I am currently an anthropology PhD candidate at Cornell University. My dissertation, Anthropology and the Art of Storytelling, explores anthropology’s relationship to storytelling and writing. I expect to finish in 2013.
DEGREES:
• MA in Anthropology and Asian Studies from Cornell University
• BA in Anthropology and Sociology from Carleton College
AWARDS:
• Wenner-Gren Dissertation Fieldwork Grant (2008), declined
• Summer Foreign Language Area Studies Fellowship (Summer 2007)
• Einaudi Travel Grant (2005 and 2006)
• Foreign Language Area Studies Fellowship (2005 and 2006)
• Sage Fellowship (2004)
• James S. Berglund Prize for Social Sciences (2002)
• Distinction in Anthropology (2002)
• Magna Cum Laude (2002)
• Freeman Fellowship (2001)
LANGUAGES:
• English (native)
• French (advanced)
• Nepali (advanced)
• Vietnamese (beginner)
• Bamanankan (beginner)
FIELDWORK:
• Nepal, field interviews on Maoist War and development – Aug 2008-Jun 2009
• Nepal, field interviews on international development programs – May-Aug 2006
• Nepal, field interviews on youth culture – Jun-Aug 2005
• Nepal, field interviews on the Tibetan Refugee Project – Sept-Dec 2003
• Vietnam, field interviews and radio documentary on international development programs – Jun-Aug 2001
• Vietnam, field interviews on street children programs – Sept-Dec 2000
• Mali, field interviews on traditional medicine and witchcraft – Jan-Mar 2000
• Nepal, outreach interviews for education INGO – Jan-May 1998
TELEVISION APPEARANCES:
• National Geographic Channel: Taboo Series. Appearing throughout Season 9 as an anthropology expert, premiering Summer 2012.
• Sundance Channel: Love/Lust. Appearing throughout series as an anthropology expert, discussing several cultural trends.
• The History Channel: Zombies, A Living History. Appearing throughout the program as an anthropology expert, discussing cultural history of the living dead.
• The Biography Channel: Under 21 & Filthy Rich. Appearing throughout the program as an anthropology expert.
• The Biography Channel: Hollywood, From Homely to Hot. Appearing throughout the program as an anthropology expert.
ESSAYS:
Too Smart, Too Dumb: Why Anthropology Matters
Half & Half: Reflections on a Smithsonian Photograph
On Drugs and Writing
PAPER PRESENTATIONS:
Bipolarity and the Art of Storytelling - NYCAS Conference 2012
War Tourism: Memory and Authenticity in Vietnam – SEAP Graduate Student Conference 2002
SOCIETIES:
American Anthropological Association, member
Society for Humanistic Anthropology, member
Digital Anthropologies Interest Group, member
Society for Cultural Anthropology, member