Courtney T. Wittekind

Courtney T. Wittekind is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Purdue University, specializing in political anthropology, urban development, and digital technologies. She earned her Ph.D. in Social Anthropology with a secondary field in Critical Media Practice from Harvard University in 2022 and served as a Postdoctoral Associate at Yale University’s Program in Agrarian Studies and Council on Southeast Asia Studies from 2022–2024.

• Education: Ph.D. in Social Anthropology (Harvard, 2022), M.Phil in Social Anthropology (Oxford, Rhodes Scholar, 2017), Interdisciplinary Undergraduate Degree (Carnegie Mellon, 2016)

Her research focuses on three global transformations: uneven urban development, speculative investment, and digital technologies. Her first book, Speculating on Transition: Imagining Urban Futures in Myanmar’s New City, examines state-led urbanization in Myanmar and its socio-political implications. Her second project, funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, investigates digital fundraising in Myanmar’s Spring Revolution.

Her publications in Cultural Anthropology, Antipode, and Environment and Planning D explore urban speculation, digital land markets, and social media’s role in activism. Her work bridges anthropology, geography, and critical media studies.

• Scientific Awards:
  • Rhodes Scholar
  • National Science Foundation Grant
  • National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship
  • Wenner-Gren Foundation Support
  • Blakemore Foundation Fellowship
  • Fulbright-Hays Program Support

Wittekind has contributed to interdisciplinary platforms like Tea Circle, a multilingual forum for Myanmar research. Her current work integrates ethnographic methods with digital media analysis to study urban futures and democratic struggles in Southeast Asia.