Welcome to the 2015 edition of the Summer Syllabus™. For those who came in late, this is my wrap up of the most interesting things I read online over the past twelve months. This year’s list is really long, for some reason. Next year I promise to be more selective. Looking back I can pick out a few themes that have caught my attention this year but which I wouldn’t necessarily have predicted: cultural appropriation, nerd hubris (still! see last year), capitalism and public anthropology. I’ve also been fascinated by the various college-based social justice movements that are emerging on some US campuses that I suspect nobody really understands regardless of where they sit on the political spectrum or how much insider conviction they bring to their arguments.

My reading recommendations are not an endorsement of the opinions contained within – if a piece of writing makes me think about an issue in a different way then I may included it even if it also makes my blood boil. And if you read nothing else on this list, I recommend you have a look at: God Tier: Facebook moms run the meme game, The Chinese Lingerie Venders of Egypt, and The 40-Year-Old Reversion.