DR. IAN STRAUGHN, UCI ANTHROPOLOGY

Ian Straughn, UCI anthropology, is interested in the stories behind different cultures. As a grad student at the University of Chicago and in post doctoral and professorial posts at Brown University, he focused on the archaeology of the Middle East – particularly the Islamic periods. He’s conducted research in Syria, Jordan, Egypt and Armenia, studying regional cultural heritage and material culture. His fieldwork in bustling markets, ancient temples and other archaeological hotspots has been aided by varying degrees of fluency in modern standard Arabic, Egyptian and Syrian colloquial dialects, classical Arabic, French, Persian, Latin and German.