careers in the humanities
From filmmaking to anthropology, careers in the humanities are as diverse and interesting as the subjects they cover. Check out interviews with some of our advisors who explain what their jobs are really like.
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Thomas Barfield
As an anthropologist, Dr. Barfield has conducted research on Afghanistan since the 1970s and is the author of The Central Asian Arabs of Afghanistan (1981), The Nomadic Alternative (1983), and (with Albert Szabo) Afghanistan: An Atlas of Indigenous Domestic Architecture (1991), and Afghanistan: A Cultural and Political History (2010). Since 2001 his research has focused on political development in contemporary Afghanistan, particularly questions of customary law and its role in conflict resolution. Dr. Barfield is Professor of Anthropology at Boston University. He is also the president of the American Institute of Afghanistan Studies and the director for the Institute for the Study of Muslim Societies & Civilization.
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Sheila Blair
At Boston College, Professor Blair teaches about all aspects of Islamic art from the seventh century to modern times. She offers surveys on Islamic art, architecture, and urbanism, as well as research seminars on the Silk Road, the Islamic book, and the arts of Iran. Her research is equally broad: she has written ten books, including several international award-winners, and more than 200 articles. Several of her books were written with her husband and co-professor, Jonathan Bloom, with whom she served as artistic consultant to the three-hour documentary Islam: Empire of Faith, shown nationally on PBS. Dr. Blair is a Professor and the Calderwood Chair of the Fine Arts Department at Boston College.
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David B. Edwards
Professor Edwards is an anthropologist, a documentary filmmaker, and the founder of the Afghan Media Project based on the Williams campus. He wrote several books, including Before the Taliban: Genealogies of the Afghan Jihad (2002) and Heroes of the Age: Moral Fault Lines on the Afghan Frontier. Dr. Edwards produced the documentary film, Kabul Transit (2006). Professor Edwards is the Carl W. Vogt '58 Professor of Anthropology at Williams College.
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Morris Rossabi
Professor Rossabi is a historian of Central Asia and China. He has authored several books, and has helped to organize exhibitions at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, at the Cleveland Museum of Art, and at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco. He was on the advisory board of the Project on Central Eurasia of the Soros Foundation. He has written numerous articles and gives talks throughout the country. Professor Rossabi is professor of history at City Univeristy of New York as well as Columbia University.
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Lorraine Sakata
Professor Sakata is an ethnomusicology whose specialty is the music of Afghanistan and Pakistan. She the author of Music in the Mind: The Concepts of Music and Musician in Afghanistan (1983) among other publications. She is also the producer of the album Ustad Mohammad Omar: Virtuoso from Afghanistan (2002). She has been working on a preservation project for the Radio Afghanistan Archives, and is a trustee for the American University in Afghanistan. She is professor emeritus, Department of Ethnomusicology, University of California at Los Angeles.
Our Advisors
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Thomas BarfieldAnthropologist |
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Sheila BlairArt Historian |
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David B. EdwardsAnthropologist |
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Morris RossabiHistorian |
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Lorraine SakataEthnomusicologist |
