Research Interests

There are several areas in which I have done research. They actually connect in circuitous ways. See publication links below.

1. Music in Society. In one way or another I have been studying musical cultures since my undergraduate days (my senior thesis was about Yoruba music of West Africa), and my first fieldwork was a study of Guajiro music (Venezuela). Eventually, this interest led me to the University of Illinois to study in a combined program of anthropology and ethnomusicology, where I became interested in American experimental music. I have published a book (Dialectics in the Arts: The Rise of Experimentalism in American Music, 1996) and several articles on this topic.

2. Community Research. I am "hooked" on community research because I like doing ethnographic research. Much of my work to date has been situated in the Lehigh Valley, with a focus on cultural tourism and urban revitalization. A number of students at Cedar Crest have contributed to this research over the years.

3. Pilgrimage Studies. In the past several years, I have studied sacred and secular forms of pilgrimage. The latter type has led me to collaborate with John Gatewood (Lehigh University) on the appeal of and experience of visitors at historic sites. We have published several articles on an unusual response to historic places (called numen-seeking) in which people seek a deeper, emotional connection to the people and events of the past. Our paper on visitation at Gettysburg National Military Park is our best effort to date on elaborating the numen response.

4. Tourism & the Caribbean. My first fieldwork was in the Guajiro Penninsula of Venezuela and Colombia, which jutted into the Caribbean Sea. I made sporadic field trips over the years to the Caribbean, but recently resumed my study of the region with research in the Turks & Caicos Islands (TCI). With John Gatewood, I am studying the new relatively industry of tourism in TCI and its impact on the people and culture.

Click here for more information on research at the Vraj Temple

To see a list of papers and publications, please follow these links:

Publications

Papers Presented