Associate Professor
Director, Doctoral Program in Anthropology & History
Arthur F. Thurnau Professor
ddelac@umich.edu
Office Information:
6167 South Thayer Building
phone: 734.615.8504
Asia;
Global & World ;
Religion;
Science, Technology & Medicine;
History
Education/Degree:
Ph.D., Cultural Anthropology, Columbia University, 2006
About
Research Interests
Deirdre de la Cruz specializes in the cultures and histories of Southeast Asia, in particular the Philippines. Her current book project is a historical and ethnographic examination of several apparitions of the Virgin Mary in the Philippines from the mid nineteenth century to the present, especially as they articulate with projects and practices of colonial and post-colonial modernity. In addition to Philippine history and ethnography, her research interests include theories of religion, colonialism and post-colonialism, visual culture, histories and theories of the mass media, and global occultisms.
Recent Courses Taught
The Philippines: Culture and History
Jesus Comes to Asia
Possessing Culture: Spirit Mediumship and Ethnography in Southeast Asia
Secular Enchantments: Technology and Modernity in the Asia-Pacific
Recent Publications
- “Introduction: Figures of Contemporary Philippine Modernity,” in Joshua Barker, et. al. Figures of Modernity in Southeast Asia (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, forthcoming).
- “From the Power of Prayer to Prayer Power: On Religion and Revolt in the Catholic Philippines,” in Lee Wilson, Liana Chua, Joanne Cook, Nick Long, eds. Southeast Asian Perspectives on Power (London: Routledge Press, December 2011).
- “The Past and Present of the Future Perfect in Anthropology and History,” in Anthrohistory: Unsettling Knowledge, Questioning Discipline, edited by David William Cohen, et. al. (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2011).
- “Coincidence and Consequence: Marianism and the Mass Media in the Global Philippines,” in Cultural Anthropology 24:3, 455-488.
Affiliation(s)
- Asian Languages & Cultures
- Center for Southeast Asian Studies
Award(s)
- National Humanities Center, SIAS Summer Institute Fellow (2007-2008)
- Charlotte Newcombe Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship, Woodrow Wilson Foundation (2003-2004)
- Fulbright-Hayes Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad Fellowship (2000-2001)
Field(s) of Study
- Cultures and histories of Southeast Asia, in particular the Philippines
