Geographical Areas of Specialization: Mexico
Topical Interests: Nationalism, anthropology of dance, anthropology of the arts, popular theater, ethnic identity, structural anthropology, anthropological writing
Current Courses: E200 Social and Cultural Anthropology, E460/E660 Dance Gender and Embodies Discourses
Profile:
As an undergraduate at Stanford University I took Introductory Anthropology to fulfill
a distribution requirement. Even though I did not understand all
the many possibilities that Anthropology offered then, I declared
it my major knowing that understanding people's lives and their values
had caught my imagination.
At the end of my junior year, I received a Ford Foundation scholarship
to do research for a summer in Mexico on the transition
of dance from village to theatre. That summer I saw the
Isthmus Zapotec of Juchitan, Oaxaca for the first time
at a celebration of music and dance. I was astounded then
by their vibrancy and self-confidence and, after thirty-five
years of fieldwork among them, I continue to be profoundly
impressed by their ability to move with assurance in Mexico
and the world and maintain a powerful sense of themselves
as Zapotec.
My first book, published in Mexico in 1975, explored this theme
of identity, both ethnic and class, among the Zapotec of
Juchitan. I have continued field research and writing about
the Zapotec, dealing with such diverse topics as household economy,
music, fiesta and dance, ethnicity, nationalism and the role of the
intellectual. The Zapotec are an important focus for much of my teaching,
believing, as I do, that ethnography and the intimate knowledge of
a culture is the foundation of Anthropology. I am currently
writing a book about Isthmus Zapotec beliefs about and rituals of
death.
Ethnicity and identity, broadly speaking, have been other longstanding
research and teaching interests. Questions such as how
people define themselves and what contexts help or hinder that process
came out of my work with the Zapotec but I have pursued those issues
globally and comparatively, trying to develop a theoretical base
for understanding those processes no matter what the group. While
macro-level processes are crucial, so are the individual responses
and balancing the two has been a goal for me.
The Anthropology of dance and performing arts brings together my
initial experience as a dancer with my scholarly interest
in what and how dance and the performing arts mean in a
variety of cultures both past and present. Much of my research
and writing lies in this field, first with a foundational
book on the anthropology of dance (1977), then with a more
specialized book on the relationship of movement and meaning in ballet
and mime (1984), and lastly, in a book in press, The Anthropology
of Performing Arts: Artistry, Virtuosity, and Interpretation. My
students are taking the field in new directions both in terms of
theory and in terms of the societies in which they are working.
Field Schools:
Heritage and Cultural Diversity in Oaxaca, Mexico
Selected Publications:
| Books |
|
| Forth Coming |
Becoming an Ancestor: The Isthmus Zapotec Way of Death, under
review, University of Nebraska Press |
| 2004 |
The Anthropology of Performing Arts: Artistry, Virtuosity,
and Interpretation, AltaMira Press (date of publication May
2004) |
| 2002 |
Chronicling Cultures: Long-term Field Research in Anthropology,
co-editor with RV Kemper, AltaMira Press. |
| 1984 |
Movement and Meaning: Creativity and Interpretation in Ballet
and Mime . Bloomington: Indiana University Press. |
| 1982 |
Ethnic Identity: Strategies of Diversity . Bloomington: Indiana
University Press. |
| 1977 |
The Anthropology of Dance. Bloomington and London: Indiana
University Press (American Dance Guild Book Club selection for
January, 1982) (reprinted 2000, with new introductory chapter
by DanceBooks, Ltd.) |
| 1975 |
Prestigo y Afiliación en una comunidad Urbana: Juchitán,
Oaxaca. (Serie de Antropologia Social #37) Mexico, D.F.: Instituto
Nacional Indigenista. (reprinted in 1991) |
| Articles |
|
| 2002 |
With RV Kemper, " El Proyecto Etnografico y la Teoria
Antropologico," in Homenaje por el Profesor Fernando Camara
Barbachano, Mexico , DF, INAH Coleccion Cientifica, pp.139-148.
|
| 2002 |
With RV Kemper, "Cuestiones Eticas para los antropologos
sociales en Mexico : Una perspectiva norteamericano a lo largo
plazo," Boletin, Colegio de Etnologos y Antropologos Sociales,
A.C., #4, Mexico DF, CEAS, pp.2-11. |
| 2002 |
"Learning to See, Learning to Listen: Thirty Years of
Fieldwork with the Isthmus Zapotec," in Chronicling Cultures:
Long-term Field Research in Anthrpology, eds. RV Kemper and
AP Royce, AltaMira Press, pp8-33. |
| |
Poetry published in Qualitative Inquiry (2002, 2004) and in
the anthology A Linen Weave of Bloomington Poets (2002) |
| 1998 |
With Robert V. Kemper, "Finding a Footing on the Moral High
Ground: Connections, Interventions, and More Ethical Implications,"
Human Organization 57 (3): 328-330. |
| 1998 |
"Commedia dell' Arte," in Encyclopedia of Folklore and Literature,
in press. pp.135-138 |
| 1996 |
"A Just Community: Social Implications of NAFTA," Keynote
address presented at the Congreso Internacional sobre lós
impactos del Tratado del Libre Comercio en la Educación,
Puebla, Mexico, Universidad Madero, proceedings in press. |
| 1992 |
"Music, Dance and Fiesta: Definitions of Isthmus Zapotec Community,"
Latin American Anthropology Review 3: 51-60, 1991. |
| 1990 |
"Ethnicity, Nationalism, and the Role of the Intellectual,"
Ethnicity and the State , Judith Toland and Ronald Cohen, eds.
Volume IX, Political Anthropology Series. Transaction Press,
New Brunswick, N.J. and Oxford, UK. (Fall 1991). |
| 1989 |
"Who was Argentina? Player and Role in the late 17th c. commedia
dell'arte," Theatre Survey 30 (1/2): 45-57. |
| 1986 |
"The Venetian Commedia: Actors & Masques in the Development
of the Commedia dell'Arte." Theatre Survey 27 , (1/2):69-87.
|
