简介

Born and raised in the most sparsely populated country in the world, the former South West Africa (now Namibia), Rob went to boarding school in South Africa and then on to the Afrikaans-language University of Stellenbosch where he suffered the indignity of studying law, not common law but African law, Roman-Dutch law and Roman law. Fortunately, however, anthropology kept him sane; and after completing a Masters (on "Gossip"), he decided, for a variety of reasons, to broaden his horizons and received his Ph.D. at the University of Illinois. His dissertation was based on his experiences while employed as a personnel officer on a Namibian mine. Doctorate in hand he was extremely fortunate to be hired as a lecturer at the University of Papua New Guinea where, determined to do public service anthropology, he focused on issues which communities defined as important. This led to research on the ongoing problems of warfare in the Highlands. Three years later he was hired by the University of Vermont and still enjoys this beautiful place and wonderful colleagues. He typically teaches courses on Africa; development; colonialism; law, war and disorder; as well as introductory courses.