Alisha Winn sits down with Anna and Amber to discuss her path through anthropology and how it brought her to working as an applied cultural anthropologist in blighted historic African-American communities. Winn tackles the thorny topic of gentrification, the subtle yet powerful ways that power and agency are communicated between groups, the importance of determining who benefits from diversity initiatives, where anthropology needs to go in order to be successful in its diversity, advice for those interested in her line of work, and Zora Neale Hurston’s importance as a pioneer of anthropology and the unhealed wounds that still remain from the 1928 Storm described in Their Eyes Were Watching God.

This five-part interview series was made possible by the American Anthropological Association, and all interviews took place during the 117th Annual Meeting, held November 14-18, 2018 in San Jose, CA. Check out the rest of the AAA podcast library to find even more great stories from anthropology! https://www.americananthro.org/