in the South Pacific, they talk to residents grappling with the possibility that their islands will disappear into the sea. (“Right here was the most-populated village on the island,” a man tells Ms. Crate as they stand in water up to the breastbone.)" View the full article here: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/11/movies/the-anthropologist-review.html
NOTE: Episode recorded September 27, 2019 at the University of Texas at Austin.
CREDITS
Supervising Producer: Katya Yegorov-Crate (Connect: facebook.com/furthestconstellationofmysoul)
Associate Producer/Host: Lera Toropin (Connect: www.facebook.com/ltoropin)
Music Producer: Charlie Harper (Connect: facebook.com/charlie.harper.1485 Instagram: @charlieharpermusic Visit him on the web: www.charlieharpermusic.com)
Executive Producer & Creator: Michelle Daniel (Connect: facebook.com/mdanielgeraci Instagram: @michelledaniel86) www.msdaniel.com
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Special Guest: Susan Crate.