GARETH BARKIN
Dean of Operations & Technology
Distinguished Professor of Anthropology and Asian Studies
University of Puget Sound
I’m the Dean of Operations and Technology at the University of Puget Sound, where I also serve as a distinguished professor of anthropology and Asian studies. Previously, I served as chair of the Department of Sociology & Anthropology for five years, and chaired or co-chaired our International Education Committee for six. Through my own leadership of study abroad programs in Indonesia as well as my administrative roles, I developed Puget Sound's approach "extended semester" approach to short-term study abroad, on which I have published (see Research tab). As a dean and through my history of administrative leadership, I have developed experience and a record of success in the following areas:
Curriculum Design and Innovation
Data-Driven Curricular Management and Leadership
Experiential Pedagogy Design and Administration
Faculty Evaluation and Faculty Hiring
Academic Culture-Building and Leadership
Academic Affairs Operations Workflow Management
Educational Technology and Course Management Software Administration
Program Assessment (Academic Departments and Curricular Initiatives)
Program Accreditation
Study Abroad Program Design and Research
Summer Term Programming Administration
Library and Information Systems Administration
My teaching brings together a general interest in cultural anthropology practice and methodology, through courses like Introduction to Anthropology and Ethnographic Methods, with my specific research focus, through courses like Muslim Cultures and Communities, Visual & Media Anthropology, and Indonesia & Southeast Asia in Cultural Context.
I take an active approach to both classroom and field-based learning, focusing on the application of concepts and theory from scholarship in both discussion and real-world environments. I have published on experiential interventions in study abroad practice, as well as ethical, decolonized approaches to international education through collaborative engagements with partners and host communities.
As a scholar and researcher, my expertise is focused on several areas:
Experiential learning and intercultural skills acquisition
The anthropology of media and technology
Study abroad and neoliberalism
Indonesia and Southeast Asia area studies
My research is focused on practices surrounding the representation of culture in and of Southeast Asia. I have studied mass media production in Indonesia, and how producers negotiate religious cleavages and social division to associate national, regional, and spiritual identity with consumption. My current research explores short-term study abroad at U.S. universities, focusing on cultural representation and intercultural skills development and assessment in an increasingly market-driven pedagogical arena.
My work has been supported by the Fulbright Foundation, the Fulbright-Hays Program, the National Science Foundation, the Henry R. Luce Foundation, the Mellon Foundation, and the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research. My photography has been featured by Arches Magazine and the American Anthropological Association.