Gareth Barkin

Professor and Chair, Sociology and Anthropology

I’m a cultural anthropologist whose research is focused on practices surrounding the representation of culture in and of Southeast Asia. More specifically, I study mass media producers in Indonesia, and how they negotiate that country’s deep divisions, particularly religious cleavages, to associate national or regional identity with consumption. My current research explores short-term study abroad at U.S. universities, focusing on the representation of Southeast Asian culture and place in an increasingly market-driven pedagogical arena.

I am the chair of the Department of Sociology & Anthropology and the director of the Luce Initiative on Southeast Asia and the Environment (LIASE) Southeast Asia Symposium, as well as the fieldschool program leader for Indonesia. My teaching brings together a general interest in cultural anthropology practice and methodology, through courses like Introduction to Anthropology (SOAN 102) and Ethnographic Methods (SOAN 299), with my specific research focus, through courses like Muslim Cultures and Communities (SOAN 380), Visual & Media Anthropology (SOAN 308), and Indonesia & Southeast Asia in Cultural Context (SOAN 312).

See an updated list of my publications.