Office:   5013 Science Hall East, 300 Pompton Road
Phone:   (973) 720-3869
Email:   natrajanb@wpunj.edu
Office Hours:   TWR 4-6 pm & by appt. (Spring 2013)

Department: Anthropology
Position: Associate Professor and Director University Core Curriculum
Area Specialization: Group Formation, Caste, Development, Artisans, Agro-Science Knowledge and Farmers, State, Culture, South Asia, USA

Education

Ph.D. University of Iowa (Anthropology)

M.S. Southern Polytechnic State University, Atlanta (Computer Science)

M.A. Iowa State University (Anthropology)

B.E. Marine Engineering Research Institute (India)

Courses

Origins and Diversity of Humankind, ANTH 1300
Understanding Culture, ANTH 2300
Civilizations of South Asia, ASN 2800
Popular Culture and Modernity in South Asia, ANTH 3000/ASN 3000
Introduction to Asian Studies, ASN 2010
Blood and Belonging, ANTH 3570 (new course on Kinship and group formation)                  Global Transformations and the Human Condition, ANTH 3100 (see news article on this course from the Chronicle of Higher Education, October 31, 2011)

Selected Publications

Books

The Culturalization of Caste in India: Identity and Inequality in a Multicultural Age  (Routledge: London, 2011)

Against Stigma: Studies in Caste, Race and Justice Since Durban. Balmurli Natrajan and Paul Greenough, eds. Orient Blackswan Press: Hyderabad. 2009

Journal Articles / Book Chapters

2013. "Punctuated Solidarities: Caste and Left Politics," Economic and Political Weekly XLVIII no. 6 [Link]

2012. “From Jati to Samaj” Seminar (Delhi, India) v. 633: 54-57 [Link]

2012. “The Problem of ‘Difference’ in Discourses of Civilization and Culture,” in The Concept of Humanity in the age of Globalization, Zhang, Longxi (ed.). Göttingen: V&R Unipress. Pp. 67-82 [Link]

2012. “‘Practicing Hindus,’ Hindutva and Multiculturalism,” in Public Hinduisms, eds. Pralay Kanungo, Deepa Reddy, Maya Warrior, John Zavos and Raymond Williams.  New Delhi: Sage.  pp. 160-168 [Link]

2010. “Learning Caste: Banal and Brutal” in Caste in Life, edited by D.Shyam Babu and R.S.Khare. Delhi: Pearson Publishers. 2010. pp. 33-43 [Link]

2009. "Place and Pathology in Caste" Economic and Political Weekly Vol. XLIV No. 51, Dec 19, pp. 79-82 [Link]

2009. "Indian Electoral Democracy: The Only Game In Town ," Economic and Political Weekly Vol. XLIV No. 29, July 18, pp. 14-17 [Link]

2009. "Introduction" (Balmurli Natrajan and Paul Greenough) in Against Stigma, pp. 1-44 [Link]

2009. "Essentially Polluted: Untouchability, Caste and Diversity", in Against Stigma, pp.298-325 [Link]

2008. "Cultural Values," in Encyclopedia of Social Problems, ed. Vincent Parrillo. Sage Publications [Link]

2007. "Misrepresenting Caste and Race" Seminar no.572:65-66, April [Link]

2005. "Caste, Class and Community in India: An Ethnographic Approach ," Ethnology 44(3): 227-241 (Summer) [Link]

2005. "Beyond Homogenization versus Heterogenization: Difference and Culture in Globalization," In Soma Hewa and Darwin Stapleton, eds., Globalization, Philanthropy and Civil Society: Toward a New Political Culture in the 21 st Century. Springer: New York. pp. 177-192 [Link]

2003. "Masking and Veiling Protests: Culture and Ideology in Representing Globalization ," Cultural Dynamics 15(2): 213-235 [Link]

2002. "Legitimating Globalization: Culture and Its Uses," Journal of Transnational Law and Contemporary Problems vol.12, no.1: 127-138 [Link]

Selected Grants / Awards 

2006. Fulbright-Hays Group Project Abroad grant: “Worlds of Work: Meeting the Challenge of Teaching Asia in the 21^st Century” for K-12 educators ($80,000)

1995-96 American Institute for Indian Studies, Junior Fellowship grant for field research