The Innovative Anthropologies Lab (InnoAnth) is a learning and research laboratory dedicated to sociocultural and linguistic anthropologies and innovative strategies for doing anthropology with impact.
Being innovative is more than just coming up with new ideas. Innovation is what happens when people take those new ideas and give them life and meaning in their homes, communities, and societies. This means we need more than STEM fields to instigate positive impacts through innovation—we need anthropologists to drive strategies that account for how ideas intersect with our culture and society.
As sociocultural and linguistic anthropologists, we amass richly detailed data about how humans live, how we make decisions, what we value, and how those interact with sociocultural systems of power and meaning, our bodies, our language, and our material environment. We do all this while maintaining a vast perspective on human diversity across time and space.
This gives us the knowledge, methods, and skills to challenge assumptions about what it means to be and live as a human—making us truly innovative thinkers. We are capable of documenting not only what is and why—but what's possible beyond our assumptions.
At Texas State Anthropology, we believe anthropologists have a vital role to play in our communities and societies. We know most anthropologists do not work in academics. So, we teach, train, and provide opportunities for our students to apply anthropology to their careers and passions where ever those may be. The Innovative Anthropologies Lab is a space for undergraduates, graduates, and faculty to learn and experiment with new skill sets, methodologies, and perspectives. We provide professional equipment, a shared knowledgebase, co-working space, and community to inspire, encourage, and support independent learning, research, and experimentation around innovative anthropologies.
Any undergraduate, graduate student, or faculty member at Texas State can apply to be a member of the InnoAnth Lab. To be eligible, applicants should be conducting research in or have an interest in learning about one or more of our core focus areas.
Membership applications are accepted at the beginning of each Fall and Spring semester. Membership can be renewed as long as one has a student or faculty affiliation with Texas State.
Applications are open now for Fall 2024. The deadline is September 8.