Research Interests
tourismpilgrimageheritagehistoric preservationfoodwayssustainabilitymuseum studiesCatholicismcomparative religious movementsrevitalizationglobalizationPadre Piostudy abroad
Opportunities
Work Study Positions Available: No
Grant Funded Positions Available: No
Course-Credit Research Opportunities Available: Yes
Ethnographic research, visitor studies, educational outreach for museums
I also run a research field school on Sustainable Food and Cultural Heritage (www.umbra.org/wcu) every May-June for course credit.
[ongoing - contact mdigiovine@wcupa.edu or museum@wcupa.edu to apply]
Volunteer Research Positions Available: Yes
museum visitor studies, ethnographic research, exhibition work
[ongoing - contact mdigiovine@wcupa.edu or museum@wcupa.edu to apply]
Biography
I am a socio-cultural anthropologist whose research interests lie in the intersection between heritage discourses, tourism, religion, food, and revitalization initiatives. Based on nearly three years of research in Italy, (and over a decade since) my dissertation examined pilgrimage and revitalization associated with the cult of the popular 20th century Catholic saint, Padre Pio of Pietrelcina.
I am Professor of Anthropology at West Chester University of Pennsylvania, the Director of the Museum of Anthropology and Archaeology (www.wcupa.edu/museum), and the Director of the Museum Studies program. I am also the Director of the ethnographic field school on food and cultural heritage in Italy. I am also an Honorary Fellow in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
A former tour operator possessing over a decade of experience with the tourism sector, I am a founding member and the longtime Convenor of the Anthropology of Tourism Interest Group at the American Anthropological Association, where I have also served on its Task Force on Cultural Heritage.
I am the author of "The Heritage-scape: UNESCO, World Heritage and Tourism" (Lexington Books 2009), and nearly a dozen edited volumes and special journal issues. The Book Reviews Editor for the Journal of Tourism and Cultural Change, I am the editor of Lexington Books’ Anthropology of Tourism: Heritage, Mobility and Society series and its corresponding webinar series. An internationally recognized scholar of tourism, heritage, pilgrimage and foodways, I’ve been featured on NPR, ABC Australia, The Economist, Boston Globe, La Cucina Italiana, and National Geographic, among other venues.
For more information, please visit www.michaeldigiovine.com.
