Ryan Begley
Assistant Professor
- Email: Ryan.Begley@zu.ac.ae
- Telephone: 971 2 599 3636
- Address: Abu Dhabi - Khalifa City
Introduction
I am an anthropologist trained in evolutionary approaches to cultural and social behavior across our species. As a graduate student, I conducted ethnological research focused on the significance of storytelling in human evolution and its transformation in the context of colonialism and other interethnic scenarios. My attention has since turned to ethnographic research and filmmaking. I have conducted fieldwork in rural Bangladesh and am now making a film on socioeconomic change in the region.
Qualifications
Ph.D., Anthropology, University of Missouri, 2015
M.A., Anthropology, University of Missouri, 2013
B.A., English, University of Missouri, 2007
Research and Professional Activities
Most of my research has been ethnological in nature and focused on traditional lifeways in transitional contexts, drawing upon ethnographic records and insights derived from evolutionary theory to illuminate the processes through which the contemporary world came to be. My earlier scholarship explored continuities between indigenous and world religions, as well as the role of stories in facilitating cooperation between unrelated ethnic groups within multicultural contexts. More recently, I investigated factors driving transitions away from matrilineal kinship systems across societies in the Standard Cross-Cultural Sample.
Research interests: Folklore, Economic Development, Religion
Current Projects: Currently, I am part of an NSF-funded project on the micro-foundations of inequality in rural Bangladesh. The research explores how wealth and health disparities emerge and/or change with market integration. In 2018 and 2019, I spent several months in the field filming interviews (n = 64) designed to elicit emic perspectives on socioeconomic change in the region. I also recorded demonstrations of traditional practices as part of a salvage ethnography effort. I am now editing the footage into interview archive and a feature-length film.
Teaching Areas
Undergraduate:
ANT 261 Introduction to Culture and Society
HSS 353 Politics of Identity
Shenk, M. K., Begley, R. O., Nolin, D., & Swiatek, A. (2019). When does matriliny fail? The frequencies and causes of transitions to and from matriliny estimated from a de novo coding of a cross-cultural sample. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 374(1780), 20190006. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2019.0006
