Congratulations to John Bowen

I am pleased to tell you that John R. Bowen, professor of anthropology and director of the program in Social Thought & Analysis, has been named the Dunbar - Van Cleve Professor in Arts & Sciences. He will be formally installed in the professorship in the spring semester.

John Bowen earned his B.A. in 1973 from Stanford University and his M.A. in 1977 and his Ph.D. in 1984, both from the University of Chicago. After serving as lecturer at the State Islamic Institute in Aceh, Indonesia, senior research assistant at the Harvard Institute for International Development, and visiting assistant professor at Wellesley College, he joined the faculty of Arts & Sciences at Washington University in July 1985 as assistant professor of anthropology. He was named associate professor in 1991 and full professor in 1995. He served as director of the program in Linguistic Studies in 1990-91 and in 1991 he was named chair of the Committee on Social Thought and Analysis, a position he continues to hold.

Professor Bowen's research is concerned primarily with the role of cultural forms (religious practices, aesthetic genres, legal discourse) in processes of social change. In most of his work he has looked outward from a long-term research site in the Gayo highlands of Sumatra to the broader transformations taking place in the Indonesian nation and the worldwide Muslim community. In his writing he links historical and ethnographic material. His first book focused on related changes in Sumatran political structures and cultural forms since 1900, and included analysis of oratory, song, and historical narratives. His second book traced divergences in religious institutions and ideas since the 1920's, focusing on how Gayo men and women draw on Islamic formulations in carrying out their activities of farming, healing, praying and burying the dead. His current project concerns issues of legal and economic change, growing out of research on Islamic and civil courts in Indonesia, and he has begun a research project on current legal and political debates in France surrounding cultural and religious pluralism. His extensive writing on these subjects has resulted in six books with another forthcoming, twenty-seven refereed articles and chapters with four forthcoming, and numerous other publications and book reviews. He is also a member of a number of national panels and editorial boards.

Professor Bowen's work is grounded in the field of anthropology while at the same time it connects to the Arts & Sciences programs in International Studies, Religious Studies, and the Center for the Study of Islamic Societies and Civilizations, as well as to the School of Law. He has taught courses on numerous topics on both the undergraduate and graduate level, including Social Theory and Ethnography; Religion, Law, and Pluralism; History of Anthropological Theory; Law, Language, and Culture; and Religion and Ritual; to name just a few.

Professor Bowen led the Commission on the Undergraduate Curriculum in Arts & Sciences, appointed in 1997 and charged with reviewing the curriculum, which had undergone small changes but not a comprehensive revision for almost 20 years. After a year and a half of meeting with students, faculty, and alumni, the Commission issued a final report, which was approved last spring by both the Council of Students of Arts & Sciences and the faculty of Arts & Sciences.

The Dunbar-Van Cleve Professorship was established in 1999 by William Van Cleve JD '53 and Georgia Dunbar Van Cleve AB '51. The professorship is designated for a distinguished faculty member in history, English literature, anthropology, mathematics, sociology or related field, art history and archaeology, or genetics. William Van Cleve is a partner and former chairman of Byran Cave, one of the nation's leading corporate and litigation law firms. He is also a member of the Washington University Board of Trustees. Georgia Van Cleve is a member of the Arts & Sciences National Council and chair of Special Gifts on the Arts & Sciences Campaign Committee. The Van Cleve's are also longtime supporters of the Arts & Sciences Scholarship Program, having established in 1988 the Virginia Storer Scholarship in Arts & Sciences in honor of their four children's second grade teacher.

Edward S. Macias
January 2000