Edward Fischer

Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Vanderbilt University

Edward F. Fischer is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Vanderbilt University, where he is also the Associate Director of the Center for Latin American and Iberian Studies.

He has written on subjects ranging from cross-cultural perspectives on romantic love to cultural manifestations of the global economy.

Fischer’s fieldwork often takes him to rural Maya towns in highland Guatemala, where his research focuses on the interplay of local Indian culture and global economic currents.

Based on this work, he has published numerous journal articles and two books, “Maya Cultural Activism in Guatemala” (1996) and “Cultural Logics and Global Economies” (2001). His new book, “Tecpán Guatemala: A Maya Town in Local and Global Context,” is being published by Westview Press.

Dr. Fischer’s work has been funded by the Inter-American Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Wenner-Gren Foundation.

His most recent work in Guatemala was supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Fischer has been cited in the New York Times, Newsweek, and other popular media, and he has produced a radio documentary on Maya farmers and the global produce market.

Born and raised in Dothan, Alabama, Dr. Fischer was educated at the University of Alabama in Birmingham and Tulane University in New Orleans. He now lives in Nashville, Tennessee with his wife and two children.