I have conducted ethnographic fieldwork in India and Bali where my primary area of focus has been on the contemporary practices of Hindu temple construction and use, both for locals and visitors, in traditional religious functions as well as cultural tourism. My research explores the ways that diverse contexts of production and use condition the validity of interpretations that can be applied to specific configurations of Hindu visual culture. I am currently working on the contemporary framing of ancient Hindu monuments by the institutions of cultural tourism in India.

My primary area of focus has been on the contemporary practices of Hindu temple construction and use, both for locals and visitors, traditional religious functions as well as cultural tourism. My research centers on the ways that diverse contexts of production and use condition the validity of interpretations that can be applied to specific configurations of Hindu visual culture. I am currently working on the contemporary framing of ancient Hindu monuments by the institutions of cultural tourism in India.

I teach undergraduate courses on the interdisciplinary cultural studies of Asia (India, China, Japan) and the Pacific (Indonesia, Polynesia, Micronesia and Melanesia). In addition I teach graduate and undergraduate courses on values, evidence, the history and contemporary uses of the culture concept, semiotics, and the social construction of realities and meanings through visual languages and material culture.