I have taught Anthropology and African Studies at Colby since 1994. My teaching interests focus most particularly on the roots of violent conflict and the forces that sustain inequality and produce poverty. My first major research project was in southern Somalia in the late 1980s, just prior to the civil war. The articles and books I wrote about my research with Somali Bantu communities along the Jubba River Valley seek to explain why this population was so victimized during the war. Many of the surviving refugees from the villages in which I worked now live in Lewiston Maine, and we are working together to document what happened to them since the outbreak of civil war in 1991.

I also study post apartheid transformation in Cape Town, South Africa, with a particular focus on local activisits working to overcome Cape Town's enduring patterns of racism and poverty.

http://www.americastoppundits.net

Post Apartheid Transformation in Cape Town My research on post apartheid transformation in Cape Town will be published in a book, Transforming Cape Town, by the University of California Press in Spring 2008. The book describes the challenges of effecting transformation in a city left with enduring material and ideological divisions after apartheid. It follows the efforts of 6 projects of transformation, chronicling the success and failures of new grassroots initiatives to combat poverty, transform education, and support youth development.
Public Anthropology Anthropology is a discipline of profound importance in a globalized world. Demonstrating anthropology's critical insights on contemporary issues is the central project of two coedited books with anthropology Hugh Gusterson (George Mason University). Click on this link to learn about Why America's Top Pundits are Wrong: Pundits

Click on this link to read the pledge against anthropological involvement in covert intelligence work: Pledge