Phillip McArthur
Encyclopedia
Phillip H. McArthur is a folklorist and anthropologist. His work in the Marshall Islands
and elsewhere in Micronesia
closely examine notions of place in Micronesia, the Pacific Islands, and indeed the Marshallese's tumultuous relationship with the United States. Dr. McArthur has spent much of his career documenting and analyzing Marshallese narratives, folklore, songs, performances, etc.
, oral history
), cultural performance (ritual
, ceremony
, festival, spectacle
), history, cosmology
, and local cultures within the contexts of nationalism and globalization
. With a geographical specialization in Oceania, he additionally includes comparative studies on cultures of Asia, Native America
, Africa and the Classical world. He also integrates deep interests in comparative philosophy, the history of ideas
, and traditional arts informed by ethnographic and historical methods.
His teaching represents a wide-range of topics centered in theory
, cultural studies
, and expressive culture. Students of Phillip McArthur have noted that in each course he seeks to fuse anthropology
, humanistic inquiry and communications perspectives. While Oceania provides one geographical focus, his research and teaching philosophy seeks to bring to bear a comparative perspective into the classroom through exposure to a range of cross-cultural materials. He continues to develop curriculum (most recently as the founder of Brigham Young University-Hawaii's International Cultural Studies
undergraduate program) that engages students to think about culture in critical and thought-provoking ways. In this way, students learn to develop culture sensitivity and insight to function productively within academics, the private sector, government, and the community.
and Beverly Stoeltje. Currently Phillip McArthur teaches courses on Folklore
, Performance Studies
, Anthropology
, and Cultural Studies
at Brigham Young University-Hawaii.
Marshall Islands
The Republic of the Marshall Islands , , is a Micronesian nation of atolls and islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, just west of the International Date Line and just north of the Equator. As of July 2011 the population was 67,182...
and elsewhere in Micronesia
Micronesia
Micronesia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising thousands of small islands in the western Pacific Ocean. It is distinct from Melanesia to the south, and Polynesia to the east. The Philippines lie to the west, and Indonesia to the southwest....
closely examine notions of place in Micronesia, the Pacific Islands, and indeed the Marshallese's tumultuous relationship with the United States. Dr. McArthur has spent much of his career documenting and analyzing Marshallese narratives, folklore, songs, performances, etc.
Research
Dr. McArthur's research emphasizes social theoretical and semiotic approaches to traditional narrative (i.e. mythMythology
The term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...
, oral history
Oral history
Oral history is the collection and study of historical information about individuals, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews...
), cultural performance (ritual
Ritual
A ritual is a set of actions, performed mainly for their symbolic value. It may be prescribed by a religion or by the traditions of a community. The term usually excludes actions which are arbitrarily chosen by the performers....
, ceremony
Ceremony
A ceremony is an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion. The word may be of Etruscan origin.-Ceremonial occasions:A ceremony may mark a rite of passage in a human life, marking the significance of, for example:* birth...
, festival, spectacle
Spectacle
In general, spectacle refers to an event that is memorable for the appearance it creates. Derived in Middle English from c. 1340 as "specially prepared or arranged display" it was borrowed from Old French spectacle, itself a reflection of the Latin spectaculum "a show" from spectare "to view,...
), history, cosmology
Cosmology
Cosmology is the discipline that deals with the nature of the Universe as a whole. Cosmologists seek to understand the origin, evolution, structure, and ultimate fate of the Universe at large, as well as the natural laws that keep it in order...
, and local cultures within the contexts of nationalism and globalization
Globalization
Globalization refers to the increasingly global relationships of culture, people and economic activity. Most often, it refers to economics: the global distribution of the production of goods and services, through reduction of barriers to international trade such as tariffs, export fees, and import...
. With a geographical specialization in Oceania, he additionally includes comparative studies on cultures of Asia, Native America
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
, Africa and the Classical world. He also integrates deep interests in comparative philosophy, the history of ideas
History of ideas
The history of ideas is a field of research in history that deals with the expression, preservation, and change of human ideas over time. The history of ideas is a sister-discipline to, or a particular approach within, intellectual history...
, and traditional arts informed by ethnographic and historical methods.
His teaching represents a wide-range of topics centered in theory
Theory
The English word theory was derived from a technical term in Ancient Greek philosophy. The word theoria, , meant "a looking at, viewing, beholding", and referring to contemplation or speculation, as opposed to action...
, cultural studies
Cultural studies
Cultural studies is an academic field grounded in critical theory and literary criticism. It generally concerns the political nature of contemporary culture, as well as its historical foundations, conflicts, and defining traits. It is, to this extent, largely distinguished from cultural...
, and expressive culture. Students of Phillip McArthur have noted that in each course he seeks to fuse anthropology
Anthropology
Anthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...
, humanistic inquiry and communications perspectives. While Oceania provides one geographical focus, his research and teaching philosophy seeks to bring to bear a comparative perspective into the classroom through exposure to a range of cross-cultural materials. He continues to develop curriculum (most recently as the founder of Brigham Young University-Hawaii's International Cultural Studies
Cultural studies
Cultural studies is an academic field grounded in critical theory and literary criticism. It generally concerns the political nature of contemporary culture, as well as its historical foundations, conflicts, and defining traits. It is, to this extent, largely distinguished from cultural...
undergraduate program) that engages students to think about culture in critical and thought-provoking ways. In this way, students learn to develop culture sensitivity and insight to function productively within academics, the private sector, government, and the community.
Critical Thinking Pedigree
Phillip McArthur studied under the renowned folklorists and scholars Richard BaumanRichard Bauman
Richard Bauman is a folklorist and anthropologist who recently retired from Indiana University Bloomington. He is presently Distinguished Professor emeritus of Folklore, of Anthropology, and of Communication and Culture...
and Beverly Stoeltje. Currently Phillip McArthur teaches courses on Folklore
Folklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
, Performance Studies
Performance Studies
Performance studies have been growing as an academic field since the 1960s. Performance studies believe in the social act of Doing as it takes performance itself as the object of inquiry.The process of defining it becomes a practice in performance studies itself...
, Anthropology
Anthropology
Anthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...
, and Cultural Studies
Cultural studies
Cultural studies is an academic field grounded in critical theory and literary criticism. It generally concerns the political nature of contemporary culture, as well as its historical foundations, conflicts, and defining traits. It is, to this extent, largely distinguished from cultural...
at Brigham Young University-Hawaii.
Publications
Representative Publications:- "Ambivalent Fantasies: Local Prehistories and Global Dramas in the Marshall Islands" 2008. Journal of Folklore ResearchJournal of Folklore ResearchThe Journal of Folklore Research: An International Journal of Folklore and Ethnomusicology is a peer-reviewed academic journal of folklore, folklife, and ethnomusicology.- History :...
45(3): 263-298.
- Modernism and Pacific Ways at Knowing: An Uneasy Dialogue in Micronesia. 2007. Pacific Rim Studies 1(1):7-24
- Introductory Note "Folklore, Nationalism, and the Challenge of the Future", in The Marrow of Human Experience: Essays in Folklore, William Wilson. Ed. Jill Terry Rudy. Logan: Utah State University Press. 2006
- "Narrative, Cosmos, and Nation: Intertextuality and Power in the Marshall Islands". 2004. Journal of American FolkloreJournal of American FolkloreThe Journal of American Folklore is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by the American Folklore Society. Since 2003 this has been done on its behalf by the University of Illinois Press. The journal has been published since the society's founding in 1888. It publishes on a quarterly schedule...
462: 1.
- "Oceania: An Overview". In CultureGrams: World Addition, Vol. IV (Asia and Oceania). 2002. Lindon: Axiom Press.
- "Narrating to the Center of Power in the Marshall Islands". 2000. In We are a People: Narrative and Multiplicity in the Construction of Ethnic Identity. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. Paul Spickard and W. Jeffrey Burroughs, eds.
- More Than Meets the Ear: A Marshallese Example of Folklore Method and Study for Pacific Collections. 1997. PIALA: Identifying, Using and Sharing Local Resources. pp. 49–71. University of Guam.
Associations
- Professor, International Cultural Studies
- Affiliated Faculty, Jonathan Napela Center for Hawaiian and Pacific Islands Studies
Education
- Ph. D. Folkloristics Indiana UniversityIndiana UniversityIndiana University is a multi-campus public university system in the state of Indiana, United States. Indiana University has a combined student body of more than 100,000 students, including approximately 42,000 students enrolled at the Indiana University Bloomington campus and approximately 37,000...
- M.A. Folkloristics Indiana UniversityIndiana UniversityIndiana University is a multi-campus public university system in the state of Indiana, United States. Indiana University has a combined student body of more than 100,000 students, including approximately 42,000 students enrolled at the Indiana University Bloomington campus and approximately 37,000...
- B.A. Anthropology Brigham Young UniversityBrigham Young UniversityBrigham Young University is a private university located in Provo, Utah. It is owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , and is the United States' largest religious university and third-largest private university.Approximately 98% of the university's 34,000 students...
- A.A.S Psychology Ricks College