Photo credit: Tamar Scoggin, Tibet 2005
Carole McGranahan
Welcome. I am an anthropologist and historian of Tibet and the Himalayas, and a professor at the University of Colorado. I conduct research, write, lecture, and teach. At any given time, I am probably working on one of the following projects: Tibet, British empire, and the Pangdatsang family; the CIA as an ethnographic subject; contemporary US empire; Trump, lies, racism, and political outrage; the self-immolations in Tibet; the Chushi Gangdrug resistance army; refugee citizenship in the Tibetan diaspora (Canada, France, India, Nepal, Switzerland, USA); and, anthropology as theoretical storytelling.
I am often asked how I became interested in Tibet. The short but true answer is I first learned about Tibet during a semester in Nepal as a study abroad student in 1989. As part of my studies, I lived in the village of Marpha, just south of Mustang and just north of a Tibetan refugee camp. When I returned home from Nepal, it was these refugees' stories of Tibet, of losing their homes and country, that had the biggest impact on me. Three decades later, I am still learning about Tibet and doing my best to share its stories.
Teaching
Since 2001, I've taught thousands of fantastic students at the University of Colorado at the BA, MA, and PhD levels. I regularly teach courses on anthropological theory, history and memory, ethnography, colonialism and empire, Tibet, Nepal, and the Himalayas.
Potential graduate students who are interested in our cultural anthropology program and faculty at the University of Colorado: please feel free to write me with your interests. I look forward to hearing from you!
Contact
Email: carole at colorado dot edu