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My inquiry and teaching are animated by an abiding interest in
illuminating the cultural basis of everyday educational practices.
My scholarship is informed by the disciplinary perspective of
anthropology and the methods of ethnography. Ideally, it constitutes
a way of "seeing" that attempts to reconstruct the cultural logic of
how individuals and groups formulate educational problems and
respond to them. Throughout, my work seeks to contribute both to
scholarly understandings of educational phenomena and to
recommendations for policy and practice.
My major research interest is the role of class culture
in the perpetuation of social inequality through education.
My concentration has largely been on the meanings high
school students construct that shape their approach to
school and their aspirations. My research investigates these
processes in comparative perspective, internationally (Papua
New Guinea) and in the United States, with broad
consideration of local contextual features. I use the
methods of cultural anthropology: ethnographic fieldwork
along with grounded surveys examined with descriptive and
analytic statistics.
I draw on my ethnographic experience to infuse my courses
with comparative resources for illuminating cultural
dimensions of American life, and for teaching about
race/ethnicity, politics, and equity in education. As an
anthropologist I encourage all of my students to question
their taken-for-granted cultural assumptions about schooling
in order to contribute to educational renewal in a variety
of ways.
Research and teaching interests
Educational anthropology, comparative study of class
culture and education, urban education, school-university
partnerships, research methodology
Selected publications
Demerath, P. (1999). The cultural production of
educational utility in Pere Village, Papua New Guinea.
Comparative Education Review 43:2.
Demerath, P. (2001). The social cost of acting "extra:"
Students’ moral judgments of self, social relations, and
academic success in Papua New Guinea. American Journal of
Education 108:3.
Demerath, P. (2006). The science of context: Modes of
response for qualitative
researchers in education. International Journal of
Qualitative Studies in Education 19(1), 97-113.
Demerath, P., and Lynch, J. (2008). Identities for
neoliberal times: Constructing enterprising selves in an
American suburb. In Youth moves: Identities in global
perspective, Nadine Dolby and Fazal Rizvi, eds. New York:
Routledge.
Demerath, P. (under contract). Decoding success: Inside
the culture of individual advancement in a U.S. suburb and
school. University of Chicago Press.
Academic degrees
- Ed.D, 1997, University of Massachusetts, education
policy, research, and administration
- M.A., 1992, University of Pennsylvania, anthropology
- B.A., 1986, Haverford College, political science
Academic positions
- Present, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis,
Minnesota, associate professor, Department of
Educational Policy and Administration
- 2004-07, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio,
associate professor, School of Educational Policy and
Leadership
- 1998-2004, The Ohio State University, Columbus,
Ohio, assistant professor, School of Educational Policy
and Leadership
- 1997-98, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio,
lecturer, School of Educational Policy and Leadership
Honors
- Ohio State University College of Education
Distinguished Teaching Award (2005)
- Comparative and International Education Society
George Z. F. Bereday Outstanding Scholarship Award
(1999)
Professional memberships
- American Anthropological Association, Council on
Anthropology and Education
- American Educational Research Association, Division
G - Social Context of Education
- Comparative and International Education Society
More about Peter Demerath
Full vitae [.pdf]
Revised October 2007
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