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Wounds Enable

Examines how trauma—physical and emotional—shapes identity and political resistance in Black urban communities impacted by structural violence.

Crip Camp

A documentary on a 1970s summer camp that fueled the disability rights movement; shows how shared experience and language forge political and cultural identity.

Shadows & Illuminations

Explores how mental illness is understood and treated in Indonesia, offering a culturally grounded perspective on schizophrenia.

“Voices that are More Benign” (Luhrmann & Padmavati)

Highlights how auditory hallucinations are experienced differently across cultures, shaped by local beliefs and social frameworks.

Living Language (Laura ahearn)

Introduces linguistic anthropology, showing how language shapes culture, power, and identity beyond mere communication.

Star Trek: Darmok

Depicts linguistic relativity through metaphor-based alien communication, illustrating cultural assumptions in language use.

High Voltage

Investigates how electricity infrastructure in rural India reshapes cultural, ethical, and political life.

Speaking is Believing (Susan Harding)

Analyzes how evangelical Christian language and storytelling convert outsiders and reproduce social belief systems.

Stalking with Stories (Keith Basso

Examines Western Apache storytelling as a method of moral teaching and embedding cultural memory in place and language.

Lose Your Mother (Saidiya Hartman

A blend of memoir and historical critique that explores the legacy of slavery, diasporic identity, and memory.

White Man Say They Are African (Kamari Clarke)

Investigates how Yoruba diasporic communities construct and contest authenticity and identity in transnational contexts.

Lake of Betrayal

Chronicles the displacement of the Seneca Nation by the Kinzua Dam, focusing on indigenous sovereignty and environmental justice.

Self-Devouring Growth (Julie Livingston)

Critiques the ideology of endless economic growth, using Botswana as a case to show social and environmental consequences.

Clash of Civilizations over an Elevator in Piazza Vittorio (Amara Lakhous)

A satirical novel depicting migration, racism, and identity in urban Europe through multiple perspectives.