(PhD, U Chicago, 1993; Dist Lect) Nationalism, race, gender, anthropology and history, popular religion, Latin America, Caribbean, Atlantic studies (skurski@umich.edu)

Dr. Skurski was appointed Distinguished Lecturer in Anthropology, effective September 1, 2009. She comes from the University of Michigan, where she taught in the departments of Anthropology and History, and was the Associate Director of the Doctoral Program in Anthropology and History. Her books include States of Violence, coedited with Fernando Coronil. She is now at work on “Civilizing Barbarism: Nationhood, Masculinity, and Mestizaje in Early Twentieth-Century Venezuela.” Related to this project, she is conducting research on the relationship between secular and esoteric formations of national and collective identity, focusing on Freemasonry and popular religiosity in Venezuela and Cuba. She has also been working on the artistic work and political vision of several popular painters in Venezuela. She is a member of the editorial board of the “Politics, History, Culture” book series of Duke University Press.