Phillip McArthur

Phillip H. McArthur is a folklorist and anthropologist. His work in the Marshall Islands and elsewhere in Micronesia closely examine notions of place in Micronesia, the Pacific Islands, and indeed the Marshallese's tumultuous relationship with the United States. Dr. McArthur has spent much of his career documenting and analyzing Marshallese narratives, folklore, songs, performances, etc.

Research

Dr. McArthur's research emphasizes social theoretical and semiotic approaches to traditional narrative (i.e. myth, oral history), cultural performance (ritual, ceremony, festival, spectacle), history, cosmology, and local cultures within the contexts of nationalism and globalization. This includes a deepening attention to political and economic forces, and their relationship to social power and practice. With a geographical specialization in Oceania, he additionally includes comparative studies on cultures of Asia, Native America, Africa and the Classical world. He also integrates deep interests in comparative philosophy, the history of ideas, and traditional arts informed by ethnographic and historical methods.

His teaching represents a wide range of topics centered in theory, cultural studies, and expressive culture. Students of Phillip McArthur have noted that in each course he seeks to fuse anthropology, humanistic inquiry and communications perspectives. While Oceania provides one geographical focus, his research and teaching philosophy seeks to bring to bear a comparative perspective into the classroom through exposure to a range of cross-cultural materials. He continues to develop curriculum (most recently as the founder of Brigham Young University-Hawaii's International Cultural Studies undergraduate program) that engages students to think about culture in critical and thought-provoking ways. In this way, students learn to develop culture sensitivity and insight to function productively within academics, the private sector, government, and the community.

Critical Thinking Pedigree

Phillip McArthur studied under the renowned folklorists and scholars Richard Bauman and Beverly J. Stoeltje. Currently Phillip McArthur teaches courses on Anthropology Theory and Method, Narrative, Political and Economic Anthropology, Cultures of Oceania, and Cultural Studies at Brigham Young University-Hawaii.

Publications

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Associations

Education

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