Spring 2019 office hours: Mondays 2:00-3:00, Wednesdays 2:00-4:00, and by appointment

Chris Chiappari was born in San Francisco, California.  He lived in the Bay Area until he graduated from Santa Clara University and went to study International Agricultural Development at the University of California, Davis.  In studying development at Davis, he became increasingly drawn to cultural anthropology because of its holistic and comparative approach to society and culture.  As a result, he moved to Minneapolis to get his Ph.D. in anthropology at the University of Minnesota.

His research focuses on religious beliefs and practices in highland Guatemala, including those of Maya spirituality, Protestantism, Catholicism and the Pentecostal/charismatic movement. He is particularly interested in the popular forms these religions take, how these contrast with official doctrines, and in the various ways in which these different religions engage and influence each other.

His research interests include: Latin America, especially Central America, Mexico and Brazil; Pentecostal and charismatic Christianity; religous hybridity; the Maya; cultural studies.

Chris teaches the following courses:
128 Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
237 Latin American Culture
265 Religion, Culture, and Society
373 Ethnographic Research Methods