Anthropology - P. Kelly Spurles

Anthropology Department - Dr. Patricia Kelly Spurles (On Leave January 1 - June 30, 2009)

Associate Professor,
B.A. & M.A. (McGill), Ph.D. (Montreal)

Email: pkellyspurles@mta.ca

Office: Avard-Dixon, Rm 315

Phone: (506)364-2154

- Courses Taught

- Selected Recent Grants

- Research Interests

- Selected Presentations

- Selected Recent Publications

- Theses Supervised

Mount Allison University Ethics Board Applications Involving Humans - A Guide for Social Science Students

Courses Taught

     Anth 1011: Introduction to Anthropology (fall/winter annually)
     Anth 2401: Anthropology and the Life Course (fall 2006)
     Anth 3021: Perspectives in Anthropology (winter 2007)
     Anth 3101: Social Inequality
     Anth 3531: Family and Kinship (winter 2007)
     Anth 3XXX: North African and Middle East Ethnography
     Anth 3861: African Ethnography
     Anth 4021: Anthropological Theory (winter 2007)
     Anth 4XXX: The Body in Culture (fall 2006)

Selected topics/independent study courses:
     Muslim Societies of North Africa (summer 2003)
     Immigration, Migration, and Culture (winter 2003)
     Anthropology of Tourism (summer 2002, summer 2003, fall 2003)
     Anthropology of Sexuality (fall 2003)

Research Interests

     Henna practices and practitioners in the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia
     Gender and work in Morocco
     Altruism
     Muslim communities in North American and Europe
     Gender and law in Muslim societies

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Selected Recent Publications

2006	'This is different, this is the plaza': Space, gender, and tactics in the work of Moroccan tourist sector henna artisans, Research in Economic Anthropology, 25. ABSTRACT: Henna, a vegetable dye made from ground henna leaves that is used by Moroccan women to create temporary designs for the hands and feet, has become a profitable tourist sector service in the past decade. The social organization and relations of tourist sector henna artisans in the Marrakesh area are closely tied to how the spaces where they work are socially constructed and re-constructed. The artisans’ assertive public behavior directed at strangers is socially disapproved, and highlighted in interactions between the artisans and representatives of the state as well as guides and shopkeepers. Artisans working in public squares organize into multi-function cooperative groups in order to preserve claim to a given space, share supplies and skills, and provide a peer group in and through which reputation is maintained. Alternative spatial arrangements, such as work in herb shops and independent henna shops, correspond with greater conformity to gender norms.

2006	"Women, gender, and tourism: Morocco." Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic Cultures, vol.4, Suad Joseph (ed.), Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers.

(in progress)	A Cultural Biography of Henna: Ritual, Practice, and Change in Morocco (unpublished manuscript, 317 pp). ABSTRACT: Henna, a semi-permanent vegetable dye, is a thread that is woven through many areas of Moroccan society. While also used medically and for religious merit, it is most associated with decorative application to the hands and feet in ceremonies that mark calendrical and life cycle transitions. Used by women preparing for marriage or childbirth, awaiting a male child’s circumcision, and re-entering the community after their spouse’s death, henna indicates (and conveys) the passage of a woman through dangerous states – a meaning that has been easily adapted to encompass the physical and social liminality that accompanies travel. In recent years, henna has been increasingly commoditized, particularly with the appearance of artisans who apply henna for Moroccan and international tourists in public markets. Conflicts between artisans and the police, in particular, highlight both the socio-economic importance of this work and the salience of manipulating tradition in gaining/retaining control of cash earned in this high profit sector. Employing a cultural biography approach, this study breaks with impact-oriented evaluations of tourism to examine how meaning is embedded in newly commoditized rituals through 1) a genealogy of henna practices shared regionally as well as those specific to Muslim and Jewish Moroccan communities; 2) similarities and contrasts between contemporary local and tourist sector producers’ technical and social knowledge relating to henna application; and 3) the social context of production. This study contributes to the areas of economic anthropology (both business practices and commoditization), anthropology of the body, anthropology of tourism, social change, and ritual and belief.

2004	“Women, Gender, and Stereotypes: Concepts and Practices: Canada,” Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic Cultures, vol.2, Suad Joseph (ed.), Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers.

2003	“Coding Dress: Gender and the Articulation of Identity in a Canadian Muslim School,” The Muslim Veil in North America: Issues and Debates, Sajida Alvi, Homa Hoodfar, and Sheila McDonough (eds.), Toronto: Women’s Press.

2002	“Henna for Brides and Gazelles: Moroccan Women’s Work in the Traditional and Tourist Sectors in Marrakesh.” IDRA Technical Report. Ottawa: IDRC.

1999	“Integration and Identity in Muslim Schools: Britain, U.S., and Montreal,” Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations 10(2):197-217.

1998	“Muslim Canadians: Immigration Policy and Community Development in the 1991 Census,” Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations 9(1):83-102.

1998	“Book Review: Quest for Conception (Marcia Inhorn, University of Philadelphia Press, 1994),” Social Anthropology 6(1):142.

1997	“Muslims in Canada: A Brief Review of a Community’s Development,” Montreal: Concordia University Center for Community and Ethnic Studies Working Papers.

1996, 1997	“Finding Common Ground: Islamic Values and Gender Equity in Tunisia’s Reformed Personal Status Law,” Special Dossier: Women and Law 1:74-103. Translated into French and reprinted in 1997 under the title « Trouver des points communs: Valeurs islamiques et égalité entre les sexes dans la loi amendée sur le statut personnel en Tunisie » in Dossier Spécial 1:70-95.

Selected Recent Grants

2004-2007	Marjory Young Bell Research Fellowship
2004-2006	Mount Allison University Start-up Grant
2000-2001	International Development Research Council, Doctoral Research Award
1998-2001	Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, Doctoral Fellowship
1998-2001	Fonds Pour la Formation des Chercheurs et de l’Aide à la Recherche, Doctoral Research Award

Selected Presentations

2004	“Introducing Basic Research Skills in a Large Lecture Class,” Information Literacy Institute, Mount Allison University, May 18.

2004	“‘Greeks Speak Arabic, Don’t They?’: Globalization, Tourism, and the Production of Knowledge in Morocco,” presented in the session “We Eat the Other and the Other Eats Us,” at the Annual Meeting of the Canadian Anthropology Society, University of Western Ontario, May 9.

2003	“Commoditizing Ritual: Henna and Bread in Marrakesh,” Institute of Islamic Studies, McGill University, December 12.

2003	“What is Home? The Dialogic Construction of Domestic Space in Marrakesh,” Seminar Series for the Social Sciences, Mount Allison University, November 4.
2003	“The House and the Street: Constructing and Re-constructing Women’s Space in Marrakesh,” Women in Motion conference, Mount Allison University, May 24.

2003	“Rights of Passage: Power, Liminality, and Tourism in Morocco,” Seminar Series for the Social Sciences, Mount Allison University, April 4.

2003	“Selling Henna: Tourism, Ritual, and Power in Morocco,” Department of Sociology, University of Ottawa. March 17.

2002	“Card Pack Quizzes: A Rapid Evaluation (and Self-Evaluation) Technique for Large Lecture Classes,” Purdy Crawford Teaching Centre, Mount Allison University, November 6.

Theses Supervised

2003-2004	Natalie Ward, “Blurring transnational boundaries: Migrant women, motherhood, and myth” (Undergraduate honours thesis, Mount Allison University, Department of Anthropology)

2003-2004	Margaret Hoyt, “Healing and Middle Eastern dance: An ethnography of ‘bellydance’ among North American women” (Undergraduate honours thesis, Mount Allison University, Department of Anthropology)

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