CURRICULUM VITAE

 Philip W. Scher

Associate Professor
Department of Anthropology
1218 University of Oregon
Eugene, Oregon 97403-1218

Contact Information:
541-346-5104 (Phone)
pscher@uoregon.edu (email)

Training
Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania: jointly conferred by the Department of Anthropology and Department of Folklore, December 1997.
M.A. University of Pennsylvania: Department of Folklore and Folklife, 1991.
B.A. Brown University: Modern Culture and Media and History, 1987.

Academic Positions

Associate Professor: University of Oregon, 2005-present
Assistant Professor: University of Oregon, 2002-2005
Visiting Assistant Professor: George Washington University, 1998-2002
Instructor: University of Pennsylvania, 1995-1998

Publications

Books

Carnival and the Formation of a Caribbean Transnation. The University Press of Florida (April, 2003).

Trinidad Carnival: The Cultural Politics of a Transnational Festival. With Garth Green (eds.). Bloomington: Indiana
University Press (February, 2007).

Perspectives on the Caribbean: A Reader in Culture and History.  With Kevin Yelvington, (eds.),  Oxford: Blackwell Publishers (Forthcoming fall, 2008).

Refereed Journal Publications

“Privatizing Nationalism: Intangible Heritage and Governmentality in the Caribbean.” American Ethnologist. Submitted Fall 2007.

"Heritage Tourism in the Caribbean: Identity and Politics After Neoliberalism." Bulletin of Latin American Research (Forthcomming fall, 2007).

"The Devil and the Bedwetter: Carnival, Memory, National Culture and Post-Colonial Consciousness in Trinidad and Tobago." Western Folklore Quarterly (Forthcoming winter, 2007).

"Copyright Heritage: Preservation, Carnival and the State in Trinidad." Anthropological Quarterly. 75(3) : 453-484 (2002). This essay was selected by Current Anthropology for their "Anthropological Currents" section which summarizes notable essays from other social science journals. Reviewed by Bolnick et al.

Confounding Categories in the Caribbean Art Market: Reflections on Self-Taught Artists in Trinidad and Tobago, in Small Axe: Caribbean Journal of Criticism. 6, 1999.

Refereed Book Chapters

“When Natives Become Tourists of Themselves: Returning Transnationals and Carnival in Trinidad and Tobago.” In Garth Green and Philip Scher (eds.) Trinidad Carnival: The Cultural Politcs of a Transnational Festival, Indiana University Press, 2007.

“Introduction: Trinidad Carnival in Global Context.” In Garth Green and Philip Scher (eds.) Trinidad Carnival: The Cultural Politcs of a Transnational Festival, Indiana University Press, 2007.

“From Metropole to the Equator: Carnival and National Consciousness between New York and Trinidad.” In Caribbean Popular Culture and Globalization. Christine Ho and Keith Nurse (eds.) Kingston: Ian Randle Publishers. February 2005.

"West Indian American Day: Becoming a Tile in the "Gorgeous Mosaic," in John Pulis, ed. Religion, Diaspora and Cultural Identity: A Reader in the Anglophone Caribbean. Gordon and Breach, 1999.

Self-Taught Artists in Context: An American Cultural and Historical Timeline, in Thirty-Two Self-Taught Artists of the Twentieth Century: An American Anthology. San Francisco: Chronicle Press (1998).

"Unveiling the Orisha"  In Sandra T. Barnes, ed. Africa's Ogun: Old World and New. Bloomington: Indiana University Press (1997), pp. 314-331.

Review Essays

Carnaval! A Review of Barbara Mauldin. Visual Anthropology Review. Vol 21 Nos 1&2, 2005.

Religion and Identity in the Caribbean.  Review of Aisha Khan, Callaloo Nation, Duke University Press (2004) Anthropological Quarterly (2005)

Rituals of Power and Rebellion: A Review of Hollis Liverpool. New West Indian Guide. Vol. 77, No.1&2 pp.58-60. 2003.

Caribbean Diasporas in Historical Perspective. Review Essay in Caribbean Studies Newsletter  (1999).

Grants and Awards

Fulbright IIE Fixed Sum Grant. 1993-1994.
Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research. 1994-1995.

University of Pennsylvania, School of Arts and Sciences, Dissertation Fellowship. 1997-1998.
Excellence in Academic Advising,
George Washington University
University
of Oregon
New Faculty Grant, 2002-2003
University of Oregon Junior Professorship Development Award, 2002 & 2003
Rippey Innovative Teaching Award, 2002-2003
Member,
University of Oregon Faculty Senate, 2003-2005.
University of Oregon Summer Research Award, Summer 2007.

Academic Conferences

The Politics and Economics of Cultural Tourism: Policing Cultural Performance in the Caribbean: American Ethnological Society/Canadian Anthropological Society Meetings, University of Toronto, May 2007.

Culture ™: Anthropological Perspectives on Culture and Development in the Caribbean. Arts, Culture and Communities in Development Conference, New York University, October 2006.

Playing in the Brand:
Caribbean Culture and Consciousness After Neoliberalism. American Folklore Society Annual Meeting, (Atlanta, Georgia) November, 2005.

Caribbean Carnival in New York City. “Performing Policy – Enacting Diversity” Conference, Humboldt University (Berlin, Germany) May 13-15 2005.

The Politics of Preservation: An Anthropological Perspective.  International Committee for Museums of Ethnography Session of the International Council of Museums General Conference. (Seoul, Korea) October, 2004.

Carnival and Copyright in Trinidad. Caribbean Studies Association Annual Meeting, (St.Kitts, West Indies): May 2004.

Cultural Appropriation In Trinidad: Notes Towards a Problematic of Appropriation. American Anthropological Association Meetings, (New Orleans, LA): November, 2002.

Carnival Between Nations: Transnational Processes in Expressive Culture. Research Institute for the Study of Man (New York, NY): April, 1999.

The Politics of Preserving Heritage in Trinidad. World Conference on Carnival (Hartford, CT): September 1998.

Popular Culture in the Caribbean: Global Issues, Local Forms. American Ethnological Society (Toronto, Canada): Co-Organized panel and presented paper, May 1998.

Globalization, Transnationalism and the Politics of Everyday Life. Caribbean Studies Association (Antigua, WI): Co-Organized panel and presented paper, May 1998.

Transnationalism, Nationalism & Cultural Identity. American Ethnological Society Conference: (San Juan, Puerto Rico): "Carnival in Brooklyn: The Making of a Transnation," 1996.

Caribbean Carnival in Diaspora: A Moveable Fete. SUNY Binghamton Conference: The African Diaspora: African Origins and New World Self-Fashioning. (Binghamton, New York): 1996.

The Brooklyn Carnival: Becoming a Tile in the ‘Gorgeous Mosaic.’ American Anthropological Association: Annual Meeting (Washington D.C.): 1995.

Bringing it all Back Home:  The International Carnival Competition in Trinidad and Tobago. Latin American Studies Association Annual Meeting (Washington D.C.): 1995.

Play in Playing Mas’. Center for Urban Ethnography Annual Meeting (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania): 1993.

Carnival as Transnational Cultural Process. American Folklore Society Annual Meeting (Jacksonville, Florida): 1992.

Folklore, Methodology and the Postmodern Ethnography Debate. American Folklore Society  Annual Meeting (Oakland, CA): 1990.

Invited Lectures
 

Global Themes in Local Art: Images of Mass Production in Contemporary Art in Trinidad Davidson College (Davidson, N.C.) April 3, 2000.

Costume Design and Cultural Politics in Brooklyn New York’s West Indian Day Parade. Center for the Humanities, University of Missouri-St. Louis (St. Louis, MO): October, 1999.