Richard P. Horwitz is a Senior Fellow of the
Coastal Institute at the University of Rhode Island, an independent
consultant, and Professor Emeritus at the University of Iowa. He holds a
Ph.D. (1975) in American Civilization from the University of Pennsylvania
where he studied interdisciplinary approaches to the United States,
emphasizing cultural anthropology. For more than 35 years his work has
centered on the interpretation of everyday life in the U.S. – institutions,
routines, and folkways on the job, at home, and in neighborhoods. The work is
both scholarly and applied, particularly in regard to environmental and
international affairs. He has worked extensively in more than a dozen
African, Asian, and European nations to contribute to the development of his
field and cross-cultural understanding more generally. These visits have been
sponsored by universities, non-governmental organizations, and national as
well as international agencies, including two Distinguished Senior Fulbright
Awards.
He is currently working as a
researcher, writer, and consultant on cultural issues in environmental
affairs – analyzing and assisting communication among policymakers,
scientists, first responders, and the public. From 2002 to 2009, he
produced and maintained all State plans for dealing with environmental and agricultural
emergencies. He is now Principal Investigator for a federally funded project to research
and develop plans for improving the sustainability of dairies in New England.
Major publications include five books: two anthologies – The
American Studies Anthology (an international, interdisciplinary
introduction to the sources of interest in the U.S.) and Exporting America (about American Studies around the world, with contributions from eleven
countries) – and three original volumes – Anthropology Toward History (about interdisciplinarity, applied toward
understanding workaday life in an industrializing New England town), The
Strip (about highway-oriented commerce, making beds, burgers, cash, and
community along a modern Midwestern roadside) and Hog Ties (about the
implications of modern agriculture and medical science for the quality of
life in America). This last work draws on his experience moonlighting as a
hired hand on a 2000-acre hog/grain/cattle farm for 20 years. He has also
served as a researcher, writer, photographer, consultant, and public
presenter for the Smithsonian Institution (e.g., for the Festival of American Folklife) and several state and national science,
arts, education, humanities, and public policy agencies. His public-sector
projects include documentary fieldwork among diverse groups, especially
producers and consumers ("stakeholders") of environmental
information (e.g., about emergencies, global warming, public health and
safety, agriculture and wildlife management). Recent awards include prizes
for life-time achievement in mentoring students and for the outstanding
article of the year in American Studies.
Recent planning, research, and outreach activities include:
For the U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA) and the
New England States Animal Agriculture Security Alliance (NESAASA)
Review and Analyze New England's
Fluid Milk Marketing Pattern for Development of a Secure Milk Supply Plan
Integrate the Regional New
England Risk Analysis into Foreign Animal Disease (FAD) Continuity of
Business Planning.
Foot-and-Mouth
Disease (FMD) as a Hazard for New England Dairies (Comprehensive vulnerability assessment)
Communicating with Dairy Consumers About FMD. (Guide to risk
communication in an emergency)
New England Secure Milk Supply Project (Regional analysis,
reports, recommendations, and outreach materials)
For Virginia Polytechnic Institute
and State University, Office of Emergency Management
Coordinate the development of outreach and education, on-line and video resources to improve emergency preparedness
at Virginia Tech
Guides to emergency hazards, preparedenss, response, and recovery and Be Hokie Ready training and certification
For the Rhode Island
Department of Environmental Management (RI DEM)
Public Information and Web
Resources for the Office of
Emergency Response and the Division of
Agriculture
Emergency Response Plan (Comprehensive, for all of DEM and all environmental hazards)
Agricultural Emergency
Response Plan (Comprehensive, for all plant, pet, and livestock hazards)
Protocols and Public Information
for BART (Bay Assessment and Response Team)
Public Advice and Information
on Animal Care in Disasters
Help for RI Cities and
Towns in Preparing for Emergency Animal Care
Development, Training,
Coordination, and Public Information for the RI Disaster Animal
Response Team (RIDART)
Exercises of DEM Emergency
Response (Oil Spill, Hurricane, AI
Epidemic, Animal Sheltering and Rescue)
For RI DEM and the RI
Emergency Management Administration (RI EMA)
State Emergency Operations
Plan for ESF #10 (Hazardous Materials and
Environmental Protection)
State Emergency Operations
Plan for ESF #16) (Animal Care)
Exercises of State and Federal
Emergency Response (Oil Spill, Epidemic, Radiation, Hurricane)
For the Coastal Institute, University of Rhode Island
External Evaluator for the Coastal Institute IGERT Project (CIIP)
Consultant, Scientific Support of Enviornmental Emergency
Response (SSEER)
For American Studies
International, Interdisciplinary
Education about the United States
On-line Resources for Students and
Teachers of American Studies
Consulting in the People's Republic of China, the Republic of
Georgia, Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Poland,
Senegal, and Moldova
Five Books:
Hog Ties: What Pigs Tell Us
about America (University of Minnesota Press, 2002);
– and as Hog Ties: Pigs,
Manure, and Mortality in American Culture (Palgrave Macmillan/St.
Martin's, 1998).
(Editor and Contributor), The
American Studies Anthology (SR Books, Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, 2001).
(Editor and Contributor) Exporting America: Essays on American Studies Abroad (Garland Publishing,
1993).
The Strip: An American Place,
with photographs by Karin E. Becker (University of Nebraska Press, 1985).
Anthropology Toward History:
Culture and Work in a 19th Century Maine Town (Wesleyan University Press,
1978).
Works in Progress:
A Leap from the Ivory Tower:
Contemplating Culture and Environmental Disaster.
"The J-Factor in American
Studies," American Studies, forthcoming.
Plus dozens of book chapters, journal articles, and book reviews in American Anthropologist, American Quarterly, American
Studies, Ethnohistory, Great Plains
Quarterly, Annals of Iowa, Journal of American History, Journal of
Social History, Journal of the Society for the Humanities and
Technology, and Winterthur Portfolio as well as contributions to
series published in Europe and Asia.
E-mail: rhorwitz@cox.net
WWWeb:
http://myweb.uiowa.edu/rhorwitz
Resume:
http://myweb.uiowa.edu/rhorwitz/vita.htm |
