Robert Canfield is an anthropologist, Emeritus Professor at Washington University in St Louis. CV follows.
Education
- Degrees
B.A. 1952. Psychology. University of Tulsa
M.A. 1956. Linguistics. University of Michigan
Ph.D. 1971. Anthropology. University of Michigan
(Dissertation title: “Faction and Conversion in a Plural Society: Religious Alignments in the Hindu Kush.”)
- Special Training
Linguistics (Summer 1952), University of Oklahoma
Middle Eastern Politics and Society (Spring Term 1964), School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.
Research Expeience
1952 54, and 1957 60. Linguistic research on colloquial Kabul Persian. (in Kabul, Afghanistan)
1960. (6 months) Linguistic research on colloquial Kabul Persian. (Commissioned by Teachers College Columbia University, US/AID. Kabul)
1966-68. (24 months) Research on the social and cultural adaptations of peasents in central Afghanistan. (Supported by Foreign Area Fellowship Program)
1989. (6 months) Research on the social and cultural changes among the Afghanistan peoples as result of the Afghan Soviet War. (USIA Fulbright, in Peshawar, Pakistan)
1996. (2 months) Research on social and cultural changes among Afghanistan peoples during the Afghanistan civil war.
Consulting Services
1972. Consultant for “Winter Caravan to the Roof of the World,” National Geographic, April issue.
1972. Consultant for the map, “Peoples of the Middle East,” National Geographic, July issue.
1988. Consultant as a Academic Specialist for the United States Information Service to advise on the establishment of a Center for the Study of Government among the Afghan refugees in Pakistan.
1990. Consultantship with the Agency for International Development Representative to Afghanistan, in Pakistan, to develop a strategy for the encouragement of democratic institutions among the Afghanistan peoples.
Awards and Honorary Affiliations
National Defense Foreign Language Fellowships (for training in Persian), January 1964 to April 1966.
Foreign Area Training Fellowships (for field work in Afghanistan, 1966 to 1968, and for data sorting and dissertation writing, 1968 69.)
Afghanistan Studies and Research Program, University of Nebraska at Omaha, Research Associate. 1971 present.
National Endowment for the Humanities, 1974, Fellowship.
School of American Research, Santa Fe, NM 1982 83, Resident Scholar.
Center for Middle Eastern Studies, University of Chicago, 1985 1987, Associate Member.
United States Information Agency (USIA), March 1988, Academic Specialist Award
Editorial Board, Afghanistan Files, National Archives. 1988.
Fulbright Research Scholarship, Pakistan. International Exchange of Scholars. 1989
Honorary inductee into the Beta Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa (University of Tulsa), for having “given evidence of . . . distinguished scholarly capacities.” May 4, 2012.
Professional Positions
1952 54. Teacher of English, Habibia College (Ministry of Education) Kabul, Afghanistan.
1956 57. U.S. Army. Full time teacher of English and History. U.S. Armed Forces Institute. Schweinfurt, Germany.
1958 60. Teacher of English, English Language Program (Teachers College Columbia University, AID), Kabul, Afghanistan.
1960 63. Materials Director, English Language Program (Teachers College Columbia University, AID), Kabul, Afghanistan.
1969 75. Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Washington University, St. Louis.
1975 86.Associate Professor of Anthropology, Washington University, St. Louis.
1986 Pres.Professor of Anthropology, Washington University, St. Louis.
1981 82. Chair, Department of Anthropology, Washington University, St. Louis.
1984 88.Chair, Department of Anthropology, Washington University, St. Louis.
1985 1986. Director, Center for Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies (Renamed the Center for the Study of Islamic Societies and Civilizations), Washington University, St. Louis.