CONTACT INFORMATION:

Kendall V. House
Adjunct Faculty
Phone: (208) 426-3896
E-mail: khouse@boisestate.edu
Office: Hemingway Western Studies Center, Room 54
Office Hours: Tu/Th 9:15-10:15 am or by appointment
View Vita

EDUCATION:

Ph.D., Anthropology, University of California, Davis, California
M.A., Anthropology, University of California, Davis, California
B.A., Anthropology, Boise State University, Boise, Idaho

BIOGRAPHY:

Like many others in this profession, I am an accidental anthropologist. I began studying anthropology at Boise State in the fall of 1981. Arriving to register for fall classes at the old gym the summer prior, I found the line for anthropology very short! Needing to get to work, I chose that line, and in a few minutes I was enrolled in ANTH 101 and ANTH 102. That was nearly three decades ago and not a month has since passed that I have not been engaged in the study of anthropology. Since 1995 I have been teaching, or rather, being inspired by, great students at Boise State. I believe the count of distinct courses offered is now roughly 10, currently focusing on ANTH 200 Kinship, ANTH 307 Indians of North America, and ANTH 102 Cultural Anthropology. When I am not teaching I cobble a living together as an applied anthropologist and bookseller. To the extent that I can claim a core focus, my current interest is on the evolution of labor in the human species, encompassing the capacity for work and exploitative social relations. Though they certainly have emergent aspects, I am entirely skeptical that these uniquely human characteristics emerged only with capitalism, and doubtful that they arise only with agriculture and the state. I am also increasingly skeptical of the sufficiency of social theory and political economy to address these topics. The relation of kinship to exploitation within an evolutionary perspective is a major current interest. I am theoretically eclectic, and geographically scattered, but North America, Europe, Africa, and southeast Asia are recurrent centering points. I have a broad and rather unruly interest in all corners of anthropology: biological, linguistic, cultural and archaeological. I tend to organize my understanding historically, and the social and intellectual history of anthropology is a topic I have used to lay anchor for nearly three decades.

PROFESSIONAL INTERESTS:

Theoretical Interests — I have a broad interest in cultural and social theory and the history of anthropology, split between studies in political economy and critical theory on the one hand, and symbolic and interpretive approaches on the other.  My primary focus is on critical cultural hermeneutics, the relation of meaning and value formation, and the relation of language, practice, and embodiment.  For my doctoral candidacy I was examined on contemporary cultural theory.

Topical Interests –  My topical interests center on anthropological political economy; political ecology; language and culture (the ethnography of speaking); the anthropology of work and labor; the anthropology of actually existing capitalism and socialism; systems of difference: race, gender, sexuality, and class; and economic anthropology.  for my doctoral candidacy I was examined on anthropological political economy.

Geographic Areas of Interest –  My primary area of interest is North America, focusing on the American West, western Canada, and northern Mexico.  I also have peripheral interests in the anthropology of Europe (my doctoral candidacy exams were on the anthropology of Europe) and the anthropology of Africa.

 COURSES TAUGHT:

• Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
• Issues in Cultural Diversity
• Cultural Concepts in Anthropology
• Indians of North America
• Peoples and Cultures of the World
• Applied Anthropology
• Race, Gender & Sexuality
• Race: Anthropological Perspectives
• Independent Study: Political Economy
• Independent Study: Economic Anthropology
• Anthropology & Political Economy
• Economy Anthropology
• Anthropology of Religion
• Kinship, Social Organization and Networks