Morton Klass

Morton Klass
Born	24 June 1927  Brooklyn
Died	28 April 2001  (aged 73) Washington Heights
Occupation	Anthropologist, university teacher
Employer	Barnard College (1965–)

Morton Klass (June 24, 1927 – April 28, 2001) was an American anthropologist known for his studies of caste and kinship in India, as well as his work on religion and culture among the Bhojpuri-speaking Indo-Caribbean population.[1]

Klass completed his doctoral degree at Columbia University, where he later taught anthropology for many years.[2] He conducted extensive fieldwork in both India and the Caribbean, beginning with Trinidad from 1957 to 1958.[3] From 1962 to 1963, he began Indian studies at Columbia University under the direction of Conrad M. Arensberg in West Bengal.[4] With a sponsorship from the Social Science Research Council, Klass returned to India from 1972 to 1973 for a second period of study.[5]

Klass wrote widely on the anthropology of religion, contributing to understanding of ritual, belief, and religious change. He passed away in 2001.

Publications

• East Indians in Trinidad: A Study of Cultural Persistence (1961)
• The Kinds of Mankind: An Introduction to Race and Racism (1971)
• From Field to Factory: Community Structure and Industrialization in West Bengal (1978)
• Caste: The Emergence of the South Asian Social System (1980)
• Singing with Sai Baba: The Politics of Revitalization in Trinidad (1991)
• Ordered Universes: Approaches To The Anthropology Of Religion (1995)
• Across The Boundaries Of Belief: Contemporary Issues In The Anthropology Of Religion (1999)
• Mind Over Mind: The Anthropology and Psychology of Spirit Possession (2003), posthumous publication

References

1. Saxon, Wolfgang (2001-05-03). "Dr. Morton Klass, 73, Anthropologist, Is Dead". New York Times. Archived from the original on 2015-05-27. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
2. Herbert S. Lewis (June 2002). "Morton Klass (1927-2000)". American Anthropologist. 104 (2): 637–640. doi:10.1525/aa.2002.104.2.637.
3. Morton Klass (1961). "East Indians in Trinidad: A Study of Cultural Persistence". De Gruyter. doi:10.7312/klas90934. ISBN 9780231881227.
4. Herbert S. Lewis (March 2003). "Corrections to the Obituary of Morton Klass". American Anthropologist. 105 (1): 235–236. doi:10.1525/aa.2003.105.1.235.
5. Klass 1980, p. 17