SOAN Part-Time Faculty Profile

Dr. Benjamin Amaya Part-time Professor Contact Office:     Evaristus Hall, Room 451 Phone:     (902) 457-6555 : 1074 E-mail:    msvu.ca

I was born in San Salvador, El Salvador.  I studied cultural anthropology in Costa Rica, Calgary and Quebec City. In my doctoral project, I explored the social life and world-views of adolescents in San José, Costa Rica. My current research interests include cultural identity and generational change in the Americas, particularly in relation to personal relationships, media preferences and lifestyle choices among young people from diverse ethnic backgrounds.  A key objective of this project is to explore to what extent the everyday life of young people is challenging family and community expectations that are often built upon ethnic, linguistic and religious boundaries.

My teaching experience can be divided into two major fields:  the first includes courses such as introductory anthropology, prehistory, ethnicity, comparative family, and area courses on North and Central America; the second field, closer to social history and political sociology, includes courses on contemporary world power issues, armed conflict and human rights.

RECENT PUBLICATION:

 "The Experience of Gender, Culture and Ethnicity in Nova Scotia High Schools" (pp. 175-208) in: Immigrant Women in Atlantic Canada. Feminist Perspectives.  Jaya Peruvemba and Evie Tastsoglou, (Eds.), Toronto:  CSPI/Women’s Press, 2011.  

I am currently conducting a Spanish conversation group at MSVU, focusing on cultural, artistic, and political events in Latin America and Spain. I enjoy Nova Scotia’s oceanic setting and have a high regard for Halifax’s lively university life. My interests also include the theory and practice of several culinary traditions from around the world as well as Latin American, Russian, and Canadian literature.