John Schaefer is a visiting instructor of anthropology at Wake Forest University. He received a B.A. in English from John Brown University (Arkansas) and an M.A. in cultural anthropology from the University of Arkansas. He is a Ph.D. candidate in anthropology (folklore and public culture) at the University of Texas at Austin. His dissertation concerns the Gnawa in Morocco. The Gnawa are a loosely organized group of lay religious orders in Morocco that identify with urban descendants of formerly enslaved West Africans brought across the Sahara desert between the 11th century and the early 20th century. Their music, which originates from all-night trance and possession rituals, has become popular among jazz and world-music audiences. He also publishes on popular Islam, linguistic anthropology, and new communication technologies. He has taught at Ashland University and the College of Wooster in Ohio, and Hartwick College in New York.
Postal Mail:
John Schaefer
Anthropology Department
PO Box 7807
Winston-Salem, NC 27109
Phone: TBA
Email: schaefjp@wfu.edu
