Jonesing for an anthro fix, I attended the public oral defense of my friend Damien’s PhD last Thursday. Hosted in the anthropology department’s lounge on American University’s campus, I got there a bit early and ran into Damien, Bill, Brett, and Apollo. It was so great to see all of them, it’d been ages. I’ve really been pondering my return to anthropology lately, and getting back on campus, in the department, and into a dialogue was really uplifting.

Seeing Damien defend his dissertation, which was on gentrification, grassroots power, and identity in the Columbia Heights neighborhood of DC, was very empowering. He framed his research on power, place, and history, always strong concepts in AU’s department of anthropology. Using ground-up ethnography, participant and observation, and a Marxist class-based approach, he vividly portrayed and analyzed a community and its efforts to maintain, sustain, and grow public space in the midst of economic and social restructuring in the neighborhood. I even got to ask him a question during his defense.

Everyone was emotional when we were invited back in the room after his committee had discussed the defense. He passed! Yay! Very cool to see that happen. This was my first oral defense in anthropology and it really made my day. I’m so glad I was able to attend and be there for him, and to be honest, being there for me too.