My name is Jose Arenas Gomez. I am a Colombian anthropologist and joined the Individualized Study Program (INDS) at UMBC in Fall 2022 as an Assistant Teaching Professor. In my current role, I am one of three instructors responsible for teaching the core INDS curriculum, which ranges from the writing-intensive course Ways of Knowing to the Capstone Project Planning Seminar, Capstone Project Development, and independent study. I have also been actively involved in developing the curriculum for the Multidisciplinary Studies Track within INDS and have taught courses in the Honors College at UMBC.
Before joining UMBC, I earned my undergraduate degree in Anthropology from the Universidad Nacional de Colombia and completed my master’s and Ph.D. in Social Anthropology at the Universidade de Brasília (Brazil). My professional experience includes work in public health with Indigenous and Black communities, where I applied gender and culturally grounded approaches across multiple institutional levels. I have also taught in the Department of Anthropology at the Universidade de Brasília. My research is situated within the ethnology of Indigenous peoples of the Americas, with particular interests in Indigenous history, social organization, shamanism, kinship, the constitution of the body and person, and the relationships between culture, society, and environment. Since 2012, I have conducted long-term research with the I’ku people of northern Colombia, an experience that profoundly shapes my scholarship, writing, and relationship with anthropology.
Outside the university, I enjoy playing electric guitar, recording music and videos that will likely never make it to my YouTube channel. I also practice Japanese martial arts, specifically Iaido and Jodo, and enjoy biking, camping, hiking, and climbing, which holds a special place in my heart.
