Thomas Porcello
Associate Professor of Anthropology, and Associate Dean of Planning and Academic Affairs
Main S220 / 845.437.7970 / thporcello@vassar.edu
B.A., University of Arizona; M.A., Ph.D., University of Texas-Austin
 

     Thomas Porcello joined the Vassar faculty in 1998. He received his Ph.D. from the Anthropology Department at The University of Texas-Austin where he specialized in linguistic anthropology and the anthropology of music.
 
Mr. Porcello has done extensive research in sound recording studios, examining linguistic and musical interaction process, as well as linguistic and non-linguistic representations of sound. His co-edited volume, Wired for Sound: Engineering and Technologies in Sonic Cultures (Wesleyan University Press, 2005) was awarded the Klaus T. Wachsmann prize from the Society for Ethnomusicology in 2006. Articles and reviews have appeared in Ethnomusicology, City & Society, Current Musicology, American Anthropologist, and Popular Music.
 
Mr. Porcello is currently undertaking a field recording project aimed at documenting and analyzing the soundscapes of contemporary American baseball. Preliminary work from this project has been featured on National Public Radio’s program, Only a Game.
 
Mr. Porcello’s course offerings have included introductory linguistics, language and gender, rotating topics courses in sociolinguistics, and the anthropology of music. Advanced seminars include Sound, as well as Media(tized) Language. He is an active participant in, and former Director of, the Media Studies Program.
 
Mr. Porcello is serving as Associate Dean of Academic and Planning Affairs (2008-2011).