Bob W. White is an full professor of

social anthropology Social anthropology is the study of patterns of behaviour in human societies and cultures. It is the dominant constituent of anthropology throughout the United Kingdom and much of Europe, where it is distinguished from cultural anthropology. In t ...

at the

University of Montreal A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. He is an expert in the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; , CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, represe ...

's Intercultural Cities program and the director and founder of the Laboratory for Research on Intercultural Relations (LABRRI) at the University of Montreal. His research interests include intercultural communication, dynamics, and cities; popular culture; French-speaking Africa, particularly the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

;

immigration policy Immigration law includes the national statutes, regulations, and legal precedents governing immigration into and deportation from a country. Strictly speaking, it is distinct from other matters such as naturalization and citizenship, although the ...

; ethnographic fieldwork;

public policy Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a Group decision-making, decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to Problem solving, solve or address relevant and problematic social issues, guided by a conceptio ...

;

systems theory Systems theory is the Transdisciplinarity, transdisciplinary study of systems, i.e. cohesive groups of interrelated, interdependent components that can be natural or artificial. Every system has causal boundaries, is influenced by its context, de ...

; and pluralism. He is also coordinator of the Network of Municipalities in Immigration and Intercultural Relations of Quebec (RÉMIRI) and is part of a research network between the University of Montreal, the

University of Geneva The University of Geneva (French: ''Université de Genève'') is a public university, public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded in 1559 by French theologian John Calvin as a Theology, theological seminary. It rema ...

, and the Free University of Brussels. White received his BA in anthropology and international studies from the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...

in 1988; his MA from

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

in 1993; and his PhD in anthropology from McGill in 1998. His PhD dissertation was titled: " Modernity's Spiral: Popular Culture, Mastery and the Politics of Dance Music in Congo-Kinshasa." Following this, he was a postdoctoral fellow at the

Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage The Center for Folklife & Cultural Heritage (CFCH) is one of three cultural centers within the Smithsonian Institution in the United States. Its motto is "culture of, by, and for the people", and it aims to encourage understanding and cultural sust ...

at the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

. On January 1, 2001, he became an assistant professor at the

University of California, Santa Cruz The University of California, Santa Cruz (UC Santa Cruz or UCSC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Cruz, California, United States. It is one of the ten campuses in the University of C ...

. He has been a visiting professor at the

School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences The School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (, EHESS) is a graduate ''grande école'' and '' grand établissement'' in Paris focused on academic research in the social sciences. The school awards Master and PhD degrees alone and conjo ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

Cheikh Anta Diop University Cheikh Anta Diop University (), also known as the Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar, is a university in Dakar, Senegal. It is named after the Senegalese physicist, historian and anthropologist Cheikh Anta Diop and has an enrollment of over 60, ...

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

, the International Max Planck Research School for Neurosciences in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, and

Meiji University is a Private university, private research university in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. Originally founded as Meiji Law School () by three lawyers in 1881, it became a university in April 1920. As of May 2023, Meiji has 32,261 undergradu ...

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

. White was awarded the Society for Urban, National and Transnational Anthropology's Anthony Leeds Prize (2009) and the

Canadian Association of African Studies Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

' Joel Gregory Prize (2010) for his book ''Rumba Rules''. The book was also a finalist for the

African Studies Association The African Studies Association (ASA) is a US-based association of scholars, students, practitioners, and institutions with an interest in the continent of Africa. Founded in 1957, the ASA is the leading organization of African Studies in North ...

Herskovits Herskovits is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Jean Herskovits (1935–2019), American historian and academic * Melville J. Herskovits (1895–1963), American anthropologist See also * Hershkovits * Hershkovitz * Hershko ...

Prize.

Selected bibliography

* 1996: "Talk About School: Education and the Colonial Project in French and British Africa," ''Comparative Education'', * 1999: "Modernity's Trickster: 'Dipping' and 'Throwing' in Congolese Popular Dance Music," ''Research in African Literatures''. * 2000: "Soukouss or Sell-Out? Congolese Popular Dance Music on the World Market" in ''Commodities and Globalization: Anthropological Perspectives'',

Rowman & Littlefield Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group is an American independent academic publishing company founded in 1949. Under several imprints, the company offers scholarly books for the academic market, as well as trade books. The company also owns ...

. * 2008: ''Rumba Rules: The Politics of Dance Music in Mobutu’s Zaire,''

Duke University Press Duke University Press is an academic publisher and university press affiliated with Duke University. It was founded in 1921 by William T. Laprade as The Trinity College Press. (Duke University was initially called Trinity College). In 1926 ...

. * 2014: ''L'interculturel au Québec: rencontres historiques et enjeux politiques'', University of Montreal Press. With Lomomba Emongo. * 2014: ''Musique populaire et société à Kinshasa. Une ethnographie de l’écoute,''

L'Harmattan Éditions L'Harmattan, usually known simply as L'Harmattan (), is one of the largest French book publishers. It specialises in non-fiction books with a particular focus on Sub-Saharan Africa. It is named after the Harmattan, a trade wind in W ...

. With Lye M. Yoka. * 2017: ''Intercultural Cities: Policy and Practice for a New Era'',

Palgrave Macmillan Palgrave Macmillan is a British academic and trade publishing company headquartered in the London Borough of Camden. Its programme includes textbooks, journals, monographs, professional and reference works in print and online. It maintains offi ...

. . * 2018: "Valeurs familiales et la méthode Sabido en République démocratique du Congo," in ''Nouvelles dynamiques familiales en Afrique'', University of Quebec Press. With Lino Pungi and Serge Makobo. * 2021: "An Intercultural Framework for Theory and Practice in Third Place Libraries", ''Public Library Quarterly''. With Marie D. Martel. * 2022: "Methods for the Study of Everyday Cohabitation," ''Journal of Intercultural Studies''. With Annick Germain.

External links

Twitter account

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:White, Bob W. Academic staff of the Université de Montréal Canadian anthropologists McGill University alumni Cultural anthropologists Social anthropologists University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni Living people Year of birth missing (living people) University of California, Santa Cruz faculty