Daniel J. Gelo
Office: HSS 4.01.23
Phone/Fax/Net: (210) 458-4359 (ph), (210) 458-4347 (fax), daniel.gelo@utsa.edu
Office Hours: by appointment
Research Interests:
I am interested in demonstrating the relations between internal and external states in human beings. I believe that in order to comprehend cultural differences and similarities, both within and between societies, it is necessary to understand those imaginative capabilities of the human species that give rise to them. My research thus emphasizes the integration of three realms of inquiry: human cognition and mental process, culture continuity and change, and the ongoing maintenance of ethnic identity. In theoretical terms, I am most interested in symbolic, structural, and cognitive approaches, as well as linguistics, discourse analysis, and visual anthropology. I see my more specific contribution to cultural anthropology asthe development of a program for the study of expressive culture in American ethnology. I define expressive culture as ideas made manifest through symbolic mechanisms such as language, myth, ritual, folklore, iconography, music, and dance. Whereas in postindustrial society these behaviors are often construed as distinct, in most societies, such as those of American Indian people I work with, they are explicitly interrelated and co-occurring. All must be regarded together as fundamental evidence of ethos and worldview. Most of my work has involved the Indians of Texas and the Southern Plains, including the Comanches, Kiowas, Kiowa-Apaches, Alabama-Coushattas, Tiguas, Kickapoos, and urban Indians of Dallas and San Antonio. My contributions rest on participant observation with these groups; I have conducted research with Comanche people since 1982 and am the only ethnographer to have worked in all four living Texas Indian communities.Teaching interests:
I have been teaching at the university level for about twenty years. In my courses I systematically address the culture
concept, symbolism, and ethnicity, and provide a cross-cultural, holistic perspective on the subjects of social organization, religion, language, folklore, and music. To do so, I designed seven new UTSA undergraduate courses and developed
my own version of four existing ones. I have taught eleven different undergraduate courses in Anthropology, American
Studies, Interdisciplinary Studies, and Honors, and one Anthropology graduate course, with plans for two more graduate courses in the new UTSA doctoral program in Culture, Language and Literacy and the developing UTSA doctoral program
in Music Psychology. I enjoy supervising independent studies and have also pioneered anthropology internships, placing numerous advisees at the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research, the UT Health Science Center, Bexar County
Medical Examiner's Office, Institute of Texan Cultures, Missions National Historical Park, Lackland Air Force Base, and the Smithsonian Institution, among other sites. Largely at my urging, the Anthropology M. A. program was opened in 1993 to students interested in cultural anthropology. I enjoy teaching the required history of theory course in this program.
I chaired the first cultural anthropology master's thesis in 1996 and have since chaired six other completed theses. I view public outreach as another important aspect of the teaching function; I frequently do public lectures and have authored grade school textbooks to bring anthropological concepts to younger audiences. I am proud that my colleagues have honored me with nominations for the Piper Professor Award three times,
and in 1996 I was awarded the UT System Chancellor's Council Outstanding Teaching Award.