James Herron
Background and Description
James Herron is a linguistic and cultural anthropologist whose research focuses on the anthropology of bureaucracy and the state approached through a linguistic lens. His work is mainly concerned with the production and reproduction of social relations and cultural forms in face-to-face interaction. His other interests in include Latin American political economy and indigenous social movements. He received an A.B. (with distinction) in philosophy and anthropology from the University of Michigan, a M.A. in cultural anthropology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a Ph.D. in linguistic anthropology for the University of Michigan (2003). Dr. Herron has held research fellowships from the National Science Foundation, the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, among others. He conducted ethnographic research in the indigenous community of Guambía situated in the Andean region of Cauca (Colombia), and his doctoral dissertation, entitled “Animating the State: Discourses of Authority and Intimacy in the Colombia Agrarian Bank,” explores the everyday presence of the Colombian state in the lives of indigenous people by examining the micro-linguistics of institutional encounters between Guambiano clients and state officials of the Caja Agraria. He is currently at work on a book manuscript tentatively titled The Embodied State. Dr. Herron has taught courses on “Language and Culture,” “Language in Society,” “Indigenous Peoples and the State in Latin America,” “Colonial Latin American History,” and “Language Politics in the U.S.” He currently teaches anthropology in the Expository Writing Program at Harvard University, and has also held faculty appointments at the University of Michigan and Michigan State University. He has an avid (and non-professional) interest in Latin, African, and Caribbean music—among his favorite artists are Cortijo y Su Combo, Franco et le Tout Puissant o.k. Jazz, I-Roy, and Fruko y Sus Tesos.