Jon D. Holtzman

Jon D. Holtzman is Professor of Anthropology at Western Michigan University, focusing on ethnographic research in northern Kenya since 1992. His work spans two major areas: violence and peace studies among Samburu and Pokot pastoralists, and the anthropology of food examining memory and cultural identity. He has conducted secondary research with Nuer refugees in the U.S. and served as Distinguished Visiting Professor at Kyoto University, Japan.

• Key Affiliation: Africa Multiple Cluster of Excellence (Bayreuth Academy, University of Bayreuth)
• Current Project: "Contradictions of Peace" analyzing post-conflict societal reconciliation

Research Interests include:

• Ethnographic analysis of violent conflict and peacebuilding mechanisms
• Cultural memory and its role in conflict resolution
• Food as a cultural and political mediator
• Multi-sited, comparative research methodologies

Scientific Contributions:

• 2016: Killing Your Neighbors (University of California Press) - ethnography of friendship/violence cycles
• 2009: Uncertain Tastes (University of California Press) - food anthropology and memory
• 2000/2007: Nuer Journeys, Nuer Lives - refugee studies

His work combines theoretical frameworks from anthropology, conflict studies, and cultural theory to analyze societal contradictions in post-conflict zones and culinary practices.