1. Could you tell us a bit about your background and why you chose to come to Knox?

I originate from the land of Vachel Lindsay, about 3 hours south of Galesburg near the capital of Springfield, IL. Raised by Irish Catholic mother devoted to the study of world religion, I've always had an interest in cultural complexity and the identificatory aspects of religious worship. From an early age, I've been fascinated with the ways in which people from all backgrounds make a discursive switch into alternative cultural matrices. Culture has never been something static in my life. It seems I've always been in the process of hybridizing, a never-ending mixing of ideas and beliefs. My choice to come to Knox was twofold. I loved the pluralist atmosphere, where conservatives and liberals, hippies and punks, farmers and urbanites, and the all-around diversity engendered open debate outside and inside the classroom. Schools like Oberlin and Reed appealed to my liberal-swinging ethos, but their relative lack of idea-centered diversity made them boring when compared to Knox. I also came here because of my devotion to my music. Being closer to home, I was able to continue playing music with my rock band up until my junior year.  And now, I've started a new indie rock outfit with my best friend from Knox. It has been a wonderful experience, both academically and socially...I don't regret anything.


2. Why did you decide to major in Anthropology and Sociology at Knox?

I came to Knox thinking I would major in Political Science and Creative Writing. Then I waffled and became interested in history and philosophy. But, my sophomore year, I took a course with Prof. Chad Broughton and I realized that my interests in politics, economics, culture, religion/philosophy, history, and the arts had a home in the qualitative social sciences. I could be an activist and a scholar, a philosopher and an empirical researcher, a writer and an aesthetic enthusiast, a humanist and a social scientist. When I took my first "anthro" course, I knew that I was at "home" in this discipline.  Ironically, it was because I felt it to be so "inter-disciplinary."  Eventually, I became persuaded by the methodologies of reflexive ethnography after conducting field research in India and it was settled.


3. What were some of your favorite classes in our department - and why?

I have to confess that I'm a theory addict. My favorite courses would have to be, what I see, as the three most intense theory-centered courses in our department: Social Theory (of course), Psychological Anthropology, and Media and Society. Because of my interests in history and philosophy, these courses provided an interesting view of
the historical development of ideas regarding the socio-cultural world. I feel that I've left with an interesting mix of lenses ranging from Marxism to semiotics to post-structuralism.  Psychological Anthropology also led me to my senior honors research, where I explored concepts of selfhood and identity among Tibetan refugees living in Chicago, IL.

4. What are your immediate plans for the future? What are your long term goals, and how do you feel your major will help you with these goals?

My immediate plans are to attend the University of Chicago next year and acquire a Masters of Arts degree in the Social Sciences. I plan to beef up on Hindi and Tibetan languages, take some more courses in South Asian anthropology and apply for a Fulbright to return to India. I plan to use this time to specify my research interests which, up to this point, have been all over the place. In the next year or so, I'm
going to reapply to phD programs in socio-cultural anthropology. In the long term, I hope to land a position at a university or liberal arts college to teach and continue research. I'd also like to do some more practical work abroad in NGOs and other humanitarian organizations. I feel that my B.A. in AnSo has prepared me adequately for graduate school and the departmental focus on both theory and
method has offered me a healthy mix of scholarly and practical sensitivity to socio-cultural issues worldwide. Because Knox is relatively small, I've also had the opportunity to T.A. two courses in the department. This experience will surely come in handy when I get to the point of actually designing and teaching my own courses.

5. Is there anything else you would like to add?

The faculty!!!! The faculty in the AnSo department are compassionate and intellectually demanding. They've pushed me when I've needed to be pushed and have consoled me when I've needed to be consoled. I've
come to respect them as mentors and as friends. The students, too, I cannot forget. I may be biased, but I've always felt that my colleagues are a lively bunch of young academics with divergent worldviews and opinions. They've never shyed away from offering their intense criticism and, conversely, their support.