Anthropology

Anthropology is the study of the human species as a whole; it requires mastery of a variety of fields. The Honors Tutorial program in Anthropology balances a commitment to breadth and rigor with an opportunity for self-disciplined and highly motivated students to explore fundamental and cutting-edge issues creatively. 

It is a four-year program during which time students are expected to take a tutorial course each term, along with language, collateral studies and upper-division anthropology courses. This enables students to acquire the full range of skills necessary to successfully continue in graduate study. Students will have excellent opportunities for intensive study with all the faculty members in the department.

Program Overview

Tutorials during the first two years are fixed content: students will take one tutorial in each of the fields of anthropology covered by the department. The second year tutorials will focus generally on theory and method, but may be taken in any of the sub-fields. At the end of the second year, students must declare a field of specialization that will become the focus of their tutorial courses in their third and fourth years. 

Tutorials and courses during the third and fourth years will enable students to pursue areas within their specialization in depth and to explore synthetic issues. During the fourth year, students will use their tutorials to develop and write a thesis based on original research.

Courses

  • Eight tutorials in anthropology, including the sub-disciplines of archaeology, biological anthropology or cultural anthropology. 
  • Two upper-level anthropology courses from each sub-discipline.
  • Supplemental courses: Linguistics 2750, a data analysis course in statistics, foreign language competence through the 2130 level plus two 3000-level classes in the same language, and additional supplemental courses selected from an approved list provided by the Director of Studies.

Opportunities Upon Graduation

The labor/job market reflects the diversity of anthropology as a field. Past anthropology students from Ohio University have been successful in pursuing careers in professional graduate programs, including medical school, law school, and nursing. Anthropology students have been accepted into top graduate schools in anthropology, social work, forensics, history, and other related fields.

Many received fellowships or research assistantships because of their undergraduate research experiences. They have also entered many governmental agencies, including the Peace Corps, AMERICORPS, VISTA, Park Service, and National Endowment for the Humanities. Students in cultural anthropology often get positions in NGOs focused on US or international development. Archaeology students are employed in cultural resource management firms, historic preservation offices, contract archaeology businesses, or museums. Students in biological anthropology have graduated with positions in forensics labs, zoos, and primate centers. 

Director of Study

Smoki Musaraja

Smoki Musaraj
Department of Sociology and Anthropology
Ohio University
Bentley Hall Annex
Athens, OH 45701
740.597.2722
musaraj@ohio.edu

Visit the Department of Sociology and Anthropology website .

Education

Ph.D. Anthropology. New School for Social Research, 2012

M.A. Political Science. New School for Social Research, 2004

B.A. Cultural Studies and Political Studies. Trent University, 2001

Research & Expertise

  • Economic Anthropology
  • Theories of Money and Value
  • Informal Economies
  • Anthropology of Corruption
  • Socialism and Postsocialism
  • Southeast Europe
  • Albania

Courses Taught

  • ANTH 1010: Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
  • Anth 3270 Anthropology of Bubbles, Crises, and Crashes
  • ANTH 3500/5500: Economic Anthropology
  • ANTH 3820: Cultures of the Mediterranean
  • ANTH 4841/5941: Seminar in Cultural Anthropology: Situating Global Capitalism
  • T3 4400 (co-taught): Seminar in Wealth and Poverty

Awards, Fellowships & Grants

Germaine Tillion Chair, Mediterranean Tomorrow, IMERA Institute of Advanced Studies, Marseille, France (2023)

Stavro Skëndi Book Prize for Achievement in Albanian Studies, Society for Albanian Studies (2020)

New York Public Library Short Term Fellowship (2020)

Outstanding Tutor Award, Honors Tutorial College, Ohio University (2020)

Baker Fund Award, Ohio University (2019)

First Book Subvention Award, Association for East European, Eurasia, and Slavic Studies (ASEEES) (2019)

Distinguished Mentor Award, Honor Tutorial College (2017)

Ohio University Research Committee Award, Ohio University (2015)

Publications

Books

Nataša Gregoriç Bon and Smoki Musaraj, eds. 2021. Remitting, Building, and Restoring Contemporary Albania . (Co-edited with Nataša Gregorič Bon). Palgrave Macmillan.

Musaraj, Smoki. 2020. Tales from Albarado: Ponzi Logics of Accumulation in Postsocialist Albania . Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

Maurer, Bill, Smoki Musaraj, and Ivan Small. Editors. 2018. Money at the Margins: Global Perspectives on Technology, Inclusion and Design . New York and Oxford: Berghahn Books. (The Human Economy Series, Eds. Keith Hart and John Sharp).

Peer-Reviewed Articles

Musaraj, S., 2023. " Housing as Asset and Payment: Construction, Speculation, and Financialization at the European Periphery ." American Anthropologist , 125(4), pp.865-879.

Musaraj, Smoki. 2019. “The Magic of Pyramid Firms: Political Cosmologies, Credibility and Collapsed Finance” Ethnos: Journal of Anthropology . 84(2): 179-200.

Musaraj, Smoki. 2018 “Corruption, Right On! Hidden Cameras, Satire and Intimacies of Anti-corruption.” Current Anthropology . 59 (S18): S105-S116

Musaraj, Smoki,2017 “Pyramid Firms and Value Transformation in Postsocialist Albania.” Ethnologie Française . Vol 2: 321-330.

Musaraj, Smoki,2011 “Tales from Albarado: The Materiality of Pyramid Schemes in Postsocialist Albania.” Cultural Anthropology . 26(1): 84-110. See also Supplementary Material.

Book Chapters

Matthew Rosen and Smoki Musaraj2022 “Tirana Visible and Invisible.” In Invisible Cities and the Urban Imagination . Edited by Benjamin Linder. Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave MacMillan.

Smoki Musaraj. 2021. "Temporalities of Concrete in a Postcommunist City." In Remitting, Building, and Restoring the Contemporary Albani a . Palgrave Macmillan.

Smoki Musarajand Nataša Gregoriç Bon. 2021. “Introduction: Remitting, Restoring and Building Contemporary Albania.” In Remitting, Building, and Restoring the Contemporary Albania . Palgrave Macmillan.

Musaraj, Smokiand Ivan Small. 2018. "Introduction: Money and Finance at the Margins.: In Money at the Margins: Global Perspectives on Technology, Inclusion and Design . New York and Oxford: Berghahn Books. pp. 1-18.

Musaraj, Smoki. 2018. “Corruption Indicators in the Local Legal/Political Landscape: Reflections from Albania. In The Palgrave Handbook of Indicators in Global Governance by Indicators . Eds. Deborah Valentina Malito, Gaby Umbach, and Nehal Bhuta. Palgrave Macmillan.

Musaraj, Smoki,2015 “Indicators, Global Expertise, and a Local Political Drama: Producing and Deploying Corruption Perception Surveys in Albania.” In The Quiet Power of Indicators: Measuring Development, Corruption, and Rule of Law . Edited by Sally Engle Merry, Kevin Davis, Angelina Fisher, and Benedict Kingsbury. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Musaraj, Smoki,2012 “Alternative Publics, Alternative Temporalities: Unofficial Collective Practices in Communist Albania.” In Albania: Family, Society and Culture in the 20th Century . Eds. Andrea Hemming, Gentiana Kera, Enriketa Papa. LIT Verlag.

Editor-Reviewed Articles

Smoki Musarajand Matthew Canfield, 2022. “Book Review Editorial: Emerging Themes in Legal and Political Anthropology.” PoLAR: Political and Legal Anthropology Review . 45 (2): 304-310.

Musaraj, Smoki,2016 “Shtëpi Evropjane për një të ardhme më të mirë.” (European Homes for a Better Future.) Përpjekja Vol 34 (1)

Musaraj, Smoki,2009 “Passport Troubles: Social Tactics and Places of Informal Transactions in Postosocialist Albania.” Anthropology of East Europe Review . 27(2): 157-175

Musaraj, Smoki,2008 “Pikëpyetje Antropologjike Mbi Korrupsionin.” (Anthropological Questions on Corruption) Polis 6: Korrupsioni në Shqipëri (Corruption in Albania) European Univ. of Tirana. 6

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