معرفی
Lucas Bessire is a Professor of Anthropology at the University of Oklahoma, specializing in politics, environment, and media in the Americas. He holds visiting roles such as the Stanley Kelley, Jr. Visiting Professor for Distinguished Teaching at Princeton University's Department of Anthropology and has been a fellow at institutions like Harvard's Radcliffe Institute and Stanford's Center for Advanced Study in Behavioral Sciences. His research focuses on Indigenous communities in South America (e.g., Ayoreo peoples of Bolivia/Paraguay), Arctic Alaska, and the High Plains of Kansas. He combines ethnography with filmmaking, directing documentaries like *The Workshop* and authoring books such as *Running Out: In Search of Water on the High Plains* (2021).
Education: PhD in Anthropology (NYU, 2010) with a Dean’s Dissertation Prize; Graduate Certificate in Ethnographic Film Production (NYU); BA in Spanish and Anthropology (Kansas State University). His work is supported by grants from the Wenner-Gren Foundation, National Science Foundation, Mellon Foundation, and others.
Research Interests:
- Crisis and change in Indigenous societies
- Environmental anthropology
- Collaborative media projects with Indigenous communities
- Water resource scarcity in agricultural regions
Recent Projects: Ongoing studies in northern Alaska and the Great Plains, focusing on climate change impacts. His book *Running Out* examines water depletion in the High Plains through ethnographic and historical lenses.
Awards: 2023 Guggenheim Fellowship, 2012-13 Institute for Advanced Study Membership, 2018-19 Radcliffe Fellowship.
