Kurin, Richard 1950-

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Kurin, Richard 1950-

PERSONAL:

Born November 27, 1950, in New York, NY; son of a truck driver; married Allyn Bland; children: Danielle, Jaclyn. Education: State University of New York, B.A., 1972; University of Chicago, M.A., 1974; University of California at Berkeley, certificate, 1974, Ph.D., 1981.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560-0953. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, visiting instructor in community development program, 1979-81, visiting assistant professor, 1981- 84, assistant professor, 1984-85; Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, program coordinator, curator, and consultant for Festival of India, Aditi and Mela Exhibitions, 1984-85, deputy director of Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, 1985-87, acting director, 1987-90, director, 1990-2004, acting director, beginning 2004. Lecturer, Johns Hopkins University's Paul Nitze School for Advanced International Studies, 1985-95; adjunct professor, George Washington University, 1999. Collector of Punjabi Indian artifacts for American Museum of Natural History, 1970; ethnic tours manager for division of performing arts, On-Tour India Program, Pakistan Program, Smithsonian Institution, 1976. Trustee for Smithsonian Secretary's Representative, Library of Congress, American Folklore Center, 1989; trustee, American Pakistan Research Organization, 1989; trustee, U.S. National Commission for UNESCO, 2004. Member of advisory board, Council for Overseas Research Centers, 1989; UNESCO, international jury member for Masterpieces of Intangible Cultural Heritage, 2000-04, and commissioner for U.S. National Commission.

MEMBER:

American Folklore Society, Society of Applied Anthropology (fellow), American Ethnological Society, American Anthropological Association, Association for Asian Studies, Fairfax County Citizen Association.

AWARDS, HONORS:

National Defense Educaion Act (NDEA) Title VI fellow, 1973; Fulbright-Hays fellow, U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW), 1976; Social Science Research Council fellow, 1976, 1983; Smithsonian Institution grants, 1979, 1986, 1989-90, 1992, 1995-96; National Endowment for the Humanities grants, 1982, 1991; National Endowment for the Arts grant, 1987; American Institute of Pakistan Studies fellow, 1983; Secretary's Gold Medal for exceptional service, Smithsonian Institution, 1996; Benjamin Botkin lifetime achievement award, American Folklore Society, 1999.

WRITINGS:

Person, Family, and Kin in Two Pakistani Communities, University of Chicago (Chicago, IL), 1981.

The Development and Decline of Southern Illinois Communities, 1960-1980, Office of Regional Research and Service, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale (Carbondale, IL), 1984.

Reflections of a Culture Broker: A View from the Smithsonian, Smithsonian Institution Press (Washington, DC), 1997.

Hope Diamond: The True Story of a Legendary and Cursed Gem, Smithsonian Books (New York, NY), 2006.

SIDELIGHTS:

A cultural historian who has long been associated with the Smithsonian Institution, Richard Kurin has been involved in several important projects designed to keep American and other cultures alive. For many years, he has been the director of the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, running the annual Festival of American Folklife in Washington, DC, and he oversees Folkways Recordings, a Smithsonian-sponsored project that is designed to preserve America's recordings for future generations.

In his Reflections of a Culture Broker: A View from the Smithsonian, Kurin seeks to explain the role of the "culture broker," which he defines as a skilled person who serves as a kind of mediator between cultures. Here, he discusses specialized museums and exhibits and the challenges they can pose in presenting them to the public. People may be sensitive to some objects that are put on display, such as the Enola Gay, the bomber that dropped the first nuclear warhead on Japan during World War II. Kurin points out that the museum staff organizing the exhibit should have listened to the veterans brought in to consult on the display, and because they did not, some people were offended. Kurin also talks about museums specializing in certain racial or cultural topics, such as the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian, or his own folk festival that he has run for years. Nelson H.H. Graburn and Kathryn Mathers, writing in Current Anthropology, were somewhat puzzled by Kurin's definition of broker. The author often uses himself as an example of a cultural mediator, even though, as a museum program director for the Smithsonian, he is one of the two parties involved, and not a facilitator between two groups. "Kurin might have been more provocative if he and/or the Smithsonian were shown to be the broker between its American audiences and the cultural production of its Folk-Life Festivals," the critics pointed out as an example. Nevertheless, Graburn and Mathers wrote: "The book succeeds in introducing the lay reader to some of the nitty-gritty of cultural production." George Bankes, a contributor to the Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, asserted that Kurin "has written a challenging and entertaining book based on major cultural presentations. … At the same time his text is scholarly and fully backed up by references."

Similarly praised for its sound research was Kurin's Hope Diamond: The True Story of a Legendary and Cursed Gem. The Hope Diamond, a brilliant-blue 112-carat gem also known as the French Blue, is housed at the Smithsonian. Many legends persist about the deadly fates of those who have possessed the diamond, but Kurin shows that many of these stories were manufactured by Pierre Cartier, who sought to bring the diamond public attention. Despite this, the history of the Hope Diamond is a fascinating story that dates back to the mid-seventeenth century. It was purchased by Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, not stolen from a Hindu idol, which is the fictionalized version, and passed on between royalty and jewelers for years before reaching the Smithsonian. "Kurin's solid research is his strength in this account of the jewel's provenance and popular allure," remarked Gilbert Taylor in a Booklist review. A Publishers Weekly critic recommended Hope Diamond as "a serious but fascinating look at cultural and gemological history."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Kurin, Richard, Reflections of a Culture Broker: A View from the Smithsonian, Smithsonian Institution Press (Washington, DC), 1997.

PERIODICALS

Booklist, May 1, 2006, Gilbert Taylor, review of Hope Diamond: The True Story of a Legendary and Cursed Gem, p. 62.

Current Anthropology, August-October, 2000, Nelson H.H. Graburn and Kathryn Mathers, review of Reflections of a Culture Broker, p. 691.

Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, June, 2002, George Bankes, review of Reflections of a Culture Broker, p. 410.

Kirkus Reviews, March 15, 2006, review of Hope Diamond, p. 277.

Library Journal, January, 1998, Jennifer L.S. Moldwin, review of Reflections of a Culture Broker, p. 94; April 15, 2006, Tessa L.H. Minchew, review of Hope Diamond, p. 90.

Publishers Weekly, March 27, 2006, review of Hope Diamond, p. 71.

Science News, June 3, 2006, review of Hope Diamond, p. 351.

Washington Post, June 24, 2005, "Smithsonian Folklife Festival," interview with Richard Kurin.