David J. Perusek

Associate Professor

Department of Anthropology

Kent State University- Ashtabula Campus

(440) 964-4289
dperusek@kent.edu

PhD, Michigan State University

I have recently completed my PhD in cultural anthropology. My dissertation, which examines the ideological dimensions and social control properties of what institutions these days label 'cultural diversity,' is titled, "Teach Your Children Well: Cultural Diversity, Ideology, and Social Control in Higher Education." It is an interesting and, I hope, useful piece of work.

Here at Kent, I've been teaching both general and honors sections of Introduction to Cultural Anthropology since the fall of 1998. I have also taught a course in medical anthropology titled "Critical Perspectives in Medicine and Culture." Presenting medicine in cultural context and exploring contemporary culture in the U.S. in relation to its medical system, this is a course that should appeal to students from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds. I look forward to teaching it.

My academic specializations are: culture in the contemporary United States, medical anthropology, language and culture, social theory, "race" and ethnic relations, and the ethnography of "cultural diversity" and "multiculturalism." I have also lived in India and have an interest in the ethnography of South Asia.