Paja Faudree

Paja Faudree is an Associate Professor of Anthropology and Linguistics at Brown University, with affiliations to multiple interdisciplinary centers including the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies and the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity. Her research focuses on linguistic anthropology, indigenous social movements, and the intersection of language, music, and colonial history in Mesoamerica. She holds a PhD from the University of Pennsylvania and an MFA from Brown University.

Her work explores topics such as the revival of indigenous languages through singing practices, the global trade of hallucinogenic plants like Salvia divinorum, and the historical discourses of colonialism. Key projects include Singing for the Dead, which examines how language and ritual foster community identity among Mazatec people in Mexico, and studies on the commodification of indigenous knowledge.

Dr. Faudree’s grants include funding from the Social Science Research Council, Wenner-Gren Foundation, and Fulbright. She teaches courses on linguistic anthropology, Mesoamerican ethnohistory, and the anthropology of drugs, blending academic rigor with creative literary arts. Her affiliations also span the Cogut Institute for the Humanities and Science and Technology Studies.

• Education: PhD (University of Pennsylvania, 2006), MFA (Brown University, 1992)
• Grants: Social Science Research Council, Wenner-Gren, Fulbright Senior Award
• Key Themes: Indigenous revitalization, ethnobotany, colonial discourse, language policy