Although it took him years of hard work, dedication, and a love for what he does, today Dr. Alessandro Duranti enjoys teaching Anthropology at the University of California at Los Angeles. Alessandro was born in Rome, Italy on September 17, 1950. From 1970-1974, he attended the University of Rome. He then proceeded to further his education and attended the University of Southern California for Linguistics, while there he received his Ph.D. in January 1981. After this, he went to the Research School of Pacific Studies at Australian National University in Canberra as a Post-doctoral Fellow. After finishing his Fellowship, he began working at the Laboratory of Comparative Human Cognition at University of California at San Diego. From 1984-1988, he taught at a few different colleges. He taught at Pitzer College and at UCSD in the Communication Department.
Then after 1988, he got a job teaching at UCLA in the Anthropology Department. He has taught there for twelve years and is presently a Professor in the Anthropology Department. He teaches a variety of anthropology classes. One of them is Anthropology 33. He has taught this course once a year since 1988. He has published several books since 1977. Some of those include: Linguistic Anthropology, Key Terms in Language and Culture, From Grammar to Politics in a Western Samoan Village, and many others. He has contributed several articles to different magazines, newspapers, and associations. He also participates in research projects. Some of his recent projects are: Walter Capps for the US Congress: The Birth of a Political Voice and Socialization of Scientific Discourse in Samoan American Households.
Duranti, Alessandro. Email correspondence. 8 Dec. 2000.
“Professor Alessandro Duranti: Publications.” Alessandro Duranti.http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/anthro/faculty/duranti/publish.htm. 7 Dec. 2000.
Written by: Kyle Pfeifer