معرفی
A.J. Faas, Professor in the Department of Anthropology at San Jose State University's College of Social Sciences, is a cultural anthropologist specializing in disasters, displacement, and resettlement. His fieldwork spans rural Ecuador and Mexico, the American Pacific Northwest, and the Bay Area.
- Key Research Areas: Disasters, Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid, State-NGO Relations, Climate Change
- Community Partners: Japantown Prepared, Canton Penipe Residents
- Collaborators: Roberto Barrios, Elizabeth Marino, Julie Maldonado, Kate Browne, Mara Benadusi, Qiaoyun Zhang, Virginia Garcia-Acosta, Susanna Hoffman, Mark Schuller
His work challenges conventional disaster causality models by emphasizing human-environmental relationships, political economy, and cultural practices. Recent projects explore grassroots disaster management, reciprocal knowledge exchange, and the role of personal networks in recovery.
Publications highlight intersections between climate adaptation, memorialization practices, and queer theory in crisis contexts. Articles analyze wildfire response networks, gendered resource access, and the social production of vulnerability.
Personal connections to research include long-term collaborations with Ecuadorian communities living under volcanic risk and San José's Japantown neighborhood since 2017, where he and his students develop disaster preparedness initiatives.
