Faculty of Arts & Science
Anthropology

Professor Emeritus
Department of Anthropology

BIOGRAPHY

Norman Buchignani received his BA in Physics (1969) from the University of California, Berkeley, his MA in Anthropology (1974) from California State University, Hayward, and his PhD in Anthropology (1977) from Simon Fraser University.

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Inter-group Relations and Europe’s Others: contemporary ethnic theory (especially re: social identities, inter-group communications and nationalism), ethnic and race relations in Canada, historical traveller images of Khoikhoi (Hottentots), 1490-1850

Applied Social Research: health and social needs of older First Nations people in Alberta, reduction of inter-group prejudice, race and ethnic relations policy development in Canada, immigrant settlement, development of teaching materials on multiculturalism, family violence and First Nations people, community based health promotion

South Asia, Overseas Indians: environmentally-forced migration in rural Bangladesh, South Asian community structure in Canada (especially Fijians and Sikhs), Indians in Fiji, comparative analysis of the Indian diaspora

History of Anthropological Thought: history of intellectual concepts of race (1750-1840)

SELECTED RECENT PUBLICATIONS

199-. Idleness in South Africa re-visited: ethnographic methods and ‘Hottentot’ travel accounts. Journeys (inaugural issue), 55 pp. in press.

1999. Vanishing Acts: Illegal immigration in Canada as a sometime social issue (with Doreen Indra). In David Haines and Karen Rosenblum, eds., Illegal Immigration in America: A Reference Handbook. Greenwood. pp. 415-450.

1999. Informal care and older Native Canadians (with Christopher Armstrong-Esther). Ageing and Society 19:3-32.

1997. Rural Landlessness, Extended Entitlements and Inter-household Relations in South Asia: a Bangladesh Case. (with Doreen Indra) Journal of Peasant Studies 23(3):25-64.

1996. South Asians. Canadian Encyclopedia. 3rd edition.

1996. Sikhism. Canadian Encyclopedia. 3rd edition.

1996. Using Folio Views for Qualitative Data Analysis. Cultural Anthropology Methods 8(2):1-4.

1994. The E-Mail Murders: Reflections on ‘Dead’ Letters (with Alan Aycock). In Steve Jones, ed., Communication in Cyberspace. Newbury Park: Sage Publications, pp. 184-231.

1994. Canadian Ethnic Research and Multiculturalism. In Beverley Diamond and Robert Witmer, eds. Canadian Music: Issues of Hegemony and Identity. Toronto: Canadian Scholars’ Press.

1993. Ethnographic Research (with Paul Letkemann). In John W. Berry and Jean A. Laponce, eds. Multiculturalism in Canada. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, pp. 203-237.

1993. Social Science Research on Asians in Canada. In P. Krishnan, ed., Status and Identity in a Pluralistic Society: Essays in Honour of Gordon K. Hirabayashi. B.R. Publishing Corporation: New Delhi. pp. 137-156.

1993. Refugees and Ethnic Relations in Canada. In V. Robinson, ed. The International Refugee Crisis: British and Canadian Responses. London: Macmillan, pp. 35-56.