Richard Handler


Richard Handler Professor & Associate Dean Ph.D. University of Chicago 1979	Photo: Stephanie Gross
I am a cultural anthropologist who studies modern western societies. My initial fieldwork was in Quebec (1976-1984) where I studied the Québécois nationalist movement. This has led to an enduring interest in nationalism, ethnicity, and the politics of culture. Upon coming to Virginia in 1986, I pursued the latter topic by looking at history museums. Beginning in 1990, I worked with Eric Gable (Ph.D. Virginia 1990) and Anna Lawson (Ph.D. Virginia 1995) on an ethnographic study of Colonial Williamsburg, which is both an outdoor museum and a mid-sized nonprofit corporation. In addition to examining the invention of history and tradition, our study focuses on corporate culture, class, race and gender. A different interest is the intersection of anthropology and literature. I have written on Jane Austen's novels, on the literary bent of such noted anthropologists as Ruth Benedict and Edward Sapir, and on the difficulties of writing the ethnography of nationalist movements. Finally, I have had an ongoing interest in the history of American anthropology - in particular, in anthropologists as critics of modernity, and the relationship of our discipline's critical discourse to other intellectual trends. I am the editor of the journal-series History of Anthropology. Specializations Sociocultural anthropology; nationalism, ethnicity and multi-culturalism; museum studies; cultural criticism; symbolic anthropology; history of anthropology; anthropology and literature; culture theory; modern societies; contemporary North America. Courses Nationalism and the Politics of Culture, Boasian Anthropology, Cultural Studies and Culture Theory, The Museum in Modern Culture. Selected Publications 2006 - (edited) Central Sites, Peripheral Visions: Cultural and Institutional Crossings in the History of Anthropology (History of Anthropology, vol. 11). University of Wisconsin Press. 2005 - Critics Against Culture: Anthropological Observers of Mass Society. University of Wisconsin Press. 2004 - (edited) Significant Others: Interpersonal and Professional Commitments in Anthropology (History of Anthropology, vol. 10). University of Wisconsin Press. 2000 - (edited) Excluded Ancestors, Inventible Traditions: Essays toward a More Inclusive History of Anthropology (History of Anthropology, vol. 9). University of Wisconsin Press. 1997 - (with Eric Gable). The New History in an Old Museum: Creating the Past at Colonial Williamsburg. Duke University Press. 1995 - Schneider on Schneider: The Conversion of the Jews and Other Anthropological Stories. Interviews with David M. Schneider, transcribed, edited and with an introduction by Richard Handler. Duke University Press. 1990 - (with Daniel Segal). The Fiction of Culture: Jane Austen and the Narration of Social Realities. Tucson: University of Arizona Press. 1988 - Nationalism and the Politics of Culture in Quebec. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.

Professor & Associate Dean
Ph.D. University of Chicago 1979

Photo: Stephanie Gross

I am a cultural anthropologist who studies modern western societies. My initial fieldwork was in Quebec (1976-1984) where I studied the Québécois nationalist movement. This has led to an enduring interest in nationalism, ethnicity, and the politics of culture. Upon coming to Virginia in 1986, I pursued the latter topic by looking at history museums. Beginning in 1990, I worked with Eric Gable (Ph.D. Virginia 1990) and Anna Lawson (Ph.D. Virginia 1995) on an ethnographic study of Colonial Williamsburg, which is both an outdoor museum and a mid-sized nonprofit corporation. In addition to examining the invention of history and tradition, our study focuses on corporate culture, class, race and gender.

A different interest is the intersection of anthropology and literature. I have written on Jane Austen's novels, on the literary bent of such noted anthropologists as Ruth Benedict and Edward Sapir, and on the difficulties of writing the ethnography of nationalist movements. Finally, I have had an ongoing interest in the history of American anthropology - in particular, in anthropologists as critics of modernity, and the relationship of our discipline's critical discourse to other intellectual trends. I am the editor of the journal-series History of Anthropology.

Specializations

Sociocultural anthropology; nationalism, ethnicity and multi-culturalism; museum studies; cultural criticism; symbolic anthropology; history of anthropology; anthropology and literature; culture theory; modern societies; contemporary North America.

Courses

Nationalism and the Politics of Culture, Boasian Anthropology, Cultural Studies and Culture Theory, The Museum in Modern Culture.

Selected Publications

2006 - (edited) Central Sites, Peripheral Visions: Cultural and Institutional Crossings in the History of Anthropology (History of Anthropology, vol. 11). University of Wisconsin Press.
2005 - Critics Against Culture: Anthropological Observers of Mass Society. University of Wisconsin Press.
2004 - (edited) Significant Others: Interpersonal and Professional Commitments in Anthropology (History of Anthropology, vol. 10). University of Wisconsin Press.
2000 - (edited) Excluded Ancestors, Inventible Traditions: Essays toward a More Inclusive History of Anthropology (History of Anthropology, vol. 9). University of Wisconsin Press.
1997 - (with Eric Gable). The New History in an Old Museum: Creating the Past at Colonial Williamsburg. Duke University Press.
1995 - Schneider on Schneider: The Conversion of the Jews and Other Anthropological Stories. Interviews with David M. Schneider, transcribed, edited and with an introduction by Richard Handler. Duke University Press.
1990 - (with Daniel Segal). The Fiction of Culture: Jane Austen and the Narration of Social Realities. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.
1988 - Nationalism and the Politics of Culture in Quebec. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.