John Freeman

John Freeman is a Lecturer in the Department of History at Duke University's Arts & Sciences school. His interdisciplinary research combines field anthropology and textual scholarship, focusing on South Asian religions, cultural anthropology, and ethnohistory.

• Education: Ph.D., M.A., and B.A. (hons) from the University of Pennsylvania (1991, 1984, 1979).

Freeman's work examines the intersection of Brahmanical Sanskrit traditions and vernacular cultures in Kerala, particularly through the lens of spirit possession practices like Teyyam, caste-strata dynamics, and historical analysis of language ideologies. His research synthesizes literary sources with anthropological methods to explore South India's religious culture.

Recent publications address spirit possession in media representations, language hybridity in Malayalam literature, and material religion. Key themes include ritual dynamics, caste systems, and environmental symbolism in Kerala's cultural history.