Michael Di Giovine

I am the series editor of The Anthropology of Tourism: Heritage, Mobility and Society, published by Lexington Books, a division of Rowman and Littlefield. The series publishes cutting-edge and engaging research on the culture(s) of tourism, as well as its relationship with cultural heritage and its impacts on society. Written by anthropologists and other social scientists, books in the series embrace anthropology’s holistic and comprehensive approach to scholarship, and are sensitive to the complex diversity of human expression. Books examine a wide range of topics, from the role of language in tourism to gender and sexuality, from pilgrimage to indigenous heritage and resistance, from wellness tourism to love. The series is a valuable resource to scholars and students alike who are interested in the various manifestations of tourism and its role as the world’s largest and fastest-growing source of socio-cultural and economic activity.

To better disseminate the work of our authors, during the pandemic I started an Author Conversation Series webinar. These webinars are an hour long, and feature a discussion of the key concepts of the book, as well as the context, reception and craft of writing it. The recordings are all featured on the series website, and can be utilized for class lectures as well.

Formerly the Anthropology of Tourism Interest Group (ATIG) at the American Anthropological Association, the Council on Heritage and the Anthropology of Tourism (CHAT) is the premiere section at the AAA for anthropologists who work on the social scientific studies of heritage and tourism. A founding board member and original program director of ATIG in 2013, I became ATIG’s Convenor in 2016, a position I have held until I led the interest group’s transition to section status in 2024. I am the founding President of CHAT and will hold this position until 2027.

CHAT is a vibrant and active organization which aims to bring together scholars of heritage and tourism into productive dialogue, disseminate state-of-the-art research through our online blog, sponsor numerous events at the annual meeting, and connect experts with the press and with the greater public. CHAT also awards the Nelson Graburn Prize for a scholar’s first book on the anthropology of tourism and heritage; the Edward M. Bruner Prize for best book by a senior scholar; and the Kathleen Adams Student Paper Prize.

Website

Convened extraordinarily to address the lack of formalized representation of heritage experts at the American Anthropological Association, which fields numerous calls from the public for commentary and intervention in heritage development projects, the Task Force on Cultural Heritage brought together practicing and academic anthropologists and archaeologists from all four fields, including those working in the cultural resource management sector. I assumed a pivotal role in laying the groundwork for a better understanding of the operational definitions and ethics of heritage practices at the AAA. Based on this research, with fellow task force member Sarah Cowie, I published “Operational Definitions of Heritage” in Anthropology News and with co-convenor Teresita Majewski, and the encyclopedia article, “Ethics of Conservation,” in the Encyclopedia of Archaeological Sciences. I also was invited to keynote an ICOMOS-ICTC conference on the anthropological approach to heritage and tourism, for which I conducted research among AAA members; this was published as “Anthropologists Weigh in on the Sustainability of Tourism” in Anthropology News as well as several other book chapters. Our work informed the American Anthropological Association’s Executive Board in its Statement on Cultural Heritage Principles and Values.

Paul Stoller and I being honored at the American Anthropological Association meeting in Denver, 2016. Stoller received the Anthropology in the Media award, while I received recognition for my work on the Task Force on Cultural Heritage.

I am an external advisor to the Northern Marianas College (Saipan)’s USDA NextGen program, which aims to develop scholarship-funded agritourism curriculum and scholarships for minority and under-represented groups in the Northern Marianas Islands (USA). The NextGen Scholarship Program, funded by the US Department of Agriculture – Natural Institute of Food (USDA-NIFA) and Agriculture NextGen Workforce Initiative, is specifically tailored to focus on creating a regenerative workforce for African-American and island communities. This initiative provides a unique opportunity for learners pursuing degrees in food science, agriculture, natural resource management, agritourism, and related disciplines. Duties entail consulting on best practices for curricular and co-curricular projects, reviewing scholarship applications, conducting and coordinating site visits abroad (including to my field school in Italy).

I have extensive experience conducting qualitative and quantitative audience research for museums, heritage tourism sites, and other non-profit organizations in the “culture sector”. As the inaugural Research Fellow (2008-2013) for Slover Linett Strategies, which merged in 2024 with the University of Chicago’s famed National Opinion Research Center to become Slover Linett at NORC, I organized teams of researchers for the Whitney Art Museum, Art Institute of Chicago, Museum of Science and Industry, the Fleischer Art Memorial in Philadelphia, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and many other clients. I often employed graduate students in visual anthropology, sociology, psychology, and the arts. Today, I continue to engage my own students in audience research projects at the Museum of Anthropology and Archaeology, and for several research teams.

Michael is the Book Reviews Editor of the Journal of Tourism and Cultural Change, and was the longtime Reviews Editor of Journeys: The International Journal of Travel and Travel Writing until it ceased publication in 2021. He also sits on the editorial board of the open-access International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage, and frequently peer reviews submitted articles, grant proposals, and manuscripts.

Si effetuano traduzioni dall’italiano in inglese. 

• The Mosaics of Pesaro website. (English version) Pesaro, Italy: Archdiocese of Pesaro.
• Istituto Italiano di Cultura’s brochure, ParlItaliano. Washington, DC: Istituto Italiano di Cultura, 2000.
• Don Elia Bellebono: Apostle of the Sacred Heart for our Time by Carlo Colonna. Rome: AdP, 2000.