Bradd Shore (born June 14, 1945) is an American

cultural anthropologist Cultural anthropology is a branch of anthropology focused on the study of cultural variation among humans. It is in contrast to social anthropology, which perceives cultural variation as a subset of a posited anthropological constant. The term s ...

who is best known as a leading authority on

Samoan culture The traditional culture of Samoa is a communal way of life based on Fa'a Samoa, the unique socio-political culture. In Samoan culture, most activities are done together. The traditional living quarters, or '' fale'' (houses), contain no walls and ...

and a foundational theorist of the cultural models school of cognitive and psychological anthropology. He is the Goodrich C. White Professor Emeritus of

Anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, society, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...

Emory University Emory University is a private university, private research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It was founded in 1836 as Emory College by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory. Its main campu ...

and is a former department chair. He is the former Director of the Emory Center for Myth and Ritual in American Life and is also a past President of the Society for Psychological Anthropology. His 1996 monograph ''Culture in Mind: Cognition, Culture and the Problem of Meaning'' was among the first studies to link

multiculturalism Multiculturalism is the coexistence of multiple cultures. The word is used in sociology, in political philosophy, and colloquially. In sociology and everyday usage, it is usually a synonym for ''Pluralism (political theory), ethnic'' or cultura ...

cognitive psychology Cognitive psychology is the scientific study of human mental processes such as attention, language use, memory, perception, problem solving, creativity, and reasoning. Cognitive psychology originated in the 1960s in a break from behaviorism, whi ...

, and was an effort to reformulate a conception of culture that could bridge the fields of

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, society, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...

and the

cognitive sciences Cognitive science is the interdisciplinary, scientific study of the mind and its processes. It examines the nature, the tasks, and the functions of cognition (in a broad sense). Mental faculties of concern to cognitive scientists include percep ...

. It has become a keystone text in the field of

cognitive anthropology Cognitive anthropology is a subfield of anthropology influenced by Linguistic anthropology, cultural anthropology, and biological anthropology in which scholars seek to explain patterns of shared knowledge, cultural innovation, and transmission ...

. Shore's graduate research was done in Western Samoa and was focused on the local modeling of

personhood Personhood is the status of being a person. Defining personhood is a controversial topic in philosophy and law and is closely tied with legal and political concepts of citizenship, equality, and liberty. According to law, only a legal person (ei ...

and

selfhood In September 2012 Sharks began recording demos for a second studio album, which they hoped to finish writing by the end of the year. According to Mattock the band was "focusing on getting the best songs we can .out there as quickly as possible ...

– with an emphasis on

ethics Ethics is the philosophy, philosophical study of Morality, moral phenomena. Also called moral philosophy, it investigates Normativity, normative questions about what people ought to do or which behavior is morally right. Its main branches inclu ...

, conflict and

social control Social control is the regulations, sanctions, mechanisms, and systems that restrict the behaviour of individuals in accordance with social norms and orders. Through both informal and formal means, individuals and groups exercise social con ...

. It resulted in his first book, ''Sala’ilua: A Samoan Mystery'' (1982), considered one of the earliest studies of

ethnopsychology Psychological anthropology is an interdisciplinary subfield of anthropology that studies the interaction of cultural and mental processes. This subfield tends to focus on ways in which humans' development and enculturation within a particular cu ...

. He has authored dozens of scholarly articles and chapters published in numerous Journals and edited books. His most recent book is ''Shakespeare and Social Theory: The Play of Great Ideas'' (2021), which seeks to use an anthropological lens to build a bridge between

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

studies and classical

social theory Social theories are analytical frameworks, or paradigms, that are used to study and interpret social phenomena.Seidman, S., 2016. Contested knowledge: Social theory today. John Wiley & Sons. A tool used by social scientists, social theories re ...

. He has also produced and directed a documentary film ''Family Revival: Salem Camp Meeting''. Shore is the winner of the ''Emory Williams Teaching Award'', Emory's highest award for teaching. He was the first holder of the ''Emory College Distinguished Teaching Professorship in the Sciences and Social Sciences''. He is a former Fellow (1988–89) at the

Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences The Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences (CASBS) is an interdisciplinary research institution at Stanford University designed to advance the frontiers of knowledge about human behavior and society, and contribute to the resoluti ...

Palo Alto, California Palo Alto ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a charter city in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. Th ...

. Shore received his B.A. from the

University of California at Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkele ...

, and his Ph.D. in anthropology from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

, where he studied with

Marshall Sahlins Marshall David Sahlins ( ; December 27, 1930April 5, 2021) was an American cultural anthropologist best known for his ethnographic work in the Pacific and for his contributions to anthropological theory. He was the Charles F. Grey Distinguishe ...

and David M. Schneider.

Books

At the Crossroads of Anthropology and Psychology: In Conversation with Jerome Bruner (2024) The Hidden Powers of Ritual: Journey of a Lifetime (2023) ·
Shakespeare and Social Theory: The Play of Great Ideas
' (2021).
·
What Culture Means, How Culture Means
' (The Heinz Werner Lectures) (1998).
·
Culture in Mind: Cognition, Culture and the Problem of Meaning
' (1996).
·
Sala’ilua: A Samoan Mystery
' (1982).
·
New Neighbors: Pacific Islander Migration in Adaptation
' (1978) (Edited, with C. MacPherson and R. Franco).

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shore, Bradd 1945 births Living people American anthropologists American cognitive scientists Psychological anthropologists Emory University faculty University of Chicago alumni Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences fellows