KAN, Sergei 1953-

PERSONAL: Born March 31, 1953, in Moscow, USSR; son of Alexander S. Kan (a professor of history) and Elena Semeka-Pankratov (a professor of Russian); married Alla Glazman (a college administrator), December 19, 1976; children: Elianna. Education: Boston University, B.A. (summa cum laude), 1976; University of Chicago, M.A., 1978, Ph. D., 1982. Politics: "Conservative to moderate." Religion: Jewish.

ADDRESSES: Home—14 Village Green, West Lebanon, NH 03784. Office—Department of Anthropology, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 03755. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Educator and author. Northeastern University, Boston, MA, assistant professor of anthropology, 1981-83; University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, assistant professor of anthropology, 1983-89; Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, assistant professor, 1989-92, associate professor of anthropology, 1992—. Ann Arbor Action for Soviet Jewry, co-chair, 1985-87.

MEMBER: American Anthropological Association, American Ethnological Society, American Society for Ethnohistory, American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies, Alaska Anthropological Association.

AWARDS, HONORS: Heizer Award, American Society for Ethnohistory, 1987, for journal article; American Book Award, Before Columbus Foundation, 1990, for Symbolic Immortality.

WRITINGS:

(Translator from Russian, and author of introduction and supplementary material) A. Kamenskii, Tlingit Indians of Alaska, University of Alaska Press (Fairbanks, AK), 1985.

Symbolic Immortality: The Tlingit Potlatch of the Nineteenth Century, Smithsonian Institution Press (Washington, DC), 1989.

Memory Eternal: Tlingit Culture and Russian Orthodox Christianity through Two Centuries, University of Washington Press (Seattle, WA), 1999.

Strangers to Relatives: The Adoption and Naming of Anthropologists in Native North America, University of Nebraska Press (Lincoln, NE), 2001.

WORK IN PROGRESS: Research on native cultures and Christianity in North America.

SIDELIGHTS: Sergei Kan once told CA: "In my research I try to combine detailed ethnography (study of native culture), social science theory, and history. I am particularly interested in change that takes place when different ideologies, such as religions, come into contact with each other. Recently I have also become interested in the plight of the indigenous peoples of Siberia, and I plan to do research and write on that subject."

Kan, who teaches Native American Studies and anthropology at Dartmouth College, has contributed to European understanding of the Tlingit culture in Alaska. His Memory Eternal: Tlingit Culture and Russian Orthodox Christianity through Two Centuries covers the history, economy, society, and traditions of the Tlingit and explores how the Russian Orthodox Church has influenced Tlingit beliefs over time. Library Journal contributors John Dockall and Bernice P. Bishop found the book "essential for . . . those deeply interested in the dynamics of traditional belief systems."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

American Anthropologist, June, 1992, Robert Brightman, review of Symbolic Immortality: The Tlingit Potlach of the Nineteenth Century, p. 473.

American Historical Review, December, 2000, Gregory Freeze, review of Memory Eternal: Tlingit Culture and Russian Orthodox Christianity through Two Centuries, p. 1748.

Current Anthropology, August-October, 1990, Leland Donald, review of Symbolic Immortality, p. 481.

Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Dan W. Forsythe, review of Symbolic Immortality, p. 239.

Journal of American History, September, 2001, Kan Coates, review of Memory Eternal, p. 679.

Library Journal, January, 2000, John Dockall and Bernice P. Bishop, review of Memory Eternal, p. 126.

Pacific Northwest Quarterly, fall, 2001, Gunther Barth, review of Memory Eternal, p. 205.

Russian Review, July, 2000, Marjorie Mandelstam Balzer, review of Memory Eternal, p. 458.

Western Historical Quarterly, autumn, 2000, David Arnold, review of Memory Eternal, p. 385.*