Dr. Wanni Anderson

Biography

Wanni W. Anderson is an Emerita Adjunct Professor in Anthropology at Brown University. She earned her BA with honors in English from Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand, in 1959, her MA in English from Brown University in 1962, and her Ph.D. in Folklore and Folklife from the University of Pennsylvania in 1973. Her postdoctoral training includes psychological anthropology at Harvard University. Anderson's research focuses on comparative human development, folklore, self-identity, and multicultural education, particularly concerning Asian and refugee populations. She has led numerous funded research projects, including a notable study integrating Eskimo folk tales into the high school curriculum in Alaska, supported by a National Endowment for the Humanities grant. Throughout her career, she has published various works, exploring themes such as diaspora, identity formation, and cultural continuity in ethnic folklore. Anderson is recognized for her contributions to understanding the dynamics of ethnic and cultural identities in the context of American society and has organized seminars and courses aimed at facilitating discussions on diaspora and displacement. Her teaching emphasizes interdisciplinary approaches, drawing from anthropology, comparative human development, and communication studies.

Research Interests

Experience