| Graduate Trainee Profile: | |
 S. Megan MuletGraduate Trainee - Anthropology Advisors: Professors Carole Browner, Nancy Levine, & Tom Weisner Year Entered Doctoral Program at UCLA: 2004 Masters Program: U.C. Berkeley/Demography (2004) Undergraduate School/Major: Cornell University/Anthropology Email:  Research: Megan's dissertation research is on the culture of Burning Man and the experiences of participants who attend the annual event in Black Rock City, Nevada. She has been collaborating with scholars and students in multiple departments and campuses, as well as with the festival's organizers, to form an interdisciplinary team of researchers to study social, cultural and psychological aspects of the Burning Man phenomenon. (She is currently accepting applications for research assistants working towards a career in the social sciences.) Megan's previous research was on romance and marriage arrangements in Kathmandu, Nepal. She intends to return to Nepal in order to compare Black Rock City with the sacred Newari city of Bhaktapur and to compare the experiences of festival-goers at Burning Man with those who participate in Hindu and Buddhist festivals in Bhaktapur. These projects investigate the social dynamics of individuals interacting in contexts that facilitate cultural diversity. Publications and conference presentations: Presenter, "Burning Man: Nurturing Networks in a Gift Economy," CSA Conference, Communal Studies Association, September 2006, Marshall, California Poster, "Nurturing Networks: Lessons from a Gift Economy," International Association for Relationship Research Conference 2006, Rethymnon, Crete, Greece. Paper, "Burning Man: Transcending the Boundaries of Community and Exchange," Translocality Conference, Society for the Anthropology of North America, May 2005, Merida, Mexico. Poster, "Romance in Kathmandu," Population Association of America 2004 Annual Meeting, Boston. Honors and awards: Center for Culture, Brain, and Development Fellowship, 2005 (declined) Eugene Cota Robles Fellowship, University of California, 2004 Graduate Opportunity Fellowship, U.C. Berkeley, 2003 Language Fellowship, Cornell's South Asia Program, 1997 Rotary Exchange Program to Matsuyama, Japan, 1992 Peace Child Ambassador to Kubinka, Russia, 1992 Current hobbies, interests, extracurricular activities: Skiing, hiking, dancing, yoga, cooking, costume making, visual arts |
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