Webb Keane

Webb Keane is the George Herbert Mead Collegiate Professor of Anthropology at the University of Michigan. He is affiliated with the Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Global Islamic Studies Center, and the Interdisciplinary Program in Anthropology and History. His research focuses on ethics, semiotics, material culture, and religion in Southeast Asia and beyond. He holds a PhD and AM from the University of Chicago and a BA from Yale College.

His major publications include Signs of Recognition, Christian Moderns, and Ethical Life, with his latest book Animals, Robots, Gods (2025) exploring non-human ethics. Keane has held fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities, and has lectured globally, including at Cambridge and the London School of Economics.

• Research Interests: Moral philosophy, semiotics, materiality, religion, media, and historical consciousness.
• Awards: Guggenheim Fellowship, Annette B. Weiner Memorial Lecturer, Edward Westermarck Memorial Lecturer.
• Teaching: Courses on language and culture, anthropology of religion, and Southeast Asian studies.
• Affiliations: Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Global Islamic Studies Center, Interdisciplinary Program in Anthropology and History.