Amanda Weidman

Amanda Weidman is a Professor of Anthropology at Bryn Mawr College with additional affiliations in the Linguistics Program and Tri-College Center for Social Sciences. Currently on sabbatical leave, she specializes in socio-cultural anthropology with deep regional expertise in Tamil-speaking South India.

Education

• Ph.D. from Columbia University
• M.A. from University of Washington

Research Focus

Her scholarship examines cultural politics through sound and performance, analyzing how music mediates social hierarchies, modernity, and identity. Key projects include ethnographic studies of South Indian classical music's institutionalization, cinema playback singing systems, and contemporary transformations of Amman goddess devotional songs. Her methodology combines archival research, participant observation, and performance analysis to explore intersections of caste, gender, and technological mediation in sound production.

Teaching Portfolio

Weidman's courses demonstrate interdisciplinary range: Introduction to Cultural Anthropology, The Power in Language, Field Research in Linguistic Anthropology, Beyond Bollywood: Popular Culture and Performance in South Asia, The Anthropology of Sound, and Caste and Race: Analogies and Intersections. Her pedagogy integrates sensory ethnography with critical theory, emphasizing embodied knowledge in sound practices.