Credible Collaborations are Cool

Cool Anthropology is an ever-growing collective dedicated to breaking down walls between the academic ivory tower and communities around the world. We are anthropologists, community members, other academics and researchers, technologists, artists, filmmakers, activists, students of every age, and concerned-in-general seeker-types, working together to tell transmedia stories and solve problems. We produce live and digital installations, promoting embodied experience and deeper learning, and scale our impact with digital companions and curriculum guides. Through a deep focus on collaborative efforts and participatory methods, our works push against the exclusivity of knowledge production. 

Founders

Kristina Baines is an Associate Professor at CUNY, Guttman CC and affiliated faculty at CUNY, Graduate School of Public Health. She can usually be found considering how being on a particular patch of Earth affects our wellness, and she attempts to translate all those convoluted data so that humans can understand, use and, perhaps, even enjoy them. She’s been formally trained in applied, sociocultural, ecological and medical anthropology at Florida Atlantic University (BA, MA), the University of Oxford (MSc) and the University of South Florida (PhD). Her interests include environment + health intersections, ecological heritage, phenomenology and educational anthropology. She has conducted research in Belize, New York City, Los Angeles, Guatemala, Peru and South Florida. In some circles, she is known as the “Corn Lady.” Review a comprehensive list of her academic contributions at kristinabaines.com or communicate with her directly via kristina@coolanthropology.com.

Victoria Costa is usually found considering potential trajectories for cool, critical thoughts about the world and our everyday lives. She has a background in creative direction and web development, and now works as a consultant in the tech industry on programs and projects that address issues of equity, inclusion, diversity and belonging. She also serves on the advisory boards and governance committees of several community organizations, and has a strong interest in permaculture. She was endorsed as an Honorary Anthropologist at a restaurant by the Med Anths in Oxford ten years ago, has attended countless anthropological meetings and conferences since 2004, and is stoked to enable so many brilliant anthropologists to re/consider how ideas are translated and released unto the world. She strongly believes that information must be free for consideration and utilization beyond the closed circuits of our niche communities. Learn more and connect on her LinkedIn or hit her up directly — victoria@coolanthropology.com.