Naomi Leite, Graduate Student

Sociocultural Anthropology

Research

Research interests include social memory, globalization and diaspora, emergent ethnic and religious identities, kinship, language and culture, tourism, and material culture/materiality. My dissertation, Global Affinities: Memory, Materiality, and Kinship in the Portuguese Marrano-Anusim Revival Movement, examines a global movement devoted to recovering "lost" pre-Inquisition Portuguese Jewish heritage. Based on multi-sited fieldwork in several countries, including 18 months in Portugal, the dissertation explores the role of tourism, the internet, and other forms of international contact in forging affective ties among movement participants and shaping their experiences of self, kinship, and belonging.