A podcast from the Chronicle of Higher Education was released today called An Anthropologist Goes Native In a Virtual World, where Tom Boellstorff, an associate professor of anthropology at the University of California at Irvine, discusses his research in Second Life. He is in the process of releasing a book on his work.

[Professor Boellstroff’s Avatar]

The interview explores Professor Boellstroff’s engagements in Second Life along with his thoughts on Virtual Worlds. Professor Boellstroff’s discussion on getting to know a person or avatar is quite fascinating, where he explores how in the real world one gets to know a person outside in, while in the virtual world, they get to know them inside out. He explains how in Second Life there is no pre-judging, where you don’t know if the person is a man or women, 80 or 20 years old, their ethnicity or religion—you are only meeting their avatar, which gives you superior access to a persons intimate self.

Listen to the podcast by clicking here.