Joel Robbins (born 1961) is an American Socio-Cultural anthropologist; he is at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...

, where he is the Sigrid Rausing Professor of Social Anthropology and the Deputy Head of Division and REF Coordinator for Division of Social Anthropology, as well as a Fellow at

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

. He was previously employed at the

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego is t ...

(1998–2013), and at

Reed College Reed College is a private liberal arts college in Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1908, Reed is a residential college with a campus in the Eastmoreland neighborhood, with Tudor-Gothic style architecture, and a forested canyon nature preserve at ...

(1996–1998), and was awarded his Ph.D. from the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective ad ...

in 1998. He has published works on the anthropology of

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

, anthropological theory, the anthropology of Christianity, religious change, the anthropology of ethics and morals, and the anthropology of value. Ethnographically, he is known for his work with the

Urapmin people The Urapmin people are an ethnic group numbering about 375 people in the Telefomin District of the West Sepik Province of Papua New Guinea. One of the Min peoples who inhabit this area, the Urapmin share the common Min practices of hunter-gath ...

. His book ''Becoming Sinners: Christianity and Moral Torment in a Papua New Guinea Society'' was awarded the J. I. Staley prize by the

School for Advanced Research The School for Advanced Research (SAR), until 2007 known as the School of American Research and founded in 1907 as the School for American Archaeology (SAA), is an advanced research center located in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA. Since 1967, the s ...

in 2011. He is currently the series editor for the University of California Press "Anthropology of Christianity" book series, and has also served as a co-editor for the journal ''

Anthropological Theory ''Anthropological Theory'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal that publishes papers in the field of Anthropology. The journal's editors are Julia Eckert (University of Bern), Nina Glick Schiller (University of Manchester, Max Planck I ...

''.

Major Publications

*2020 ''Theology and the Anthropology of Christian Life.'' Oxford University Press. *2015 "Ritual, Value, and Example: On the Perfection of Cultural Representations." ''Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute'' 21 (S1): 18-29. * 2014 Editor (with Naomi Haynes) of ''The Anthropology of Christianity: Unity, Diversity, New Directions''. Special Issue of ''Current Anthropology'' 55 (Supplement 10). * 2013 "Beyond the Suffering Subject: Toward an Anthropology of the Good." ''Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute''. 19: 447-462. * 2011 "Crypto-Religion and the Study of Cultural Mixtures: Anthropology, Value, and the Nature of Syncretism." ''Journal of the American Academy of Religion'' 79(2): 408-424. * 2007 "Between Reproduction and Freedom: Morality, Value, and Radical Cultural Change." ''Ethnos'' 72(3): 293-314. * 2007 "Continuity Thinking and the Problem of Christian Culture: Belief, Time and the Anthropology of Christianity." ''Current Anthropology'' 48(1): 5-38. * 2006 "Anthropology and Theology: An Awkward Relationship?" ''Anthropological Quarterly''. 79(2): 285-294. * 2004 ''Becoming Sinners: Christianity and Moral Torment in a Papua New Guinea Society''. University of California Press. * 2004 "The Globalization of Pentecostal and charismatic Christianity." ''Annual Review of Anthropology'' 33:117-143. * 2003 "What is a Christian? Notes toward an anthropology of Christianity" ''Religion.'' 33(3):191-199. * 2001 "God is Nothing But Talk: Modernity, Language and Prayer in a Papua New Guinea Society." ''American Anthropologist'' 103(4).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robbins, Joel American anthropologists Anthropologists of religion Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge University of California, San Diego faculty 1961 births Living people