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Kimberly Marshall

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Kimberly Marshall

Headshot of Kimberly Marshall, Associate Professor in the University of Oklahoma's Department of Anthropology

Associate Professor
Ph.D. Indiana University, 2011

Office: Dale Hall Tower 521B
Email: kjm@ou.edu

Website:  kimberlyjenkinsmarshall.com

Research Interests

  • Sociocultural Anthropology
  • Anthropology of Religion
  • Expressive Culture
  • Native North America

Background

My research focuses on the way that contemporary Native Peoples use expressive culture to navigate shifting religious ontologies and their relationships with the settler-colonial state. My first book examined the localization of the major global religious trend of neo-Pentecostalism among Navajos (Diné). Pentecostalism, the fastest growing form of Christianity on the planet, localizes quickly but also has negative implications for the traditional ontologies with which it is often waging spiritual warfare. My ethnography focuses on the expressive culture of Navajo tent revivals (such as ritual, music, speech, dance, and faith healing), arguing that the praxis of these aesthetic forms allows them to both resonate with traditional Diné ontologies while simultaneously producing cultural rupture.
 
My current ethnographic research focuses on role of the arts in contemporary global sovereignty movements. Supported by a Wenner-Gren Fellowship, I am investigating the dynamics and consequences of contemporary representations of Native people in Idaho’s capitol city of Boise, Idaho. In this project, I study Boise’s contemporary cultural infrastructure, public artwork, musical culture, festivals, museum exhibits, and K-12 curriculum to understand the omission and selective representation of Native people, as well as the consequences of these representations for Native-led projects of sovereignty.

Recent/Significant Publications

Marshall, Kimberly Jenkins. 2016. Upward, Not Sunwise: Resonant Rupture in Navajo Neo-Pentecostalism. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
 
Marshall, Kimberly Jenkins and Andreana Prichard. 2020. Spiritual Warfare in Circulation. Religions 11 (7): 327-345. Special Issue: Religious Conversion in Africa. Ed. Jason Bruner and David Hurlbut.
 
Marshall, Kimberly Jenkins, Elaine Joe (Navajo), Beverly Joe (Navajo). 2020. Diné Dibe: Mutton Stew and the Importance of Sheep in Navajo Culture. In This Is the Plate: Utah Food Traditions. Ed. Carol Edison, Eric A. Aliason, Lynne McNeill. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press.
 
Marshall, Kimberly Jenkins. 2018. Indigenizing Navajo Hymns: Explaining the Fame of Elizabeth and Virginia. In Making Congregational Music Local in Christian Communities Worldwide. Ed. Monique Ingalls, Muriel Reigersberg, and Zoe Sherinian. New York: Routledge. 52-76.
 
Marshall, Kimberly Jenkins. 2015. Non-Human Agency and Experientail Faith Amonst Diné Oodlání ('Navajo Believers'). Anthropologica 57(2): 397-409. Special Issue: Shamanism, Religious Renewal and Empowerment in Indigenous Studies. Ed. Frédéric Laugrand and Robert Crépeau.
 
Marshall, Kimberly Jenkins. 2015. Soaking Songs Versus 'Medicine Man Chant': Musical Resonance among Diné Oodlání (Navajo 'Believers'). In The Spirit of Praise: Music and Worship in Global Pentecostal-Charismatic Christianity. Ed. Monique Ingalls and Amos Yong. University Park, PA: Penn State University Press.
 
Marshall, Kimberly. 2015. "Navajo Reservation Camp Meeting A Great Success!": The Advent of Diné Pentecostalism After 1950. Ethnohistory 62(1): 95-118.

Courses Taught

  • ANTH 1113: General Anthropology
  • ANTH 1253: Folklore and Folklife
  • ANTH 1823: Religion in Everyday Life
  • ANTH 2203: Global Cultural Diversity
  • ANTH 2613: Native People of North America
  • ANTH 3423: Anthropology of Religion
  • ANTH 3453: Contemporary Issues, Native North America
  • ANTH 4113: Anthropology Capstone
  • ANTH 5003: Sociocultural Theory
  • ANTH 5073: Anthropology of Religion
  • ANTH 5153: Ethnography of Communication
  • ANTH 5223: Foundations of Social Thought
  • ANTH 5563: Medicine and Society [Health and Healing]
  • ANTH 6960: Directed Readings

 

OU Puebla

  • ANTH 3423: Anthropology of Religion

OU Rio

  • ANTH 3423: Anthropology of Religion

Additional Information

Link to my recent piece in Anthropology News, the Newsletter of the American Anthropological Association