John Forrest, Ph.D.

Professor of Anthropology
School of Natural and Social Sciences
Professor of Choreology (MFA Program)
Conservatory of Dance

Office: 2018 SS Building
Tel: (914) 251-6616
Fax: (914) 251-6603
Email: john.forrest@purchase.edu

Dr. John Forrest works on the anthropology of performance and the anthropology of religion.
He has specialized in the historical development of vernacular dance traditions in Europe and Latin America, with a particular concern for a group of related dances known as morescas. His current fieldwork projects are located in post-communist eastern Europe. He has also worked on the interface between ritual and dance. Currently he is working on a multi-volume commentary on the book of Genesis, using the insights of cultural anthropology and archeology to explore the text in detail.

EDUCATION
 
Oxford University, 1970-1974
B.A. (Honors) Theology, 1974
M.A. Theology, 1980

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1975-1980
M.A. Folklore, 1977
Ph.D. Anthropology, 1980

EMPLOYMENT

Professor, Purchase College, SUNY, 1990-present
Associate Professor, Purchase College, SUNY, 1986-1990
Assistant Professor, Purchase College, SUNY, 1980-1986
Instructor, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 1977-1978

SELECTED AWARDS

State University of New York,
Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching 2004
 
De la Torre Bueno Vista Book Prize (History of Morris Dancing)  2000

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Anthropology of Art and Aesthetics; Anthropology of Religion; Biblical Criticism; American South; American Southwest; Eastern Europe.

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

The History of Morris Dancing (1458-1750)
     University of Toronto Press, 1999. (U.S. & Canada)
     James Clarke and Co., 1999. (Great Britain)

The Natural History of the Traditional Quilt  (with Deborah Blincoe)            
     University of Texas Press, 1995

Prejudice and Pride: Gay Traditions in American Culture (edited with Deborah Blincoe) 
     New York Folklore Society, 1993

Annals of Early Morris (with Michael Heaney)
     University of Sheffield, Centre for English Cultural Tradition and Language Publications, Bibliographical and Special Series #6, 1991.          

Lord I'm Coming Home: Everyday Aesthetics in Tidewater North Carolina
     Cornell University Press, 1988.

Morris and Matachin: A Study in Comparative Choreography
     University of Sheffield, Centre for English Cultural Tradition and Language Publications #4, 1984.