Hometown:

Long Beach, CA

About Me:

I was kicked out of the University of Chicago with a Ph.D. in 1995 to make room for smarter, more serious students. Since then I've been writing articles for the American Anthropologist, the Journal of American Folklore, Social Science and Medicine and other journals with small, effete readerships. My mother says all the articles are really good, but that I should learn the difference between a colon and a semi-colon. I have tried without success to publish a satire of evidence based medicine for eight years. The one journal that liked the manuscript folded before it could be printed. From 2000 to 2006 I taught at Mississippi State because nobody else would hire me. My proudest accomplishments during this period were organizing the first anti-war demonstrations in Starkville, MS, and serving as the assistant coach for the Starkville Tigers, a girl's junior league soccer team. Last year I was hired at California State University (Long Beach) because they couldn't find anyone else who was willing to spend $1,800.00/month for a small apartment with ants and no apparent garbage pickup. Because of my heavy teaching load, and my noisy children, my book, "Making Mayas into Mestizos: Nationalism, Modernity and its Discontents" will be published post-humorously (as Mark Twain used to say) if at all. I currently consider myself a reborn medical anthropologist although I retain a strong interest in Meso-American Ethnography, heritage tourism and Jewish humor. I have very eclectic musical tastes. I like Kanye West, Joan Baez, the Weavers, Cumbias, Mozart and the Blues. My four favorite books are Don DeLillo's "White Noise", Tony Horowitz's "Conferederates in the Attic", Michael Chabon's "The Adventures of Cavalier and Klay," and Geoff Bent's "Silent Partners." My favorite shows are South Park, Family Guy and Seinfeld. I am married to an attorney, Helene Hoffman, and have two children, an adoptive Guatemalan child named Brandon (10), and natural born child named Maya (14). If anyone wants to discuss medical anthropology (particularly diabetes and attention deficit disorder), Mayan language and culture, Latin American politics, civil rights tourism, impeaching Bush and Cheney, please feel free to write.

Area(s) of Training

anthropology, applied anthropology, cultural anthropology, ethnography, medical anthropology, other

Area(s) of Expertise

Maya language and culture, applied medical anthropology, myth, folklore, critical theory,

Most Recent Degree

PhD

Current Area of Employment

Associate Professor of Anthropology, California State University (Long Beach)