Lisa Pope Fischer

Lisa Pope Fischer is an Associate Professor of Anthropology in the Department of Social Science at the New York City College of Technology, part of the City University of New York (CUNY) system, under the School of Arts & Sciences. Her academic work focuses on post-socialist Hungary, examining memory, identity, gender, aging, and cultural continuity through ethnographic research.

• Ph.D. in Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), 2001
• M.A. in Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
• B.A. in Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles

Her research interests lie at the intersection of cultural anthropology and post-socialist studies, with a strong emphasis on life histories of elderly Hungarian women, the kitsch-ification of communist material culture, and the ritualization of ethno-nationalism. She uses narrative and textual analysis to explore how personal and collective identities are reconstructed in the wake of political transformation. Her work bridges feminist theory, memory studies, and political anthropology, often focusing on marginalized voices and everyday practices.

Her recent publications and fieldwork reveal a consistent thematic trajectory: the symbolic endurance of the socialist past in contemporary Hungarian society. Through studies on foodways, healthcare, nostalgia, and religious rituals, she demonstrates how cultural memory is actively reinterpreted rather than passively inherited. Her forthcoming book with Brill Publishing, Symbolic Traces of Communist Legacy in Present Day Hungary, synthesizes this research into a major contribution to postcolonial and post-socialist theory.

She has been recognized with multiple PSC-CUNY research awards (2011–2016) and earlier support from Fulbright and the Hungarian government. Her academic service includes presenting at the American Anthropological Association and international conferences, as well as invited talks such as the Scholars Exchange series at CUNY.

• Faculty Fellowship Publication Program (2012)
• PSC-CUNY Awards 42–47 ($35,670 total)
• Fulbright Graduate Research Fellowship (1996–1997)
• Hungarian Government Grant (1996–1997)
• UCLA Dissertation Year Fellowship (2000)

Lisa Pope Fischer teaches courses including Introduction to Anthropology, Gender and Culture, Witchcraft and Religion, and Sociology of Aging. She mentors students through collaborative ethnographic projects and is currently editing video interviews into a documentary for classroom use. Her research continues to explore how global forces intersect with local identities in post-socialist contexts.