Anthropology Faculty

F. Allan Hanson

He's not heavy; he's my brother

The primary area of my current research is the social impact of technological developments in contemporary society. I began with technologies of testing, then turned to new reproductive technologies (especially donor insemination), and most recently have been working on information technology. Throughout my career I have been interested in social theory and the philosophy of social science, particularly the relation between culture and the individual, the nature of anthropological understanding, and cultural relativism. I have recently finished a book about the culture wars, the role of absolutism in fueling them and the potential of relativism for calming them. My other career-long interest has been in Polynesia, particularly French Polynesia (where I did my initial fieldwork), and the New Zealand Maori. I am particularly interested in Polynesian social organization, art, the ritual status of women, and religion.

My main extracurricular activities concern civil liberties and the peace movement. I am a member of the Executive Board and Chair of the Education Committee of the Kansas-Western Missouri Affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union (www.aclukswmo.org), and for many years I was Coordinator of the Lawrence Coalition for Peace and Justice (www.lcpj.org).

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