Timothy Smith Ph.D.
Timothy J. Smith did his undergraduate work at Tulane University, where he received a BA in Latin American Studies (focus on Mesoamerican Linguistics) and a BS in Anthropology. He did his graduate work in Anthropology (MA and PhD) at the University at Albany, SUNY, and wrote his dissertation while in residence as a visiting fellow at Harvard University and Columbia University. His dissertation was the first complete study of the highland Guatemalan town of Sololá. Given his training in both Latin American Studies and a four-field approach to anthropology, the themes of his research are varied and include a critical examination of community participation, linguistic revival and change, violence and conflict, development, human rights, citizenship and the state, environmental conservation, and grassroots indigenous politics in Latin America (Guatemala and Ecuador). His research and writings have been supported by Princeton University (Program in Latin American Studies, Department of Anthropology, Office of Population Research), Harvard University (Department of Anthropology), Columbia University (Department of Anthropology), Duke University (Department of Cultural Anthropology), Fulbright (IIE), Hewlett Foundation, U.S. Department of Education, U.S. Department of State, National Science Foundation, Institute for Mesoamerican Studies (University at Albany, SUNY), Center for Advanced Study (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), Roger Thayer Stone Center for Latin American Studies (Tulane University), and the Institute for the Study of Latin America and the Caribbean (University of South Florida). His teaching deals with the cultural politics of representation and indigenous movements, cultural and political constructions of knowledge, language and culture, contemporary Latin America, identity formation, and the practical application of theory/knowledge.