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faculty
Lisa Maya Knauer, PhD
Associate Professor / Chairperson
Sociology / Anthropology
Teaching
Programs
Programs
Courses
A survey of various social problems in the contemporary world. Special emphasis is placed upon analysis of social problems in American society.
An introduction to the basic concepts of social and cultural anthropology. Readings emphasize the comparative study of societies at different levels of socio-cultural integration and from different areas of the world. This may include a brief introduction to physical anthropology and archaeology.
Exploration of how understandings of the past are shaped by present-day politics. Students investigate how collective memories are represented and contested in public spaces such as memorials, museums and schools while honing research and writing skills. Why do we celebrate some aspects of a nation's past, while ignoring or suppressing others? Case studies include controversial events from around the world.
An introduction to theories of, and movements for, environmental justice. We will use historical and cross cultural perspectives to examine how environmental inequalities have affected communities across the globe, and those communities' responses. Readings will highlight the voices and experiences of peoples affected by environmental injustices. There will be opportunities for service learning and engagement with local environmental justice organizations.
Students will discuss and write papers on aspects of a subject chosen for the semester.
Online and Continuing Education Courses
Internships in community-based, social service, cultural or other relevant organizations. Work will be supervised by an on-site sponsor as well as the seminar instructor. Students are responsible for securing their own placements, and are encouraged to consult the list of potential placements on the department website. All placements must be approved by the instructor. Students are required to attend several seminar meetings during the scheduled class time, keep a journal and write a final paper.
Dr. Knauer’s teaching, scholarship and community service are closely linked. They are rooted in her passion for social justice and the idea that anthropology – the study of human culture and difference -- can provide tools to understand, engage with and help foster change in a transforming world.
Dr. Knauer’s dissertation on Afrocuban music and religion in Cuba and New York explored the intersection of racialized identities and transnational cultural flows. An active participant in the NYC Afrocuban scene since the mid-1990s, her current work looks at cultural performance, the politics of representation and the role of digital media. In 2007, following an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raid on a factory in New Bedford, she began to work with and study the local Central American community, and helped found an immigrant workers’ center and a Mayan women’s organization. She spent 2011 in Guatemala as a Fulbright scholar, and her current research looks at the representation and self-representation of Mayan women, focusing on community radio. Additional areas of interest include public history and the politics of memory; and the gendered dynamics of genocide, violence and migration.
She believes the best way to learn anthropology is by doing anthropology, and to read what anthropologists write (rather than textbooks) and so students in all her classes conduct original ethnographic fieldwork, and read classic and cutting edge anthropological studies. .
A committed interdisciplinary scholar, she is a affiliate of the Women, Gender and Sexuality Program, the Black Studies Program, and Sustainability Studies.