Steven J. Folmar
Steven Folmar (Ph.D., Case Western Reserve), is an
applied cultural anthropologist whose main interests are in Medical
Anthropology, Religion and Development. He has conducted fieldwork
in Bangladesh and India, and has ongoing research interests in
Nepal, where he also conducts the Summer Program in Nepal. In
Winston-Salem, he volunteers at the Community Care Clinic/Centro
Clinico, where he also conducts cultural competency seminars
for interpreters, physicians and other health professionals.
Current Research:
Currently, I am focusing my research on tourism in Nepal. My main interest is in the interactions between tourists and hosts as well as among hosts of the various jats directly and indirectly involved in the tourist trade. Findings from my research strongly suggest that tourism is an agent of elaboration or reinforcement of social structure where Village Tourism is being offered. Establishing the specific processes whereby tourism affects social structure necessitates the development of new methods for documenting inter-jat behaviors and changes in them. I welcome any and all commentary on the state of the art methods related to behaviors and beliefs/attitudes that separate people of different jats.
Questions I am struggling to address:
- What inter-jat prohibitions are most likely to change?
- Which changes are superficial and which ones suggest more profound change?
- In what settings and by which methods can we observe inter-jat behaviors systematically?
- What methods are best suited to measuring peoples’ perceptions of jat separation, attitudes toward relaxing prohibitions, establishing which behaviors are viewed as basic and which are less entrenched and the like?
If you have any comments, please email me at folmarsj@wfu.edu or call me at 336-758-6065 to discuss your ideas. I will attempt to keep a summary of selected comments posted here to share with all interested parties.
Courses Taught:
- "Medical Anthropology"
- "Peoples and Cultures of South Asia"
- "Magic, Myth and Symbolism"
- "Ethnographic Methods"
Current Publications:
2004 Folmar S. "Contradiction, Cultural Tourism, Development and Social Structure in Nepal". Southern Anthropologist 30:38-61.
2003 Folmar S. "Caste and Community Participation in Cultural Tourism in Nepal". Practicing Anthropology 25:3-6.
2002 Folmar S, M Edwards. "Hope or Despair? Comments on Community and Economic Development in Rural Syangja". European Bulletin of Himalayan Research 23:86-91.
Contact:
Postal Mail:
Steven Folmar
Anthropology Department
PO Box 7807
Winston-Salem, NC 27109
Phone: 336.758.6065
Email: folmarsj@wfu.edu
