Rachel Heiman received her BA in Anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania and her MA and PhD in Anthropology from the University of Michigan. She currently holds the position of Assistant Professor of Anthropology in the Department of Social Sciences at The New School Bachelor’s Program in Liberal Arts and is a committee member of "The City" Area of Study.

Courses:
Divided We Sprawl: Suburbs and Beyond (PDF)
Urban Life: Social Justice and the Lived City (PDF)
The Middle Classes: A Global Perspective (PDF)
Labels, Categories, and Names: The Anthropology of People Out of Place(PDF)
Linguistic Anthropology: On the Power of Gestures, Jokes, and Accents (PDF)
Youth Culture: Creative, Resilient, and Sometimes, Not Enough (PDF)

Teaching Statement:
I view teaching as means of developing in students a proficiency in theoretical and analytical thinking; appreciation for the history of ideas; competency in skills necessary for hands-on research; and ease with various modes of academic writing. At the same time, I take seriously the claim that a liberal arts education ought to prepare students for their role as informed citizens. When selecting texts for course syllabi or thinking through the nature of assignments, my objective is to enable students to engage with a range of disciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives on topics that resonate with key cultural, political, and economic issues. I consider myself a student in my own classroom in this same regard. I have always found teaching a vital way to clarify and strengthen theoretical and ethnographic claims, and it is through the unique perspectives that students bring to the discussion – heightened by the privilege of teaching in an adult program – that I experience course readings anew. I relish my time spent in the classroom for it not only brings renewed vigor to my research and public engagement; it also cycles back to my teaching as I revise and rethink courses for subsequent semesters.

Featured Courses
• Divided We Sprawl: Suburbs and Beyond