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Darren J. Ranco has a joint appointment in Native American Studies and Environmental Studies. A citizen/member of the Penobscot Indian Nation, he graduated from Dartmouth College in 1993 with a BA in Anthropology and Classical Studies. In 1998, he received a Masters of Studies in Environmental Law from Vermont Law School and completed his Ph.D. in Social Anthropology from Harvard University in 2000. From 2000-2003, he was an assistant professor of Native American Studies in the Department of Ethnic Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. The title of his dissertation was, "Environmental Risk and Politics in Eastern Maine: The Penobscot Indians and the United States Environmental Protection Agency," and it focused on Penobscot critiques of EPA risk methodologies, which impose dominant cultural behaviors on cultural minorities. In general, his research focuses on the ways in which indigenous communities in the United States resist environmental destruction by using local knowledge to protect cultural resources, and how state knowledge systems, rooted in colonial contexts, continue to expose indigenous peoples to an inordinate amount of environmental risk. He is in the process of completing his book manuscript, entitled, "Tribe at Risk: Environmental Diplomacy on the Penobscot River," and has written about a number of subjects, including environmental risks to American Indians, environmental justice, the continue presence of Northeastern Indians, research ethics in indigenous anthropology, and the problems of representation of Indians in anthropology. he teaches courses on Tribal Governments, Indians and Environmental Issues, Power and Representation in Native American Studies, and Environmental Justice.
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