Metropolitan State University of Denver

Dr Rebecca Forgash

Personal Biography Statement

I am a cultural and linguistic anthropologist whose research focuses on international dating and marriage between U.S. military personnel and local women and men in Okinawa, Japan. I involve students in my research and am always on the lookout for motivated individuals who are interested in obtaining research experience related to anthropology and Japan. More generally, my interests include gender, intimacy, and the family; national identity and globalization; the ethnography of communication, discourse analysis, and cross-cultural communication. At Metro, I teach a variety of cultural and linguistic anthropology courses, including courses on Japanese culture and society. I also run Metro's Japan Study Abroad program, scheduled next for summer 2014. Consider joining us for three intense and educational weeks in Japan!

Educational Biography

Ph.D., 2004, University of Arizona, Anthropology.

B.A., 1992, Duke University, Anthropology and Comparative Area Studies.

Certificate, Inter-University for Japanese Language Studies, Yokohama, Japan. (2001).

Certificate, Japanese FALCON Program, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY. (2000).

Study Abroad - Vanderbilt-in-France, Vanderbilt University, Aix-en-Provence, France. (1991).

Selected Publications

Forgash, R. (2011). Touring Tohoku, Serving the Nation: Volunteer Tourism in Post-Disaster Japan. The Applied Anthropologist 31(1).

Forgash, R. (2010). Negotiating Marriage: Cultural Citizenship and the Reproduction of American Empire in Okinawa. Ethnology 48(3), 215-237.

Forgash, R. (2004). Military Transnational Marriage in Okinawa: Intimacy Across Boundaries of Nation, Race, and Class. Ann Arbor, MI: ProQuest - UMI Dissertation Publishing.

Current Projects

Co-Director, Metro State Ethnography Lab, MSU Denver.
The Ethnography Lab, established in Spring 2011, is a research and training facility dedicated to the documentation and analysis of human culture. Digital recording equipment and computer work stations equipped with transcription and qualitative data analysis software are available for faculty and student use.

Program Organizer, Japan: Culture, Communication, and Identity Study Abroad Program, MSU Denver. This program includes stays in Tokyo, Kyoto, and Okinawa. Topics include Tokyo-centricity, the urban/rural contrast, Japanese national identity, and hidden minorities.

Long-term ethnographic research project, “U.S. Military Marriage and Global Citizenship in Okinawa, Japan.” This project traces the social and material consequences of the U.S. military presence in Okinawa through the changing personal and familial relationships of U.S. servicemen and their local Okinawan spouses, with important implications for the study of identity production in Japan and the reproduction and repercussions of American military power globally.

Teaching Philosophy

Education can and should be a transformative experience. In the classroom, Anthropology’s focus on studying human ideas and behavior across diverse social and historical contexts challenges students to confront what they think is “normal.” Ultimately, the goal is for students to recognize that their own view of the world is just one of many well-organized, equally sophisticated approaches to life. I believe that teaching and learning are most successful in classrooms characterized by mutual respect and curiosity, in which persons from different backgrounds and life experiences feel they can safely share their ideas, opinions, and questions with one another. As an instructor, I employ a variety of pedagogical techniques and assessment methods, including carefully planned and well-organized lectures, films and other audio-visual presentations, individual research projects and presentations, group projects, and plenty of discussion. Additionally, I create opportunities in my classes for students to gain first-hand experience with anthropological data-gathering methods, such as participant-observation, ethnographic interviewing, recording of spontaneous interaction, creating transcripts, and discourse analysis.

Courses Taught

ANT-2330,ANT-2500,ANT-330E,ANT-390H,ANT-390M,ANT-390P,ANT-397C,ANT-397D
,ANT-3980,ANT-498A,ANT-498H,ANT-498X,MDL-390N

Current Semester Schedule