Prof emeritus: San Jose State’s anthropological censorship a grave mistake for academia
Depicted: Elizabeth Weiss in her controversial Twitter post
It’s not just about free speech; science itself suffers when we prioritize political correctness above good research, says Heterodox Academy’s Dr. Elizabeth Weiss. Weiss (whom SJSU punished for snapping a photo with a human skull) explains local anthropology’s recent ban on pics of human remains—and how it only pushes Silicon Valley’s “non-academics” towards pseudoscience.
Biological anthropology and archaeology are facing a censorship crisis that is being driven by professional associations, academic journals, museums, and universities.
Biological anthropologists have used photos and radiography of skeletal remains and mummies to explore disease patterns of past peoples, teach new methods of age estimation and sex identification, and entice new students to the field. Archaeologists use photos of artifacts to allow comparisons with other artifacts to help reconstruct past cultures and explore topics such as peopling of the Americas, prehistoric trade patterns, and the emergence of new technologies.
Yet, in the last few years, photos of human remains and artifacts have been censored. For instance, the guidelines for the Society for American Archaeology and all its journals state, “Out of respect for diverse cultural traditions, photos of full or explicit human remains are not accepted for publication in any SAA Journal.” They add that “Blind drawing or other renderings of human remains may be an acceptable substitute for photographs.” In other words, they also may not be acceptable. …
Just 10 years ago, my cover for Paleopathology in Perspective was so popular that the poster was taken from the book room for the Society of American Archaeology conference. Then, a few years later, the same society wouldn't allow my publisher to buy advertisement space if it used the cover of my book Reading the Bones. Now, even realistic images of human remains are shunned. …
[T]his Society for California Archaeology states that no depictions of the remains of any specific person, regardless of ancestry, are to be included in any presentation—including photographs, drawings, X-rays, 3D models, etc. So forget about showing any historic figures such as the mummy of Lenin, the death mask of Ishi, or the skeletal remains of Joseph Merrick. …
And the American Anthropological Association has decided that images and digital materials are to be treated as parts of bodies and thus [are] not to be published in any public spaces such as social media. … Journals that were once useful tools to aid in the understanding of bone pathology are now discarding the most important tool of all: images. Bioarchaeology International requires explicit recent permission [from] descendants for use of images of human remains, even if the image has been previously published …
Nearly all anthropology journals have such a policy now. The International Journal of Paleopathology acknowledged that photos are useful, but encourages authors [to replace them] with line drawings. Can a line drawing really do justice to the intricate changes that occur on skeletons as a result of diseases like osteomyelitis or bone infections, osteoarthritis, cribra orbitalia (a sign of anemia), or even the very dental diseases seen sometimes in a single individual?
Institutions are also towing the line to exclude images of human remains. … Cal State Bakersfield's president wrote, “The university is placing a moratorium on the research, teaching, display, imaging, and circulation of human remains and cultural items, including archival material, notes, movies, and data that are potentially subject to NAGPRA and CalNAGPRA.” Universities are acting like these decisions are a result of national and state reburial laws, but these laws do not yet ban the use of images. (0:16–6:55)
By leaving anthropology and archaeology devoid of images of human remains and funerary objects, we will learn less about the past. Legacy data will not be allowed for comparative research, and our next generation of forensic anthropologists will be poorly trained.
Non-academics who believe normal human variation is a result of supernatural visits or early alien invasions will continue to use interesting images and pull young people towards pseudoscience and religion rather than science that can truly help them understand the world around them.
And don't expect censorship of anthropology and archaeology to stop with new publications of human remains. I have no doubt, previously published materials will disappear. University of Florida Press removed photos from an essay on skeletal variation that I wrote for them to promote my book three years after they published it on their own blog.
Woke academics want us to give up academic freedom. Once academic freedom is relinquished—and the data, images and all, are in activists’ hands—don't expect new scientific discoveries. Instead, expect woke fairytales arising out of victim narratives. Thank you. (9:14–10:31)
Watch the whole thing here.
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