Chandra Bhimull’s Empire in the Air awarded honorable mention in two national competitions

Congratulations to Chandra Bhimull (Anthropology and African American Studies) for the recognition of her extraordinary book, Empire in the Air, which has been awarded honorable mention in two national competitions:  the Victor Turner Prize in Ethnographic Writing from the Society for Humanistic Anthropology and the 2019 American Ethnological Society Sharon Stephens Prize. The latter is awarded biennially to a junior scholar’s first book that speaks to contemporary social issues with relevance beyond the discipline and beyond the academy.

“This important topic is in the hands of a poet who has crafted a style of writing that is both exquisite and compelling, revealing the literary dimensions of anthropology,” selection committee member Dr. Shirley Lindenbaum writes. “The committee found [Dr. Bhimull’s] writing poetic and [her] consideration of the intersection of race and state power in the creation of air travel wonderfully imaginative and illuminating,” states Katherine McCaffrey, chair of the selection committee.