EDUCATION INFO:
2006-Present - PhD student, Cultural Anthropology, University of South Carolina
2007 - Graduate Certificate, Visual Anthropology, University of South Carolina
2006 - MA, Cultural Anthropology, University of South Carolina
2003 - BA Hons, Cultural Anthropology, Carleton University
1999 - BA Hons, Archaeology, Carleton University

AREAS OF SPECIALIZATION:
Cultural Anthropology
Visual Anthropology
Anthropology of Tourism

AREAS OF INTEREST:
Ideas surrounding identity creation and negotiation, issues of visual representation, anthropology of tourism (globalization, marketing images, embodied practices, and souvenirs), and Jordan

FELLOWSHIPS:
American Center of Oriental Research/Council of American Overseas Research Center (ACOR/CAORC) Fellow, Jordan, 2005

AWARDS :
University of South Carolina Graduate School Travel Award, 2007
College of Arts and Sciences Travel Award, University of South Carolina, 2007
Department of Anthropology Travel Award, University of South Carolina, 2006
Walker Institute of International Studies (WIIS) International Experience Award, 2005
University of South Carolina Graduate School Travel Award, 2005

DISSERTATION WORKING TITLE:
“Shifting Landscapes of Identity: the Impact of Tourism Development in Aqaba, Jordan”

DISSERTATION COMMITTEE :
Dr. Kimberly Simmons, Department of Anthropology
Dr. Karl Heider, Department of Anthropology
Dr. Thomas Leatherman, Department of Anthropology
Dr. Ann Kingsolver, Department of Anthropology
Dr. Kenneth Perkins, Department of History

DISSERTATION PLANS (research planned for September 2008-August 2009) :
My research attempts to understand how socio-economic and physical landscapes shape identity and how people see their identities shifting as government and private industry reshape their communities. Specifically, I plan to explore 1) how the social and economic landscapes of Aqaba change as the physical landscape is altered due to increasing tourism-related expansion, along with 2) how identity is both negotiated and politicized. Tourism provides a lens through which to explore how memory, culture, and identity are experienced in that tourism highlights the tropes and metonyms of the idealized local culture, informing both tourists and local residents of the dominant discourse surrounding the identity put forth by policy makers. However, this official narrative does not necessarily reflect the experienced reality.

In order to explore the interpretive experiences surrounding the political economy of tourism development, I will employ a multi-sited, multi-tiered approach beginning with residents of one building in a neighbourhood designated to be razed for tourist development. In addition to participant observation and semi-structured interviews, a key method I will employ at the community-level is PhotoVoice, an approach that arms participants with disposable cameras as a way to capture and express the significance of their social and economic realities through their own photographic portrayals of their community. I believe that using PhotoVoice will ensure that this project is more participatory as it will be the images and reflections of community members that will help to shape and guide the social impact analysis of this project. I plan to explore the perceived implications for the social networks of residents of the neighbourhoods that will be displaced due to resort, lagoon, and condominium construction; as well as look at what the impact of large-scale urban tourism development on local identity in relation to public versus private space in the city might be.

Resort development in Aqaba has already drastically reduced the amount of public access beaches in town. To use one of the existing resorts’ beachfront will cost local residents approximately $30 USD/person per day. Another example can be found in the case of a former children’s park, which was located directly beside a mosque that has been developed into several multi-national fast food chain restaurants and a gym/spa. While these places are accessible to the local population, the price of eating at one of these restaurants is prohibitive for the average Aqaba family.

From here, I will expand my investigation to include local business owners, through the use of participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and questionnaires. An over arching question I will examine is how Aqaba’s economy deals with changing consumption patterns of tourists. In other words, how will the local businesses deal with tourists remaining in the resorts instead of contributing to the larger town’s economy, such as in locally owned restaurants and local markets? As well, I am interested in exploring new industries, both formal and informal, which are developing as a result of this increased tourism and their impact on the larger community.

Armed with the concerns and perceptions raised by community members and business owners, I intend to address these issues with policy makers, such as the Jordanian Tourism Board (JTB), the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities (MOTA), and the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA) by means of interviews and roundtable discussions. By employing a scalar approach, from the local, to business, to policy, I anticipate an increase in communication possibilities that will ideally lead to a smoother identity shift as a result of the increasing tourism development.

MA THESIS TITLE:
“Serving up the Imagined: An Image-Based Examination of Jordan’s National Identity Created through Hospitality”

MA THESIS COMMITTEE:
Dr. Karl Heider, Department of Anthropology
Dr. Thomas Leatherman, Department of Anthropology
Dr. Kimberly Simmons, Department of Anthropology
Professor Laura Kissel, Department of Media Arts

MA THESIS ABSTRACT:
I explore the webbed nature of how the state, the local population, and tourists co-create Jordanian tradition through the Bedouin ethos. Using still images and video, I highlight how certain aspects of Bedouin culture are appropriated to represent an idealized Jordanian national identity. Tourism industries often construct 'authentic' displays of local, ethnic identities to appeal to the tourists’ sense of imagined destinations. The Jordanian tourism industry commercializes the image of the Bedouin in order to attract both domestic and foreign tourists. The use of food, setting, and hospitality as representations of Bedouin and thus of Jordanian culture are key aspects of this tourism tactic. Bedouin coffee served under a ‘Bedouin tent’ is frequently seen on tours, in restaurants and in many of the major hotel lobbies, enticing guests to ‘experience’ a taste of Jordanian life. In fact, entire package tours are geared toward the experience of food and hospitality rituals within the host culture.

Drawing on interviews, observations, and surveys of images found in Jordanian tourism artifacts (brochures, hotels, menus, posters, and websites) I explore how Jordanian identity is both represented and consumed differently by each of the three contributors. Finally, this research considers how all the participants negotiate and reinforce this imagined identity in order to reflect the changing demands of global tourism.

PAPERS/POSTERS PRESENTED:
2007- SfAA (Society for Applied Anthropology), Tampa, FL

2005- GAVA (Graduate Association for Visual Anthropology), Washington D.C.

2005- SCASC (South Carolina Anthropology Student Conference), Columbia, SC

CONFERENCES ATTENDED:
2007- SCASC ( South Carolina Anthropology Student Conference), Clemson, SC
2007-SfAA (Society for Applied Anthropology), Tampa, FL
2006-AAA (American Anthropological Association), San Jose, CA
2006-SCASC (South Carolina Anthropology Student Conference), Aiken, SC
2005-AAA (American Anthropological Association), Washington D.C.
2005-GAVA (Graduate Association for Visual Anthropology), Washington D.C.
2005-SCASC (South Carolina Anthropology Student Conference), Columbia, SC
2004-ASOR (American Schools of Oriental Research), San Antonio, TX

PUBLICATIONS:
Anthropology News (Volume 48, No. 4, April 2007), “Working Ethics for Visual Research” p. 65 (co-authored with Bridget McDonnell)

American Anthropologist (Volume 108, No. 3 September 2006), Pacific Pattern book review p. 518

ACOR Newsletter (Vol.17.1, Summer 2005), “Dishing up the Imagined: Examining the Bedouinization of Jordan’s National Identity for Tourism through Cuisine and Hospitality”
p. 6-7

PHOTOGRAPHIC PUBLICATIONS:
Historically Speaking ( Volume 45, No. 1, Summer 2006)
American Journal of Archaeology (Volume 107, 2003)
National Geographic Magazine (February 1999)
Journal of Archaeology (Volume 103, 1999)
Journal of Roman Archaeology (Volume 12, 1999)

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS:
American Anthropological Association (AAA)
American Schools of Oriental Research (ASOR)
Development Studies Working Group, University of South Carolina
Middle East Studies Association (MESA)
South East Regional Middle East and Islamic Studies Association (SERMEIS)
Society for Visual Anthropology (SVA)
National Association for Student Anthropologists (NASA)
Middle East Section of AAA (MES)

EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES:
2007/2008 - Co-organizer of the South Carolina Anthropology Student Conference (SCASC),      Charleston, SC
2007/2008 – Guidance Committee, USC PhotoVoice (Title TBA) sponsored by Student Wellness      Promotion
2007- Filmmaker, USC PhotoVoice International sponsored by Student Wellness Promotion
2006/2007 - Co-organizer of the South Carolina Anthropology Student Conference (SCASC),      Clemson, SC
2005/2006 - Co-organizer of the South Carolina Anthropology Student Conference (SCASC), Aiken,      SC
2005-present - Co-organizer of CABLE, a bi-weekly cultural anthropology workshop series at the      University of South Carolina

EMAIL:
kcavanagh@sc.edu