Background
Harkin, Michael Eugene was born on August 16, 1958 in Muncie, Indiana, United States. Son of Roy Eugene and Sandra Arlene (Satterthwaite) Harkin.
( In an incisive and wide-ranging critique of ethnohistor...)
In an incisive and wide-ranging critique of ethnohistory and historical anthropology, Michael E. Harkin develops an innovative approach to understanding the profound cultural changes experienced during the past century by the Heiltsuks (Bella Bella), a Northwest Coast Indian group. Between 1880 and 1920, the Heiltsuks changed from one of the most traditional and aggressive groups on the Northwest Coast to paragons of Victorian virtues. Why and how did this dramatic transformation occur? Harkin answers these questions by tracing the changing views the Heiltsuks had of themselves and of their past as they encountered colonial powers. Rejecting many of the common methods and assumptions of ethnohistorians as unwittingly Eurocentric or simplistic, Harkin argues that the multiple perspectives, motives, and events constituting the Heiltsuks’ world and history can be productively conceived of as dialogues, ongoing series of culturally embedded communicative acts that presuppose previous acts and constrain future ones. Historical transformations in three of these dialogues, centering on the body, material goods, and concepts of the soul, are examined in detail.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0803273266/?tag=2022091-20
anthropologist educator writer
Harkin, Michael Eugene was born on August 16, 1958 in Muncie, Indiana, United States. Son of Roy Eugene and Sandra Arlene (Satterthwaite) Harkin.
Bachelor with honors, University North Carolina, 1980. AM, University Chicago, 1984. Doctor of Philosophy, University Chicago, 1988.
Visiting assistant professor, U. Wyoming, Laramie, 1989-1990; assistant professor, U. Wyoming, Laramie, 1993-1996; associate professor anthropology, U. Wyoming, Laramie, since 1996; visiting assistant professor, Montana State University, Bozeman, 1990-1991; assistant professor, Emory University, Atlanta, 1991-1993.
( In an incisive and wide-ranging critique of ethnohistor...)
Fellow American Anthropological Association. Member American Society for Ethnohistory, American Ethnological Society, American Society for Psychological Anthropology.
Married Alison Margaret Quaggin. Children: Caroline Margaret, James Michael, William Evan.