Faculty

Joseph P. Masco

Samuel N. Harper Professor of Anthropology and of the Social Sciences in the College

Office: Haskell 201

Phone: (773) 834-7807

Interests:

Science Studies, Critical Theory, Planetary Politics, Visualization, Threat Perception, Ecology, Race, Temporality, US, North America.

Joseph Masco is a scholar of technoscience, ecology, affect, and social theory, with a long-term focus on technological revolutions and their aftermat...

William T. S. Mazzarella

Neukom Family Professor of Anthropology and of Social Sciences in the College; Faculty Fellow, Chicago Center for Contemporary Theory; Associate Faculty in the University of Chicago Divinity School

Office Hours: By appointment

Office: Haskell 213

Phone: (773) 834-4873

mazzarel@uchicago.edu

Interests:

Politics and publicity; crowds and publics; critical theory; affect and aesthetics; psychoanalysis; ritual and performance; the occult shadow of the modern; India.

To read some of my work, see https://chicago.academia.edu/WilliamMazzarellaI work at the transdisciplinary intersection of classic social anthropology...

Teresa Montoya

Assistant Professor of Anthropology

Office: Haskell M135

Phone: (773) 702-0297

tmontoya@uchicago.edu

Interests:

Sociocultural anthropology; Native and Indigenous studies; sovereignty and jurisdiction; settler colonialism; environment; water governance; Navajo Nation; Indigenous media.

Teresa Montoya is a social scientist whose research and media production focuses on contemporary problems of sovereignty and toxic contamination in re...

Constantine V. Nakassis

Professor of Anthropology and of the Social Sciences in the College Resource Faculty, Cinema & Media Studies; Faculty Associate, CHD; Core Faculty in CIR; Faculty in Digital Studies; Department Chair

Office: Haskell 324

Phone: (773) 834-4810

cnakassi@uchicago.edu

Interests:

Linguistic anthropology; semiotics; film theory; mass media; trademark law, brands, and counterfeiting; youth culture; India.

Constantine V. Nakassis is a linguistic anthropologist with interests in language in culture; semiotics; film theory; mass media; brands and counterfe...

Sarah Newman

Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Social Sciences in the College; Director of Undergraduate Studies

Office: Haskell M134

Phone: (773) 834-5691

senewman@uchicago.edu

Interests:

Archaeology and ethnohistory; waste, refuse, and reuse; zooarchaeology; human-animal relationships; landscape archaeology; human-environment interactions; Mesoamerica.

Sarah Newman is an anthropological archaeologist. Her research combines archaeological, historical, and art historical methods and evidence to explore...

Natacha Nsabimana

Assistant Professor of Anthropology

Office Hours: Mondays 1:30-3 pm. Sign up via email first.

Office: Haskell 331

Phone: (773) 834-5693

natachansa@uchicago.edu

Interests:

Socio-cultural anthropology; law and subjectivity; postcolonial critique; violence and temporality; African history and politics. (On leave for the 2023-2024 academic year.)

Broadly construed, Natacha Nsabimana’s research and teaching interests include law and subjectivity, postcolonial critique, musical movements and the ...

Stephan Palmié

Norman & Edna Freehling Professor of Anthropology and of Social Sciences in the College

Office: Haskell 212

Phone: (773) 834-1576

palmie@uchicago.edu

Interests:

Sociocultural anthropology; Afro-Caribbean religions; forms of historical consciousness; constructions of race and ethnicity; embodiment and personhood; food and cuisine; science and rationality; Cuba.

Stephan Palmié conducts ethnographic and historical research on Afro-Caribbean cultures, with an emphasis on Afro-Cuban religious formations and their...

François G. Richard

Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies, Department of Anthropology; Department of Race, Diaspora and Indigeneity

Office: Haskell 211

fgrichard@uchicago.edu

Interests:

Historical anthropology/archaeology; agrarian capitalism & political economy; politics; landscapes; materiality; temporality; rural communities; race; psychoanalysis; social theory; colonialism and postcolonialism; West Africa and Atlantic World; Mexico; France

I am a historical anthropologist and archaeologist interested in material and affective histories of French colonialism and imperialism. My research f...

Kamala Russell

Assistant Professor of Anthropology

Office: Haskell 327

kamala@uchicago.edu

Interests:

Interaction; spatiality and co-presence; ethics; Islam; the speaking body; family life; 'the Gulf'/al-Khalij; infrastructure; Modern South Arabian (Semitic) languages; language shift; semiotics.

I am a linguistic anthropologist interested in interaction, lived space, and ethical and political subjectivity. My research focuses on the ways that ...

Kaushik Sunder Rajan

Professor of Anthropology and of Social Sciences in the College; Co-Director, Chicago Center for Contemporary Theory

Office: Haskell 314

Phone: (773) 702-6151

ksunderr@uchicago.edu

Interests:

Biotechnology; capitalism; comparative ethnography; genomics; globalization; nation-state; political economy; post-colonialism; science and technology studies; subjectivity; India.

My work lies at the intersection of Medical Anthropology and Science and Technology Studies (STS), with commitments to social theories of capitalism a...

Kathryn Takabvirwa

Assistant Professor of Anthropology and of Social Sciences in the College

Office: Haskell 205

ktakabvirwa@uchicago.edu

Interests:

Policing; governance; migration; mobility; post-coloniality; the state in Africa; the politics of representation; conceptions of xenophobia; Southern Africa, especially Zimbabwe and South Africa.

Kathryn Takabvirwa is a social and cultural anthropologist. Her research centers on policing, citizenship, migration and mobility, governance, and the...

Alice Yao

Associate Professor of Anthropology and of the Social Sciences in the College

Office Hours: By sign-up: http://bit.ly/3OI2OjA

Office: Haskell 318

Phone: (773) 702-8674

ayao@uchicago.edu

Interests:

Archaeology; complex societies; imperialism; cross cultural interactions; China, mainland Southeast Asia

Alice Yao focuses her research on the impact of the Han Empire's conquest of frontier regions and seeks to explain the variable ways different communi...