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Ping-hsiu Alice Lin is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology at Harvard University. Her research focuses on Political Economic Anthropology, with a particular interest in value, commodification, labor capital, expertise, and tacit knowledge, coupled with a historical perspective from the geosciences. Currently, she is working on a book project entitled 'Precious Economies,' which examines contemporary efforts to render minerals into precious stones through the lens of labor, science, and artisanship within the gemstone industry in Pakistan. Drawing on multi-sited fieldwork and archival research, her work highlights how the valuation of gems is intertwined with imperial circuits of extraction and commerce. Furthermore, her research addresses recent developments in expertise surrounding provenance and the qualities of gemstones, elucidating the material economy of this precious commodity and how it extends into diverse sites of trade and production across Asia.
Administered by the Harvard Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS).