Andrew Nelson

Andrew Nelson is an Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of North Texas. He serves as Director of Graduate Programs and focuses on applied anthropology through research, teaching, and community collaborations.

• Education:
  • Ph.D. in Anthropology (2013), University of Virginia
  • M.A. in Anthropology of Media (2004), University of London, School of Oriental and African Studies
  • B.A. in Anthropology (2000), Grinnell College

Nelson’s research examines how marginalized communities navigate policy failures and violence through solidarity-building in precarious conditions. His fieldwork spans Nepal, Texas, and Latin America, emphasizing housing justice, transit migration, and refugee resettlement. He combines ethnography with journalism and project-based pedagogy to advance public anthropology and local activism.

His recent publications focus on migration from the Global South, refugee identity ambiguity, and critiques of neoliberal housing policies. Nelson actively collaborates with students and advocacy groups on housing insecurity and debt policy.

Key themes in his work include:

• Urbanizing peripheries and peri-urbanism
• Ethnographic methods in policy analysis
• Transnational social networks
• Post-disaster reconstruction
• Market-dominant housing frameworks
• Crypto-colonial critiques