Thomas Patterson

Thomas Patterson, Anthropology – (Professor and Department Chair, Ph.D. 1964 University of California, Berkeley)
Office: 1340 Watkins Hall
Phone: (909) 787-2050
E-mail: thomas.patterson@ucr.edu

Professor Patterson conducted archaeological and ethnohistorical research in Peru during the 1960s. Since the 1970s, he has studied complex organizations in the United States. His current research proceeds along several interrelated lines: the processes of class and state formation; the historical development of anthropology and archaeology in political-economic, social and cultural contexts shaped by nation-states; comparative political economy; classical and contemporary social and culture theory; the political-economic, social and cultural changes associated with the processes of globalization; and the interconnections of anthropology, archaeology and history. He is currently completing books on the social history of US anthropology and on the dialogue between Marxism and anglophone archaeology since the 1930s.