July 2009

Dennis B. McGilvray

Professor and Chair

Department of Anthropology, University of Colorado at Boulder

Boulder, Colorado 80309-0233, USA

Office: (303) 492-7198, Home: (303) 449-0501, Fax: (303)-492-1871

Email: dennis.mcgilvray@colorado.edu

Personal

Born:August 16, 1943, in Palo Alto, California.

Married:1973 to Beth McGilvray.  Three children:  Cameron, Grant, & Miriam

Home address:1315 Fifth Street, Boulder, Colorado 80302

Degrees

Ph.D. in Anthropology, University of Chicago, 1974

M.A. University of Cambridge, 1973

M.A. in Anthropology, University of Chicago, 1968

Graduate study in Social Relations, Harvard University, 1965-66

B.A. in Anthropology, Reed College, 1965.  Phi Beta Kappa

Appointments

2009.  Professor of Anthropology, University of Colorado at Boulder.

2006-present.  Chair, Department of Anthropology, University of Colorado at Boulder.

1998-2000, 2004, 2005.   Director, Center for Asian Studies, University of Colorado at Boulder

1989, 1991.  Directeur d'Etudes Associé, Centre d'etudes de l'Inde et de l'Asie du Sud,

École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales.  Paris, France. [2 visiting appointments]

1980-2009.  Associate Professor of Anthropology, University of Colorado at Boulder.

Associate Curator, University of Colorado Museum.  Participating Faculty, Program in

Comparative Literature.

1978-80   Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY

1973-78   University Assistant Lecturer, Department of Social Anthropology,

Cambridge University. Director of Studies, Emmanuel College. Cambridge, England

1972-73  Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology & Anthropology

University of Santa Clara, Santa Clara, CA

Publications

Books

Crucible of Conflict: Tamil and Muslim Society on the East Coast of Sri Lanka. Durham and London: Duke University Press 2008. i-xvii, 426 pp., 57 illustrations, 30 tables. ISBN 978-0-8223-4137-6 (cloth); ISBN 978-0-8223-4161-1 (paper).

Muslim Perspectives on the Sri Lankan Conflict. Dennis B. McGilvray and Mirak Raheem. Policy Studies 41. Washington DC: East-West Center Washington 2007.  i-x, 83 pp.  ISBN 978-1-932728-66-8.

Symbolic Heat: Gender, Health, and Worship among the Tamils of South India and Sri Lanka.  Ahmedabad: Mapin Publishers 1998.  Reprinted 2003.  72 pp.  ISBN 81-85822-52-2.  [American edition, Middletown, NJ: Grantha Corporation.  ISBN 0-944142-87-7]

Caste Ideology and Interaction.  Dennis B. McGilvray, ed., Cambridge Papers in Social Anthropology 9,  Cambridge University Press 1982.  i-x, 255 pp.  ISBN 0-521-24145-6.  (Paperback print on demand 2009).

Books In Progress, edited

Tsunami Recovery in Sri Lanka: Ethnic and Regional Dimensions. Dennis B. McGilvray and Michele R. Gamburd, eds. Forthcoming, November 2009. London: Routledge.

Observing Batticaloa: Dutch Accounts of Eastern Ceylon, 1676-1794.  Dennis B. McGilvray, ed., In preparation.

Journal Articles

“Tsunami and Civil War in Sri Lanka: An Anthropologist Confronts the Real World” India Review 5(3-4): 372-393. July/October 2006.  Special issue on public anthropology.

"Tamil and Muslim Identities in the East," Marga Journal.  New Series 1(1): 79-116. Jan-Mar 2003. Colombo: Marga Institute.  Also available as a softcover booklet, Tamil and Muslim Identities in the East, Marga Monograph Series on Ethnic Reconciliation, No. 24.  ISBN 955-582-087-2.

"Arabs, Moors, and Muslims: Sri Lankan Muslim Ethnicity in Regional Perspective" Contributions to Indian Sociology 32(2): 433-483.  December 1998.

“Tamils and Muslims in the Shadow of War: Schism or Continuity?” South Asia 20: 239-253.  Special issue 1997.

"The 1987 Stirling Award Essay: Sex, Repression, and Sanskritization in Sri Lanka?" Ethos 16(2): 99-127. June 1988.

"Paraiyar Drummers of Sri Lanka: Consensus and Constraint in an Untouchable Caste," American Ethnologist 10(1): 97-115. February 1983.

"Dutch Burghers and Portuguese Mechanics: Eurasian Ethnicity in Sri Lanka," Comparative Studies in Society and History 24(2): 235-263. April 1982.

"Caste and Matriclan Structure in Eastern Sri Lanka: A Preliminary Report on Fieldwork in Akkaraipattu," Modern Ceylon Studies 4: 5-20.  1973.

Chapters in Books  

“Dowry in Batticaloa: The Historical Transformation of a Matrilineal Property System.” In H.L. Seneviratne, ed., The Anthropologist and the Native: Essays for Gananath Obeyesekere.  Florence University Press and Munshiram Manoharlal. In press.

“The Portuguese Burghers of Eastern Sri Lanka in the Wake of Civil War and Tsunami.” Jorge Flores, ed., Re-exploring the Links: History and Constructed Histories between Portugal and Sri Lanka. Maritime Asia 18. Weisbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag 2007. pp. 325-347 + 3 color plates.

"Jailani: A Sufi Shrine in Sri Lanka" in Imtiaz Ahmad & Helmut Reifeld, eds., Lived Islam in South Asia: Adaptation, Accommodation & Conflict. Delhi: Social Science Press 2004.  pp. 273-289.

"Tamils, Moors, and Muslims: Sri Lankan Muslim Ethnicity in Regional Perspective" In T.N. Madan, ed., Muslim Communities of South Asia. 3rd enlarged edition. New Delhi: Manohar 2001. pp. 499-553. (Reprint of 1998 article in CIS v.32.)

"Tamils, Moors, and Muslims: Sri Lankan Muslim Ethnicity in Regional Perspective" Ch. 14 in Veena Das, Dipankar Gupta, & Patricia Uberoi, eds., Tradition, Pluralism, and Identity: In Honor of T.N. Madan. CIS Occasional Studies 8. New Delhi, Thousand Oaks, and London: Sage Publications 1999. pp. 307-357.  (Reprint of 1998 article in CIS v.32.)

"Tamils and Muslims in the Shadow of War: Schism or Continuity?" in Siri Gamage & Ian B. Watson, eds., Conflict and Community in Contemporary Sri Lanka: 'Pearl of the East' or 'Island of Tears'?  Studies on Contemporary South Asia 3.  New Delhi, Thousand Oaks, & London: Sage 1999.  pp. 217-228.   (Reprint of 1997 article in South Asia v.20)

"Households in Akkaraipattu: Dowry and Domestic Organization among the Matrilineal Tamils and Moors of Sri Lanka," in John N. Gray & David J. Mearns, eds., Society from the Inside Out: Anthropological Perspectives on the South Asian Household.  New Delhi, Newbury Park, & London: Sage 1989. pp. 192-235.

"Gandhi as a Moral and Religious Leader: A View from South Asia," in Sanford Krolick and Betty Cannon, eds.,  Gandhi in the "Postmodern" Age: Issues in War and Peace.  Colorado School of Mines Press 1984.  pp. 71-75.

"Introduction," in Dennis B. McGilvray, ed., Caste Ideology and Interaction. Cambridge University Press 1982,  pp. 1-7.

"Mukkuvar Vannimai: Tamil Caste and Matriclan Ideology in Batticaloa, Sri Lanka," in Dennis B. McGilvray, ed., Caste Ideology and Interaction.  Cambridge University Press 1982.  pp. 34-97.

"Sexual Power and Fertility in Sri Lanka: Batticaloa Tamils and Moors," in Carol P. MacCormack, ed.,  Ethnography of Fertility and Birth. London: Academic Press 1982. pp. 25-73.  (Reprinted in 2nd edition, Waveland Press 1994, pp. 15-63.)

Other Publications

"Muslim Folklore, Sri Lanka" in Margaret Mills, Peter Claus, and Sarah Diamond, eds. South Asian Folklore: An Encyclopedia.  New York: Routledge 2003.  pp. 419-423. 

"Sri Lanka, Tamil" in Margaret Mills, Peter Claus, and Sarah Diamond, eds. South Asian Folklore: An Encyclopedia.  New York: Routledge 2003.  pp. 577-578.

CA* Comment on Jonathan Spencer, "Writing Within: Anthropology, Nationalism, and Culture in Sri Lanka."  Current Anthropology 31(3): 295, June 1990.

"A Few Selected Excerpts from my Sri Lanka Fieldwork Diary 1969-1971," Cultural Anthropology Methods Newsletter 1(2): 6-7. November 1989.

"Village Sufism in Sri Lanka: An Ethnographic Report" La Transmission du Savoir dans le Monde Musulman Peripherique: Lettre d'Information 8: 1-12. January 1988.  Programme de Recherches Interdisciplinaires sur le Monde Musulman Peripherique, Centre d'êtudes de l'Inde et de l'Asie du Sud, EHESS, Paris.

"The Matrilineal Viracaiva Priests of Eastern Sri Lanka," Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference-Seminar of Tamil Studies, Madurai 1981. Madras: International Association for Tamil Reseach, 1981. Volume 2, Section 11, pp. 73-84.

"Pukkai," in Jessica Kuper, ed., The Anthropologists' Cookbook.  London: Routledge & Kegan Paul 1977; NY: Universe Press 1978; pp. 194-197.  (Reprinted by Routledge 1998).

"Caste, Matri-kinship, and Bodily Substance in Eastern Sri Lanka," Papers Presented to the 5th European Conference on Modern South Asian Studies.  Leiden 1976.  pp. 286-299.

Traveling Photographic Exhibit (1986 – 2002)

Symbolic Heat: Gender, Health, and Worship among the Tamils of South India and Sri Lanka.  University of Colorado Museum. A total of 71 framed color photographs, maps, and explanatory text panels (all 16" x 23"), plus slide-tape video, poster, and 16 page brochure. Also mounted at Smith College, McGill University, University of Calgary, Memorial University of Newfoundland, CU School of Nursing, University of Chicago, Bowdoin College, Bates College, Reed College, CU Center at Cortez, Phoebe Hearst Museum of Anthropology at UC Berkeley, University of Pennsylvania Museum, Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, Emory University, and Beloit College.

Reviews

Thomas R. Trautmann, Languages and Nations: The Dravidian Proof in Colonial Madras. University of California Press, 2006. (Reviewed in Journal of Anthropological Research 64(1): 123-25. Spring 2008).

Joanna Kirkpatrick, Transports of Delight: The Ricksha Arts of Bangladesh. CD-ROM. University of Indiana Press, 2003.  (Reviewed in American Anthropologist 108(3): 596. September 2006)

Rohan Bastin. The Domain of Constant Excess: Plural Worship at the Munnesvaram Temples in Sri Lanka.  Berghahn Books, 2002.  (Reviewed in South Asia 28(3): 389-390. December 2004)

Lakshmanan Sabaratnam. Ethnic Attachments in Sri Lanka: Social Change and Cultural Continuity. Palgrave, 2001.  (Reviewed in Contemporary Sociology 33(1): 90-91. January 2004)

Clifford Geertz. Available Light: Anthropological Reflections on Philosophical Topics.  Princeton Univ. Press, 2000. (Reviewed in Religious Studies Review 27(1): 51.  January 2001)

Pradeep Jeganathan & Qadri Ismail, eds. Unmaking the Nation: The Politics of Identity and History in Modern Sri Lanka.  Colombo: Social Scientists’ Association, 1995.  (Reviewed in Journal of Asian Studies 56(4): 1130-1132, November 1997)

Kalpana Ram, Mukkuvar Women: Gender, Hegemony, and Capitalist Transformation in a South Indian Fishing Community.  London: Zed Press, 1991.  (Reviewed in American Ethnologist 22(3): 643-644, August 1995)

Masakazu Tanaka, Patrons, Devotees, and Goddesses:Ritual and Power among the Tamil Fishermen of Sri Lanka.  Kyoto:Kyoto University Institute for Research in the Humanities, 1991.  (Reviewed in Journal of the American Oriental Society 114 (4): 658-659, 1994)

Steven Kemper, The Presence of the Past: Chronicles, Politics, and Culture in Sinhala Life.  Ithaca & London: Cornell University Press, 1992.  (Reviewed in Journal of Asian Studies 52(4): 1057-1058, November 1993)

Anthony Good, The Female Bridegroom: A Comparative Study of Life-Crisis Rituals in South India and Sri Lanka.  Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1991.  (Reviewed in Man 28(1): 180-181, March 1993)

Michael Roberts, Ismeth Raheem, & Percy Colin-Thome, People Inbetween: The Burghers and the Middle Class in the Transformations within Sri Lanka, 1790s - 1960s.  Ratmalana, Sri Lanka: Sarvodaya Book Publishing Services, 1989.  (Reviewed in Comparative Studies in Society and History 34(4): 770, Oct. 1992)

Alf Hiltebeitel, The Cult of Draupadi, 1. Mythologies: From Gingee to Kuruksetra.  University of Chicago Press 1988.  (Reviewed in Man 25(4): 731-732, Dec. 1990)

Ronald P. Rohner & Manjusri Chaki-Sircar, Women and Children in a Bengali Village.  University Press of New England, 1988.  (Reviewed in American Anthropologist 91(4): 1080-81, Dec. 1989)

Michael Tobias (Director & Producer), Ahimsa: Non-Violence, 58 min. color film, 1987.  (Reviewed in American Anthropologist 91(4): 1094-95, Dec. 1989)

"Pro-Cite Version 1.4: Improved Bibliographic Software,"  Digit 23(5): 28-30, September/October 1988.  (Digit is a bimonthly publication of Academic Technology Services, University of Colorado at Boulder, CO 80309.)

"Pro-Cite: Bibliographic Software for Your PC," Digit 21(6): 20-21, Nov./Dec. 1986.

Louis Dumont, Affinity as Value: Marriage Alliance in South India, with Comparative Essays on Australia.   University of Chicago Press 1983. (Reviewed in Religious Studies Review 10(2): 200, April 1984)

Akos Ostor, Lina Fruzzetti, and Steve Barnett, eds. Concepts of Person: Kinship, Caste, and Marriage in India.  Harvard University Press 1982 (Reviewed in Religious Studies Review 10(2): 200-201, April 1984)

Stephen C. Jett and Virginia E. Spencer, Navajo Architecture: Form, History, Distributions. University of Arizona Press 1981. (Reviewed in Southwestern Lore 49(4): 24-25, December 1983)

Susan Lewandowski, Migration and Ethnicity in Urban India: Kerala Migrants in the City of Madras, 1870-1970.  New Delhi: Manohar 1980. (Reviewed in Journal of Asian Studies 42(4): 992-994, August 1983)

Michael Roberts, Caste Conflict and Elite Formation: The Rise of a Karava Elite in Sri Lanka, 1500-1931. Cambridge University Press 1982. (Reviewed in Man 18(2): 424-425, June 1983)

Gerald D. Berreman, Caste and Other Inequities: Essays on Inequality. Meerut, India: Folklore Institute 1979. (Reviewed in American Ethnologist 10(1): 208-209, February 1983)

Morton Klass, Caste: The Emergence of the South Asian Social System. Philadephia: ISHI 1980.  (Reviewed in American Anthropologist 83(3): 696-697, September 1981)

Ronald B. Inden and Ralph W. Nicholas, Kinship in Bengali Culture. University of Chicago Press 1977. (Reviewed in Man 15(2): 397-398, June 1980)

Lawrence A. Babb, The Divine Hierarchy: Popular Hinduism in Central India. Columbia University Press 1975. (Reviewed in Journal of Asian Studies 36(3): 567-569, May 1977)

C.J. Fuller, The Nayars Today. Cambridge University Press 1976. (Reviewed in The Times Higher Education Supplement, p.20, May 6, 1977)

Clarence Maloney, ed. South Asia: Seven Community Profiles. Holt, Rinehart, and Winston 1974. (Reviewed in Royal Anthropological Institute News 9: 10, July 1975)

External Grants

2006 – 2010.  US Dept. of Education Title VI.  “National Resource Center for Undergraduate Asian Studies and FLAS Fellowships.” Grants #P015A060039 and #P015B060039. Laurel Rodd, PI; Dennis McGilvray, co-PI.  Four-year renewable grant, including the first FLAS Fellowships ever awarded to the University of Colorado at Boulder. Total award $1,796,944.

September 2005 – February 2008.  NSF Human and Social Dynamics Program, “The Sri Lankan Tsunami: Societal Resilience in Two Coastal Regions.” NSF grant #SES-0525260. Dennis McGilvray, PI.  Michele Gamburd and Randall Kuhn, co-PIs.  Patricia Lawrence and Alan Keenan, co-investigators. Total award $125,000.

2005 – 2008. US Department of Education Title VI Undergraduate International Studies and Foreign Language Program, "West Asia: A Critical Region for Undergraduate Education.”  Grant #P016A050020.  Dennis McGilvray, PI.  Laurel Rodd, co-PI. Total award $159,380.

July 2003.  American Institute for Sri Lankan Studies.  Grant to organize a research workshop on “Muslims of Sri Lanka: History, Culture, & Politics.”  Workshop took place July 26, 2003 at the Galle Face Hotel, Colombo, Sri Lanka.  Total award $3000.

2001 – 2004. US Department of Education Title VI Undergraduate International Studies and Foreign Language Program, "Expanding the Horizons of Asian Studies.” Grant #P016A010048. Co-PI with Steven Snyder. Total award $172,000.

January 2001.  American Institute of Sri Lankan Studies.  "Sufi Circuits to and from Sri Lanka"  Senior research fellowship for summers 2001 and 2002.  Awarded $5100 plus travel expenses.

December 2000.  American Institute of Indian Studies. "South Indian Sufi Circuits to Sri Lanka"  Short-term Senior Research Grant for summer 2002.  Total award Rs. 225,450 plus travel expenses.

1997-98.  NSF doctoral dissertation grant for Sawa Becker. "Making Uchi: Japanese Corporate Wives' Home and Self-Making in the US." PI. Total award $11,988.

AY 1993-94. Social Science Research Council, South Asia Advanced Research Grant. Combined with University of Colorado Faculty Fellowship, for balance of salary. Total SSRC award $15,000.

September 1984 - August 1985. Social Science Research Council.  Funding to support library research and release time for work on monograph about Sri Lankan matrilineal social structure. Total award $5000.

May - June 1983. American Institute of Indian Studies short-term grant and travel expenses.  Funding to support exploratory fieldwork on architecture and artisans in Tamilnadu, south India. Total award Indian Rs. 21,000 plus travel expenses $2192.

January 1981. Smithsonian Institution travel expenses of $1504, plus a grant-in-aid of $440 from the Committee on Research and Creative Work, University of Colorado, Boulder.  Funding to support pilot survey of sites for possible fieldwork on architecture and artisans in Tamilnadu, south India. Total award $1944.

April - July 1978.  Research grants from the British Social Science Research Council, the Smuts Memorial Fund, and the Cambridge University Travelling Expenses Fund.   Funding to support fieldwork on matrilocal household patterns among Hindus and Muslims in eastern Sri Lanka. Total awards $2407.

March - October 1975.  Research grants from the British Social Science Research Council, the Smuts Memorial Fund, and the Cambridge University Travelling Expenses Fund.  Funding to support fieldwork on religion, ritual, and ethnomedical systems among Hindus and Muslims in eastern Sri Lanka. Total awards $2399.

August 1969 - July 1971.   Pre-doctoral Fellowship, plus additional Research Grant from the National Institutes of Mental Health, U.S. Public Health Service. Funding to support travel expenses, equipment costs, and per diem maintenance during 22 months of fieldwork in eastern Sri Lanka. Total research award $5974 plus tuition and maintenance stipend.

Internal Grants

January 2008. Kayden Fund, University of Colorado. Subvention of publication costs for Crucible of Conflict: Tamil and Muslim Society on the East Coast of Sri Lanka. Duke University Press 2008. $1500.

2007 – 2008. University of Colorado IGP Seed Grant “Transnational Discourses of the Global Islamic Community: A Pilot Study.” Member of 6-person research team. Carla Jones and Ruth Mas, PIs. Total award to the project $40,000.

March 2005.  University of Colorado CRCW grant-in-aid. “The Sri Lankan Tsunami: Societal Resilience in Tamil and Muslim Communities.” Dennis McGilvray, PI. Total award $7000.

December 2002.  A&S Dean's Fund for Excellence.  Grant to attend invitational "Lived Islam" conference in Goa, India, organized by the Konrad Adenaur Foundation, Delhi. Total award $600.

March 2000.  Grants from CRCW ($2000) and GCAH ($3000) for Center for Asian Studies conference on "Asian Human Rights: Critical Issues." Total combined award $5000.

January 2000.  Grant from A&S Dean's Fund for Excellence for CHA conference on "Representing Tibet." Total award $500.

December 1999.  Grant from President's Fund for the Humanities for Center for Asian Studies conference: "Asian Human Rights: Critical Issues." Total award $5000.

April 1999.  Grant from Graduate Committee on Arts & Humanities for visiting ethnographic filmmaker Melissa Llewelyn-Davies. Total award $1200.

June-July 1995.  University of Colorado CRCW Small Grant for travel from Sri Lanka to Kerala to study Sufi shrines and religious teachers. Total award $600.

April 1995.  Grant from University of Colorado Graduate Committee on Research & Creative Work to support “Symposium on Visual Ethnography,” organized by Committee for Ethnographic Research, April 6-8, 1995. Total award $1920.

December 1992. Grant from President's Fund for the Humanities, Univ. Colorado, to support “Symposium on Redesigning Ethnography” (Keynote speaker: Clifford Geertz), organized by the CU Committee for Ethnographic Research, April 23-24, 1993.  Total award $3000.

February 1992.  Grant from University of Colorado Graduate Committee on Arts & Humanities.  English translation of 17th century Dutch colonial document on Sri Lanka.  Total award $1500.

April 1991.  Travel grant from the University of Colorado Graduate Committee on Arts & Humanities.  Funding to visit the Dutch colonial archives in The Hague. Total award $1264.

Fieldwork

June 2008.  Fieldwork on popular Muslim Sufi festivals, and local Sufi religious leaders, in eastern Sri Lanka.  Funded by University of Colorado IGP Seed Grant “Transnational Discourses of the Global Islamic Community: A Pilot Study.” Carla Jones and Ruth Mas, co-PIs.

Summers 2005 and 2007. The Sri Lankan Tsunami: Societal Resilience in Two Coastal Regions.  A 30 month 5-person project funded by National Science Foundation grant SES-0525260 (2005-2008). Comparison of the Sinhala-speaking Buddhist/Catholic southern coast of Sri Lanka versus the Tamil-speaking Hindu/Muslim eastern coast, examining effects of ethnicity and politics on post-tsunami recovery processes.  Initial fieldwork August 2005, concluding fieldwork phase June 2007.

Summers 2001-2003. Sufi Circuits in Sri Lanka and South India.  Funded by grants from American Institute of Sri Lankan Studies (June-August 2001, June 2002, July 2003) and American Institute of Indian Studies (July-August 2002), this project traced transnational paths of Sufi religious teaching and saintly shrines in the southernmost parts of the Subcontinent: Sri Lanka, Tamilnadu, Kerala, and Lakshadweep.

June-July 1995.  Sri Lanka: Archival research in Colombo to publish an annotated edition of three Dutch colonial descriptions of eastern Ceylon dating from the late 17th to the late 18th centuries.  Ethnographic fieldwork in Akkaraipattu, Amparai District, to assess impact of ethnic conflict on local communities. Short fieldwork trip to Kerala, South India, to survey Sufi shrines and religious teachers in the north Malabar region.  Partially supported by CU Graduate Committee on Arts & Humanities.

July-September 1993.  Sri Lanka: Revisit to Batticaloa and Amparai Districts, Eastern Province, to survey impact of a decade of inter-ethnic violence and military occupation.  Additional research on Sufi shrines in Eastern & Southern Provinces.  Funded by SSRC and CU Faculty Fellowship.

May-June 1983.  Fieldwork in southern Tamilnadu, south India.  Study of Hindu artisan castes (e.g., stonecarvers, brassworkers) in several temple towns, including Kumbakonam and Tirunelveli, focusing on their caste structure, interaction patterns, and ritual activities in relation to other local castes.  Preliminary inquiries concerning ethnography of vernacular architecture & the building trades. Funded by American Institute of Indian Studies.

January 1981.  Field reconnaisance in Tamilnadu, south India.  Pilot survey of fieldwork sites for a study of vernacular architecture and artisan castes, covering the region of central eastern Tamilnadu, Madurai to Madras.  Funded by CRCW and Smithsonian.

April-July 1978.  Fieldwork in Akkaraipattu and in other settlements of the Batticaloa region, eastern Sri Lanka.  Investigation of social interaction and marriage patterns between households and descent groups.  Participant observation of ritual, domestic authority, and role-structure within matrilocal households, both Hindu and Muslim.  Funded by British SSRC.

March-October 1975.  Fieldwork in Akkaraipattu and Kokkatticcolai, eastern Sri Lanka.  Research on temple and mosque organization, annual festivals, domestic worship, ritual trance, and ethnomedical belief systems.  Follow-up research on caste hierarchies and matriclan organization among both Hindus and Muslims.  Funded by British SSRC.

August 1969-July 1971.  Fieldwork in Akkaraipattu, eastern Sri Lanka.  Study of caste structure, matrilineal kinship, and religion in a Tamil-speaking Hindu and Muslim town.  Funded by NIMH doctoral fellowship.

Research Conference Papers

Sri Lankan Muslims between Ethno-nationalism and the Global Ummah. Conference on Transnational Discourses of Islamic Community. University of Colorado at Boulder. October 24, 2008.

Tamil-speaking Sheikhs and Trans-oceanic Saints: Popular Sufism in Contemporary Sri Lanka.  Western Conference of the Association for Asian Studies. University of Colorado at Boulder. Sept. 13, 2008.

Hereditary Muslim Barbers and the Inter-Ethnic Semiotics of Circumcision in Sri Lanka. American Council for the Study of Islamic Societies. Metropolitan State College, Denver, CO. April 21, 2007.

Tsunami Recovery on the East Coast of Sri Lanka. 35th Annual Conference on South Asia. University of Wisconsin – Madison. October 19 – 21, 2006.

The Portuguese Burghers of Eastern Sri Lanka in the Wake of Civil War and Tsunami.  Conference on Portugal-Sri Lanka: 500 Years.  Centre Cultural Calouste Gulbenkian, Paris.  December 15-17, 2005.

The Muslim Community in Sri Lanka’ Ethnic Conflict.  East-West Center Project on State Building Challenges in Asia.  Washington DC.  October 31-November 3, 2005.

Round-table presentation on Sri Lanka.  The Indian Ocean Tsunami.  34th Annual Conference on South Asia, University of Wisconsin-Madison.  October 7-9, 2005.

Dutch Discourses of Domination in a Tamil Region of Ceylon.  Bernard S. Cohn Memorial Conference. University of Chicago.  May 13-14, 2005.

Studio, Clan, and Factory: Three Styles of Departmental Anthropology.  Fashioning Anthropology: Papers in Honor of Gail Kelly.  Reed College, Portland, OR.  April 16-17, 2005.

The Persistence of Matriliny in Sri Lanka’s War Zone.  Also chair and organizer of the panel: The Futures of Matriliny in South and Southeast Asia.  Association for Asian Studies. San Diego, CA. March 4-7, 2004.

Roundtable presentation.  Islam on the South Asian Littoral.  Conference on South Asia. University of Wisconsin-Madison.  October 15, 2004.

Transnational Sufism and Islamic Change in Contemporary Sri Lanka.  Society for the Anthropology of Religion.  Providence, RI. April 24-27, 2003.

Transnational Sufism and Islamic Change in Contemporary Sri Lanka. Conference on Lived Islam: Liminality, Accommodation, and Adaptation.  Goa, India.  Sponsored by Konrad Adenaur Foundation, Delhi.  Dec. 4-8, 2002.

Transnational Sufism and Islamic Change in Contemporary Sri Lanka. Conference on the Work of the Imaginaire in South Asian Islam. NC State University, Raleigh.  April 12-14, 2002.

Batticaloa Muslim Identity in Historical Perspective.  30th Annual Conference on South Asia. University of Wisconsin - Madison.  Oct. 19-21, 2001.

Kali Before the Eelam War: Celebration of a Sri Lankan Tamil Goddess Festival in the 1970s.  27th Annual Conference on South Asia.  University of Wisconsin-Madison. Oct. 16-18, 1998.

Sufi Circuits In/To Sri Lanka.  26th Annual Conference on South Asia.  University of Wisconsin-Madison. Oct. 17-19, 1997.

Tangals, Takkyas, & Tariqas: Cultural Geographies of Sufism in Sri Lanka. Conference on Religion in South India.  Snow Mt. Ranch, Winter Park, CO.  June 6-9, 1996.

Tamils and Muslims in the Shadow of War: Schism or Continuity?  American Anthropological Association.  Panel on Ritual and Violence in Sri Lanka.  Washington DC, November 19, 1995.

Akkaraipattu Before and After.  5th Sri Lankan Studies Conference.  University of New Hampshire.  August 10-13, 1995.

Sufis in Sri Lanka.  4th Sri Lankan Studies Conference.  Colombo, August 10-13, 1993.

Arabs, Moors, and Muslims: The Mobilization of Muslim Ethnicity in Sri Lanka.  3rd Sri Lankan Studies Conference.  Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam. April 2-5, 1991.

The Mobilization of Muslim Identity in Sri Lanka.  Invited session on Culture in Process.

89th annual meeting of the American Anthropological Association, New Orleans.

November 28 - December 2, 1990.

Caste, Kinship, and Marriage in Eastern Sri Lanka: The Political Inflection of a Matrilineal System.  also:  Tamils and Muslims in the Eastern Province: Ethnic Tensions and Cultural Bonds.  2nd Sri Lankan Studies Conference.  CEIAS/EHESS, Paris.  May 18-22, 1989.

Bride-givers and Groom-givers in Sri Lanka and South India. Association for Asian Studies.   Boston, MA.   April 10-12, 1987.

The Mattakkalappu Manmiyam: A Textual Paradigm for the Tamil Caste Order in Eastern Sri Lanka.  15th Annual Conference on South Asia. University of Wisconsin.  Madison, WI.  November 6-8, 1986.

Matriclan Alliance and Caste Identity in a Hindu/Muslim Region of Sri Lanka. 14th Annual Conference on South Asia. University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI.  November 1-3, 1985.

Temple, Mosque, and Chiefdom: The Loci of Matrilineal Honor in a Tamil Region of Sri Lanka.  Association for Asian Studies.  Philadelphia, PA.  March 22-24, 1985.

The Structural Position of Tamil Artisan Castes in South India and Sri Lanka. XIth International Congress of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences. Vancouver, B.C., Canada.   August 20-25, 1983.

Aspects of Ritual Among the Tamils of Eastern Sri Lanka. Western Conference of the Association for Asian Studies. University of Colorado, Boulder.  September 17-18, 1982.

Village Sufism in Sri Lanka: An Ethnographic Report. Workshop of the Conference on Religion in South India. Pittsburgh, PA.  May 14-16, 1982.

Sufis in Sri Lanka: A Report on the Bawas of Batticaloa. 10th Annual Conference on South Asia. University of Wisconsin.  Madison, WI.  November 6-8, 1981.

The Matrilineal Viracaiva Priests of Eastern Sri Lanka. 5th International Conference-Seminar of Tamil Studies. Madurai, Tamilnadu, south India.  January 10-15, 1981.

The Matrilocal Household System of Eastern Sri Lanka. American Anthropological Association. Washington, D.C.  December 3-7, 1980.

Changes in Religious Organization among the Paraiyar Drummers of Batticaloa. Society for South Indian Studies. Philadelphia, PA.  March 17-19, 1980.

Caste, Matri-kinship, and Bodily Substance in Eastern Sri Lanka. 5th European Conference on Modern South Asian Studies. Leiden, The Netherlands.  April 1976.

Lectures and Colloquia

The Sufi Scene in Sri Lanka: Between Ethno-nationalism and the Global Ummah. Center for South Asia Lecture Series. University of Wisconsin – Madison. November 13, 2008.

Sufis, Saints, and Dargahs: Dimensions of Popular Islam in Sri Lanka and South India. Department of Religious Studies, University of Iowa. October 25, 2006.

The Sri Lankan Tsunami: Societal Resilience in Two Coastal Regions. Global Health Studies Program, University of Iowa. October 25, 2006.

Sufis, Saints, and Dargahs: Transnational Sufi Mysticism in Sri Lanka and South India.  Graduate Workshop on Comparative Mysticism.  Harvard University.  May 3, 2005.

Dargahs and Dagobas: Contemporary Sufism in a Sri Lankan Setting.  Dept. of Religious Studies, University of Denver.  May 6, 2003.

Transnational Sufism in Sri Lanka.  Anthropology Colloquium, Dartmouth College.  April 18, 2003.

On the Road: Flexible Field Methods in South Asia.  Dept. of Anthropology Colloquium, University of Colorado at Boulder.  March 14, 2003.

Hindu Temple and Muslim Dargah: Comparing Two Pilgrimage Shrines in South India.  Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Forum, Boulder, CO.  Feb. 23, 2003.

Sufis and Saints: Tracing the Path of Muslim Devotional Piety between Sri Lanka and South India.  South Asia Speaker Series, University of Colorado at Boulder.  January 31, 2003.

Muslim Identities in Sri Lanka.  Public colloquium given at the International Centre for Ethnic Studies.  Colombo, Sri Lanka.  August 1, 2001.

The Cultural Background of the Tamil Separatist Movement in Sri Lanka, and Generating Symbolic Heat: Fieldwork on Tamil Concepts of Gender, Health, and Worship.  Beloit College, April 14, 2000.

Tangals, Takkyas, & Tariqas: Cultural Geographies of Sufism in Sri Lanka.  South Asia Seminar Series, University of Pennsylvania.  April 3, 1996.

Fieldwork Under Military Occupation: Revisiting the Tamils and Moors of Sri Lanka, Summer 1993.  South Asia Seminar Series, University of Pennsylvania.  Oct. 15, 1993.  Also presented at Bryn Mawr College, Oct. 19, 1993.

Generating Symbolic Heat.  Public Lecture in conjunction with my exhibit entitled Symbolic Heat: Gender, Health, and Worship among the Tamils of South India and Sri Lanka. University of Pennsylvania Museum, Oct. 18, 1993. University of Chicago, April 13, 1989.  Memorial University of St. John's, Newfoundland. Nov. 8, 1987;  Smith College, Mar. 2, 1987;  University of Colorado at Boulder, Mar. 2, 1986.

Sex, Repression, and Sanskritization in Sri Lanka?  University of California, Los Angeles, Jan. 25, 1988;  Memorial University, St. John's, Newfoundland, Nov. 9, 1987.

Close Encounters with a Hot Goddess: The Pattirakali Festival in Eastern Sri Lanka.   Memorial Univ., St. John's, Newfoundland, Nov. 9, 1987;  Amherst Coll.,  Mar. 12, 1987.

Heat, Health, & Gender in Tamil Culture.  Loyola Marymount University, Mar. 14, 1994.  Reed College, August 24, 1990.  Bowdoin College, Sept. 22, 1989.  Bates College, Nov. 23, 1989.  Pitzer College and University of Southern California, Jan. 27, 1988.  Univ. of Colo. School of Nursing, April 8, 1988.  Univ. of Pennsylvania. Feb. 18, 1987.

Matrilocal Marriage and Dowry in Sri Lanka.  University of Virginia, Feb. 20, 1987;  University of Washington, May 31, 1984;  Cal Tech, May 10, 1984;

Textiles in India Today.  Public Lecture at the Sangre de Cristo Arts & Conference Center, Pueblo, CO,  Oct. 3, 1985.

Sex and Temperature in South Asian Ritual.  Davidson College, Jan. 14, 1985;  UCLA,  May 10, 1984;  Whittier College, May 9, 1984;  University of Wyoming, April 14, 1982;  University of Colorado at Boulder, April 21, 1980;  SUNY Stonybrook, May 2, 1980;  Hobart & William Smith Colleges, May 15, 1980.

Teaching

Recent Courses

Anthro. 1100:Exploring a Non-Western Culture: The Tamils [A&S Core]

Anthro. 4520/5520:Symbolic Anthropology  [A&S Core]

Anthro. 4530/5530:Theoretical Foundations of Socio-Cultural Anthropology

Anthro. 4750/5750:Culture and Society in South Asia

Anthro. 5780:Seminar: Graduate Core Course in Cultural Anthropology

Anthro. 7620:Seminar: Ethnography and Cultural Theory

Curriculum Development and Improvement of Teaching

Co-PI, US Dept. of Ed. Title VI Asian Studies NRC & FLAS fellowships, $1,796,944. 2006-2010.

PI, US Dept. of Education Title VI UISFL grant for West Asia, $159,380. 2005-07.

Summer Institute for New Media Pedagogy, Scholarship, and Learning Technologies. May 2003.

Co-PI, US Dept. of Education Title VI UISFL grant for Asian Studies, $172,000.  2001-04.

Graduate Teacher Program workshop: classroom simulations. Aug. 1989, 1992.

SIROW Women's Studies Curriculum Integration Project, 1984-85.

NEH Workshop on Asia in Undergraduate Curriculum, Feb. 9-11, 1983.

BA Thesis Students

Eliza Grifin, 1998. “The Science and Poetics of Literature and Ethnography”

Susan Chadderdon, 2005 “The Transformation of Yoga in American Culture”

MA Thesis Students

Robert Carlsen, 1988. “The Conversion of the Saints: A Preliminary Enquiry into the Nature of the Guatemalan Fiesta System”

Julie Heath, 1990. “The Concept of Shamanism and the Okinawan Yuta”

Kathryn Hartzell, 1993. “Veiled Sitas: An Exploration of the Literature on Female Sexuality in Northern South Asia”

Michael Khoo, 2000. “The Production of Cyberspace”

Aimee Garza, 2007. “The Fabric of Devotion: Votive Vestments, Hidden Ministries, and the Making of Hispano Religious Traditions in Santa Fe, New Mexico”

PhD Thesis Students

Shin Poh Chang, 1990. “The Jia and Descent Ideology: Chinese in Malaysia”

Robert Carlsen, 1992. “Of Bullets, Bibles, and Bokunabs: What in the World is Going On in Santiago Atitlan?”

Saraswati Buhrman, 1995. “Trance in America: A Comparison of Trance Types and Trance Experience in Two Religious Communities”

Patricia Lawrence, 1997. “Work of Oracles, Silence of Terror: Notes on the Injury of War in Eastern Sri Lanka”

Sawa Kurotani Becker, 1999. “Transnational Home-Making and the Construction of Gender and Cultural Identities among Expatriate Japanese Wives in the United States”

Linda White, 1999. “Feminism Within and Beyond Japan: Women’s Movements in Tokyo in 1995”

Crystal Watson, in progress. “Religious Identities in Bangladesh”

Member of PhD Thesis Committee

Anne Ketchin 1981, ANTH

Edwina Dorch 1982, PSYCH

Gerald Barth 1982, ANTH

Teresa Odendahl 1982, ANTH

Stephen Inglis 1984, ANTH University of British Columbia

Winnifred Michell 1986, ANTH

Karen Gallob 1987, ANTH

Richard Pottinger 1987, ANTH

Nancy Malville 1987, ANTH

Paul Deering 1992, EDUC

Lynn Clark 1996, School of Journalism and Mass Communication

Catherine Lavender 1997, HIST

Karen Kievit 1998, ANTH

Rui Murrieta 2000, ANTH

Pamela Nguyen 2001, ANTH

Ann May 2002, ANTH

Julien Cayla 2002, Leeds School of Business

Paulette Foss 2006, ANTH

Ian Feinhandler 2006, GEOG

Barbara Matson 2006, THEATRE

Jin Park 2006, School of Journalism and Mass Communication

Service

Department of Anthropology

Chair, September 2006 – present.

Program Review Self-Study Committee, 2004-05.

Graduate Committee, 2002-06.

Search Committees for joint ANTH-IBS demographer 2006, globalization 1999-00,

ethnographic film (chair) ‘97-98, kinship & economics (chair) ’95-96,

gender ‘93-94, external dept. chair ‘92-93.

Associate Chair and Director of Undergraduate Curriculum, 1997-98.

Chair, Program Review Self-Study Committee, 1997-98. 

Hale Building Committee, 1989-92.  Hale Art Selection Committee, 1992-93.

Graduate Coordinator, 1988-90.   Executive Committee,  1982-84, 1986-87, 1989-91.

Coordinator, Cultural Anthropology Subgroup, 1983-84, 1989-90, 1994-95. 98-00, 04-05.

Center for Asian Studies

Director, Center for Asian Studies, 1998-2000, 2004-05.  Executive Committee 2005-present.

Co-PI on Title VI  grant, “Asian Studies NRC and FLAS Fellowships.” 2005-10.

Search Committees for Hindi language and West Asia geography instructors, Spring 2006.

PI on Title VI UISFL grant, “West Asia: A Critical Region.” 2005-07.

Co-PI on Title VI UISFL grant, “Expanding the Horizons of Asian Studies” 2001-04.

Search Committee for South Asian historian, Center for Asian Studies. Spring 2001.

Task Force to create the Center for Asian Studies, 1995-98.

Boulder Campus

Task Force on Internationalization, Office of the Provost, 2008-present

Steering Committee, Peace and Conflict Studies Program, 2008-present

Curriculum Committee, College of Arts and Sciences. Chair 2001-04, Member 1984-87.

Executive Committee, Arts and Sciences Faculty Council, College of A&S. 2001-04.

BFA Library Committee, 2004-2008.

Committee on Research and Creative Work, 1998-2000.

Internal Review Committee for Religious Studies 1993. Linguistics, 1999, Classics, 2005.

School of Journalism & Mass Comm. Dean's Review Committee, 1998-1999, 2007.

Boulder Campus Leadership Team, Administrative Streamlining Project, 1997-99.

Graduate Committee on Arts & Humanities. Member 2005-08, 1994-96; Chair 1996-97.

Graduate Student Teaching Awards Committee, Graduate School,1992.

Committee for Ethnographic Research, 1988-94.

Ad Hoc Committee on Academic Rituals, 1987-89.

Cultural Programs Committee, Boulder Faculty Assembly, 1989-92.

Sewell Hall Academic Program Advisory Committee, 1989-92.

Culture & Gender Diversity Committee for A&S Core Curriculum, 1987-88.

University Museum of Natural History, Associate Curator, 1985 – present.

University of Colorado System, Graduate School Executive Committee, 1988-91

National

American Institute of Indian Studies,  University of Colorado Trustee, 1996-present.

AIIS Nominating Committee, 1997-2001.

American Institute of Sri Lankan Studies, Board of Directors, 1996-98, 2001-05.

Reed College Alumni Board of Management 1999-2002.

Fulbright Program / CIES, National Anthropology Screening Committee, 1988-91.

Honors and awards

   1993-94  Faculty Fellowship, CU Committee on Research & Creative Work.

   1989 Dean's Social Science Writing Award, for publication of "Sex, Repression,

   and Sanskritization in Sri Lanka?"  Ethos 16(2), June 1988.

   1989 Boulder Faculty Excellence in Service Award, Boulder Faculty Assembly.

   1987 Stirling Award for Contributions to Psychological Anthropology,

   awarded by the AAA and the Society for Psychological Anthropology, for essay

   "Sex, Repression, and Sanskritization in Sri Lanka?"

   1983 & 1988. Nominated for SOAR teaching award..

Memberships

   American Anthropological Association     Society for Cultural Anthropology

   American Ethnological Society     Society for the Anthropology of Religion

   Association for Asian StudiesSociety for Visual Anthropology

   Royal Anthropological Institute

Interests

   Ritual, belief, & symbolism   Architecture & artisans,

   Caste, social organization, & kinshipVisual anthropology

   History and theory in anthropologyEthnic conflict & diaspora

Area FocusSouth Asia:  Fieldwork in Sri Lanka & in South India

Languages Tamil, French, Spanish

SkillsEthnographic photography