Professor

Degrees:

DPhil, University of Oxford

Research Interests:

Geographical specialization: Southeast Asia, especially Indonesia. Fieldwork conducted on the Indonesian islands of Sumba (1975-1976, 1983, 2005) and Flores (1984-present). Current research: indigenous social organization and history of the Nage and Keo peoples of central Flores (including colonial history), ethnozoology of central Flores, images of the 'wildman' in Southeast Asia, images of outsiders and head-stealing rumours in Southeast Asia.

Teaching Areas:

 Anthropology of religion, ethnographic methods, kinship and social structure.

Courses:

Fall 2009:
Anthr 207: Introduction to Cultural Anthropology

Winter 2010:
Anthr 401: Ethnographic Methods

Other Courses:
Anthropology of Religion
Peoples and Cultures of Southeast Asia

Selected Recent Publications:

Books and monographs:

Images of the wildman in Southeast Asia: An anthropological perspective. London and New York: Routledge. 2008

Nage birds: Classification and symbolism among an eastern Indonesian people. London and New York: Routledge. 2004

Guardians of the land in Kelimado: Louis Fontijne's study of a colonial district in eastern Indonesia (Translated from the Dutch and edited with an Introduction and Afterword by Gregory Forth). Translation Series 27. Leiden: The Royal Institute (KITLV) Press. 2004

Dualism and hierarchy: Processes of binary combination in Keo society. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2001

Beneath the volcano: Religion, cosmology and spirit classification among the Nage of eastern Indonesia. Leiden: The Royal Institute (KITLV) Press. 1998

Papers and chapters in books:

‘Tree totems and the Tamarind people: Implications of clan plan taboos in central Flores’. To appear in Oceania. 2009.

‘Separating the dead: The ritual transformation of affinal exchange in central Flores’. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute (N.S.) 15:557-574. 2009
 
‘What’s in a bird name: Relationships among ethno-ornithological terms in Nage and other Malayo-Polynesian languages’. To appear in Sonia Tideman and Andrew Gosler, eds. Ethno-ornithology: Birds and indigenous people, culture, and society. London: Earthscan. 2009

‘Human beings and other people: Classification of human groups and categories among the Nage of Flores (eastern Indonesia)’. To appear in Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde (Royal Institute, Leiden) 165(4). 2009

‘Transformation and replacement: A comparison of some Indonesian bird myths’. In Anthony R. Walker, ed., Pika-Pika: The flashing firefly: Essays to honour the life of Pauline Hetland Walker (1938-2005). New Delhi: Hindustan Publishing Corporation. 2009 (pp. 385-402).

‘Miwok mysteries: The question of asymmetric prescriptive marriage in aboriginal North America’. Ethnology 47(1):61-82. 2008

‘A tale of two villages: Hierarchy and precedence in Keo dual organization’. In: J.J. Fox and M. Vischer, eds. Precedence: Social Differentiation in the Austronesian World. Canberra: Australian National University Press. 2008 (pp. 191-208)

‘Friarbird on Roti’. Anthropos 103:541-45. 2008

‘Can animals break taboos?: Applications of ‘taboo’ among the Nage of eastern Indonesia’. Oceania 77(2): 215-231. 2007

‘Pigeon and friarbird revisited: A further analysis of an eastern Indonesian mythico-ornithological contrast’. Anthropos 102:495-513. 2007

‘Images of the wildman inside and outside Europe’. Folklore 118: 261-282. 2007.

‘Transformation and replacement: A comparison of some Indonesian bird myths’. In Anthony R. Walker, ed., Pika-Pika: The flashing firefly: Essays to honour the life of Pauline Hetland Walker (1938-2005). Delhi: Hindustan Publishing Corporation. 2007 (pp. 359-377).

‘Flores after floresiensis: Implications of local reaction to recent palaeoanthropological discoveries on an eastern Indonesian island’. Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde (Royal Institute, Leiden) 162 (2/3): 332-45. 2006.

‘Words for “bird” in eastern Indonesia’.  Journal of Ethnobiology 26(2): 177-207. 2006

‘Wildman’. IIAS Newsletter 41: 1, 10-11. International Institute for Asian Studies. Summer 2006.

‘Sounds, spirits, symbols and signs: birds in Nage cosmology’. In Les Messagers divins: aspects esthétiques et symboliques des oiseaux en Asie du Sud-Est, edited by Pierre LeRoux and Bernard Sellato, Paris/Marseille: Seven Orients/Presses de l'Université de Provence. Pp. 579-614. 2006.

'Hominids, hairy hominoids and the science of humanity', Anthropology Today 21 (3):13-17. 2005.

'The diatribe of 'Ajo Bupu and the oration of Lowa Bata: examples of parallelistic speaking among the Nage of central Flores (Indonesia)'. The Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology 6(1): 35-56. 2005.

'Palaeoanthropology and local legends: Homo floresiensis in the news', Anthropology Today 21 (1):22. 2005.

'Public affairs: institutionalized non-marital sex in an eastern Indonesian society'. Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde (Royal Institute, Leiden) Vol. 160 (2/3): 315-338. 2004.

'A "cock" and "bull" story: Nage sex terms and their implications for ethnozoological classification'. Anthropological Linguistics 46(4): 427-49. 2004.

'Indonesian shamanism', in M.N. Walter and E.J. Fridman, eds., Shamanism: an enyclopedia of world beliefs, practices, and culture. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO. pp. 810-15. 2004.

'Editor's Introduction', in Gregory Forth, editor, Guardians of the land in Kelimado: Louis Fontijne's study of a colonial district in eastern Indonesia. Leiden: KITLV Press. pages 1-58. 2004.

'Editor's Afterword: Wolo Wea and Keli Mado in current perspective; a critical evaluation of Fontijne's study of Nage society and culture'. in Gregory Forth, editor, Guardians of the land in Kelimado: Louis Fontijne's study of a colonial district in eastern Indonesia. Leiden: KITLV Press. pages 201-53. 2004

'Contemporary zoological transformation and the Semai of Malaysia', Anthropos 99: 585-86. 2004.

'The category of "animal" in eastern Indonesia, Journal of Ethnobiology Vol. 24 (no. 1): 51-73. 2004.

'Change and continuity in Nage house form', in R. Schefold, P.J.M. Nas, and G. Domenig (eds.), Indonesian houses : tradition and transformation in vernacular architecture Volume 1. The Royal Institute of Linguistics and Anthropology (KITLV; VKI 207), Leiden. pp. 219-50. 2003.
 

(Full c.v. available on request: gforth@ualberta.ca)