Amber R. Clifford-Napoleone Author of Evaluating Organization Development
FEATURED AUTHOR

Amber R. Clifford-Napoleone

Associate Professor of Anthropology
University of Central Missouri

I am a cultural and applied Anthropologist with an interest in identity formation, non-hegemonic gender and sexuality, and performance. My research is on popular music and queer identities, as well as the role of musical spaces as sites of identity formation, with a focus on jazz and heavy metal. I am also a Curator and ethnographic textile specialist (Texas Tech, 2000), focused on the preventive conservation of textile collections, as well as the care and curatorship of Bedouin textiles.

Subjects: Anthropology - Soc Sci, Media and Cultural Studies, Museum and Heritage Studies

Biography

I am an interdisciplinary scholar and scientist with an abiding interest in cultural formations of identity, especially among those that consider themselves outside gender and sexuality-based norms. I earned a BA in History and Anthropology, followed by two Master's degrees: a terminal Master's degree in Museum Science from Tech University (2000) and a Master of Arts in History from University of Central Missouri (2001). I have over twenty years of experience and training in museum science, as everything from graduate assistant to curator, and am currently the Curator of the McClure Archives and University Museum at University of Central Missouri. I curate a large general collection of historical, ethnographic, archaeological, and biological materials including the Nance Collection, the largest collection of Saudi Bedouin material culture outside the Kingdom.  I completed my Ph.D. in American Studies under the direction of Sherrie Tucker, and have served as an instructor of Anthropology at University of Central Missouri since January 2000.  

I consider myself a feminist scientist and ethnographer. I teach a series of courses, from introduction to cultural anthropology to ethnographic methods, museology, and gender and sexuality studies.  I currently have two books:  Queerness in Heavy Metal (Routledge 2015, in print) and Queering the Inferno: Sexuality and Space in Kansas City's Jazz Scene (University of Nebraska Press in progress).  I also have book chapters in progress and under contract at Ashgate, Lexington, and Oxford.

Education

    BA University of Central Missouri, 1997
    MA Texas Tech, 2000
    MA University of Central Missouri, 2001
    PhD University of Kansas, 2007

Areas of Research / Professional Expertise

    *Popular music studies and abjection, embodiment, identity formation, and field recording
    *Regional and jazz circuits in the historic Midwest
    *Heavy metal music, with a focus on industrial metal and sexuality
    *Ethnographic methods, including ethnographic statistics and IRB compliance
    *Museology of ethnographic collections, preventive conservation of textiles, Bedouin textile materials and methods, textile needle conservation, and collaborative exhibition interpretation
    *History, pedagogy, and assessment of anthropology in higher education

Personal Interests

    I live on a farm with my family, where we are involved in organic and local farming practices.

Websites

Books

Featured Title
Featured Title - Queerness in Heavy Metal Music - 1st Edition book cover

Articles

Collaborative Anthropologies

Introduction: Collaborative Ethnographies of Music and SOund


Published: Nov 05, 2013 by Collaborative Anthropologies
Authors:

Introduction to an author-edited collection of essays on collaborative fieldwork by music and sound scholars in musicology, ethnomusicology, and anthropology. Volume 6, available at University of Nebraska Press.