Ben J. Wallace
SMU P.O Box 750391
bwallace@smu.edu
Teaching, Research, and Writing
Ben Wallace's commitment to teaching, research, and writing
began as an undergraduate student at the University of Oklahoma when he co-founded a
journal in anthropology that is still in existence more than three decades later. He
published his first book while a graduate student. His introduction to the study of the
peoples and cultures of Southeast Asia, his life-long professional commitment, came
when he was introduced to the Philippines as a graduate student at the University of
Wisconsin.
Ben's early research was in the field of traditional
ethnography (e.g., studying head taking, kinship analysis, religious worldview,
ecological adaptation), but as his experience grew, his attention turned more to the
issue of how to utilize traditional anthropological concepts and methodologies as they
can be applied to ameliorating some of the problems confronting the contemporary rural
peoples of Asia. His most recent publications have been almost exclusively in the
field of applied anthropology.
Ben's current research project started fifteen years ago
when he designed the project and brought together a diverse group of institutions (the
academy, government, and industry) to examine the causes, and develop cures for the
deforestation problems in Southeast Asia. Popularly known in the Southeast Asian press
as The Good Roots Project: ugat ng buhay, Ben has committed to working on this
research and development project for at least another five years.
While pursuing his teaching, research and writing activities, Ben
Wallace also served as Chair of Anthropology from 1985-92, Vice President for the
Institute for the Study of Earth and Man from 1989-2000, and Director of the Study
Abroad Office from 1992 until the present.
Along the way, Ben also published two adventure/action
novels: The Emerald Buddha Conspiracy, 2001, and The
Pinoy Connection, 2002.
Curriculum Vitae | Publications
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