Kathleen M. Adams

Professor of Anthropology at Loyola University Chicago.

Art as Politics: Re-Crafting Identities, Tourism, and Power in Tana Toraja, Indonesia (University of Hawai'i Press, 2006)

Combining a sophisticated interdisciplinary analysis, extensive first-hand research, and a compelling narrative, Art as Politics explores the intersection of art, identity politics and tourism in Sulawesi, Indonesia. Based on a twenty-year ethnographic study, she offers a nuanced portrayal of the Sa'dan Toraja, a predominantly Christian minority group in the world's most populous Muslim country. Long before Toraja art and architecture received world attention as a UNESCO World Heritage site, Adams identified complex polticial and cultural contradictions as Indonesia attempted to capitalize on its ethnic diversity as a means of luring tourist income while also trying to consolidate it's national identity.

 

Dr. Adams received her Ph.D. from the University of Washington in 1988. Her research addresses issues pertaining to inter-ethnic relations, nationalism, and conceptions of heritage, tourism and the arts. She has received grants from the Fulbright Foundation, the American Philosophical Society, and the National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Studies Program. Professor Adams was awarded Loyola University Chicago's Sujack Award for Teaching Excellence in 2007.