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Jonathan Peter Skinner

Reader in Anthropology of Events, University of Surrey

Dr Jonathan Skinner is a Senior Fellow member of the Higher Education Academy with a particular teaching interest in interviewing skills and qualitative research methods. He has undertaken fieldwork in the Eastern Caribbean on the island of Montserrat (carnival and festival tourism and trauma, colonial relations and disaster recovery) and in the US/UK (social dancing, arts health, contested heritage and St Patrick's Day). He recently applied his work on festivals and carnival to support sustainable lobster fishing practices in Sainte Luce, Madagascar (2019). He previously lectured at the University of Abertay Dundee (1996-2003), Queen's University Belfast (2003-2013) and the University of Roehampton (2013-2021). He is an experienced conference organiser and academic editor, keynote speaker, cruise ship lecturer and dance instructor. At Roehampton, served as Chair of the TECHNE (AHRC Doctoral Training Programme) Training Group, and Programme Convener for the Anthropology BSc. His co-edited book Leisure and Death won the 2020 Ed Bruner Book Prize for best new book.

Jonathan was awarded The Sociological Review Fellowship (1998/9), and has held Visiting Fellowships at the University of Oxford (2002/3), California State University - Sacramento (2007, and the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign (2013). He has been Honorary Treasurer of the Association of Social Anthropologists (1999-2003), editor of the journal Anthropology in Action (2001-2007), and publications officer for the European Association of Social Anthropologists (2004-2008). He is currently an Adjunct Fellow of the Centre for Cosmopolitan Studies, University of St Andrews, co-edits the award-winning book series 'Dance and Performance Studies' for Berghahn Publishers with Professor Helena Wulff (University of Stockholm) and is advisor to the Northern Ireland arts health charity Arts Care. He is also two-times Ulster Salsa Champion (2008, 2011) and a qualified Argentine tango instructor.

Experience

  • –present
    Reader in Anthropology of Events, University of Surrey

Education

  • 1993 
    University of St Andrews, PhD Social Anthropology