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Affiliated Faculty are not employees of the Center for Asian Studies. Please contact this faculty member at their home department.

Education

Ph.D., Anthropology, University of Southern California

Regional and Thematic Interests

Cultural anthropology; ethnographic film; indigenous rights and the state; religion; exchange; tourism; development; globalization; Southeast Asia; Indonesia

Profile

Christian Hammons is a writer, producer, and director who works in documentary, fiction, and the space in between. Ethnographically informed, his work often focuses on the everyday lives of marginalized people. His most recent work includes the short film Rumor, which premiered at the Beverly Hills Film Festival in 2020, the short documentary Messengers, which premiered at the IFS Los Angeles Film Festival in 2019, and the short film Lemonade, which premiered at the Lone Star Film Festival in 2018. His in-between work includes the live documentary Tripod: Mead, Bateson, Bali and participatory media projects on the Ft. Berthold Indian Reservation in North Dakota and in the Mentawai Islands in Indonesia.

Chris is a cultural anthropologist by aptitude and training. He received his Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Southern California. His research on indigeneity and the state in the Mentawai Islands has been published widely, and he is the author of the book Exploring Culture and Gender through Film. He also holds an MFA in film production from the USC School of Cinematic Arts. He has worked at PBS, Cruise-Wagner Productions/Paramount, ICM, Disney Channel, and Bunim-Murray Productions/ABC. He now heads up the production company Deranged Penguin (with Eric Coombs Esmail) and teaches anthropology and critical media practices at the �鶹��Ѱ�����. He is the Associate Chair of Graduate Studies in the Department of Critical Media Practices and the Associate Director of the Center for Documentary and Ethnographic Media.

Selected Publications

Forthcoming “Shamanism, Tourism, and Secrecy: Revelation and Concealment in Siberut, Western Indonesia.” Ethnos.

2013 “Animism and the Art of Not Being Governed in Sumatra.” Anthropology News.

2013 “Review of Jathilan: Trance and Possession in Java and Ngaben: Emotion and Restraint in a Balinese Heart.” American Anthropologist 115, no. 3: 509-510.