Lisa K. Neuman

Associate Professor of Anthropology and Native American Studies
Anthropology

Professional Interests

As a cultural anthropologist with graduate training in Native American and gender studies, I focus on how people produce new cultural meanings and identities over time. I am particularly interested in the methodological combination of ethnographic, historical, and archival approaches. 

Specialties: Native American and Indigenous Studies. Native American education. Native American representations in popular culture and art. Tribal sovereignty and economic enterprise. The politics of Indigenous identities and race. Gender. Cultural Production. Multispecies Entanglements. United States (Maine, Oklahoma), Russia, and Ukraine.

Dr. N’s Current Research consists of two projects: Multispecies entanglements: Passamaquoddy petroglyphs and Cat breeders in the US and abroad. 

Current and Former PhD Students’ Research: Multispecies entanglements in the US/Mexico borderlands; Indigenous Water Protectors, pipelines, and other-than-human kin in Minnesota; the effects of water carrying on women in Jamaica; understanding the environmental costs of maternity deserts in Maine and Atlantic Canada.

2026 Dana Lolar, K. and L. Neuman. “Petroglyphs, Ancestors, and Indigenous Methodologies in Anthropology.” In Preservation Education and Research. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press (in press).

2023 Mitchell, J., L. Neuman, M. Pawling, and D. Ranco, “A Short History of Native American Programs at the University of Maine.” In Becoming Modern: The University of Maine, 1965-2020, Howard Segal, ed. Orono: University of Maine Press.

2018 Neuman, L. “The Bureau of Indian Affairs.” International Encyclopedia of Anthropology. Hilary Callan, ed. New York: John Wiley and Sons (September). doi.org/10.1002/9781118924396.wbiea1654 (also in print). Updated November 2019.

2014 Neptune, J. and L. Neuman. “Basketry of the Wabanaki Indians.” Encyclopedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures. Helaine Selin, ed. Springer Reference.com.

2013 Neuman, L. Indian Play: Indigenous Identities at Bacone College. Lincoln: The University of Nebraska Press.

2011 Neuman, L. “Refashioning Indigenous Identities and Making the American Self: Native American Voices from Haskell and Yale.” Invited review of Joel Pfister’s The Yale Indian and Myriam Vuckovic’s Voices from Haskell. Reviews in American History, 39(2): 314-321.

2010 Neuman, L. “Basketry as Economic Enterprise and Cultural Revitalization: The Case of the Wabanaki Tribes of Maine.” Wicazo Sa Review 25(2): 89-106.

2008 Neuman, L. “Indian Play: Students, Wordplay, and Ideologies of Indianness at a School for Native Americans.” American Indian Quarterly 32(2): 178-203.

2007 Neuman, L. “Selling Indian Education: Fundraising and American Indian Identities at Bacone College.” American Indian Culture and Research Journal, 31(4): 51-78.

2006 Neuman, L. “Painting Culture: Art and Ethnography at a School for Native Americans.” Ethnology, 45(3): 173-192.

2006 Maddaus, J., L. Neuman, and M. Smith. “What is Quality Education for American Indian Students? The Case of the Wabanaki Tribes of Maine.” International Journal of Diversity in Organisations, Communities and Nations (4). Available online at: ijd.cgpublisher.com.

2004 Neuman, L. “From Clean Water to Casinos: Why Sovereignty is Important to Native Americans.” Invited commentary in Maine Policy Review, 13(2) (Fall/Winter): 30-32.

Areas of Expertise

Social/Cultural Anthropology

Education

Ph.D., Cultural Anthropology, Duke University, 2002
Graduate Certificate in Women’s Studies, Duke University, 2002
M.A., Cultural Anthropology, Duke University, 2000
B.A., Anthropology, Pomona College, 1989
Photo of Lisa K. Neuman
Associate Professor of Anthropology and Native American Studies