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Murray Leaf

Murray Leaf

Emeritus Professor of Anthropology and Political Economy

Murray J. Leaf, PhD in Social Anthropology, University of Chicago, 1966. His research interests are in the history and philosophy of social science, legal philosophy, South Asia, socio-economic development, and fundamental socio-cultural theory.

 
972-964-0094
School of Economic, Political, and Policy Science
Murray Leaf's Webpage
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Professional Preparation

Ph.D. - Social Anthropology
University of Chicago - 1966
M.A. - Anthropology
University of Chicago - 1963
B.A. - Philosophy
Reed College - 1961

Research Areas

Research Interests
My fundamental interest is in the relationship between human thought and human social organization--more specifically in thought, including decision making, as an aspect of organization and vice versa. This plays itself out in specific concerns with the following:
  • Social organization, social and economic development.
  • Communication and information theory.
  • History and epistemology of social science.
  • Comparative law, law and development, the relation between legal philosophy and social philosophy.
  • Rural sociology and irrigation sociology. Farm systems. Farm management.
  • South Asia: politics, social organization, history and culture, particularly as they affect development.
  • Irrigation sociology.
  • Irrigation and development.

Publications

The Alliance-Descent Debate. Sage Encyclopedia of Theory in Social and Cultural Anthropology. (Invited and refereed, but not technical) 2012 - Publication
Human Thought and Social Organization: Anthropology on a new plane. with Dwight Read. Lanham, Boulder, New York, etc. : Lexington Books. 2012 - Publication
Biotechnology, Agriculture and Anthropology: How We Can Help in Anthropology News. Newsletter of the American Anthropological Association. (refereed). January. page 1. 2012 - Publication
Co-authored with Dwight Read (UCLA). Human Thought and Social Organization: Anthropology on a New Plane. Lexington Books. (Division of Rowan and Littlefield). 2012 - Publication
with Michael Fischer and Dwight Read What Are Kinship Terminologies, and Why Do We Care? A Computational Approach to Analyzing Symbolic Domains Social Science Computer Review Sage Journals, first published on September 24, 2012 2012 - Publication
Co-authored with Dwight Read (UCLA). The Foundation of Human Thought and Society: Anthropology on a New Plane. Lexington Books. (Division of Rowan and Littlefield). Accepted December, 2010. 2012 - Publication
Agribusiness article in Encyclopedia of Sustainability. Berkshire Publishing. Invited Spring 2011. 2012 - Publication
The Recognition of Kinship Terminologies as Formal Systems. in Special Issue of Ethnology. U of Pittsburg Press. 2012 - Publication

Appointments

Professor of Anthropology and Political Economy
The University of Texas at Dallas [1987–Present]
Associate Professor of Anthropology and Political Economy
The University of Texas at Dallas [1975–1981]
Assistant Professor of Anthropology
UCLA [1967–1975]
Assistant Professor of Anthropology
Pomona College, Claremont, California [1966–1967]

Projects

The Message is the Medium: Language, Culture and Informatics
2004–2004 Paper presented in Symposium F, Cultural Systems, at the 17th European Meetings of Cybernetics and Systems Research, sponsored by the Austrian Society for Cybernetic Studies. Vienna, Austria 16 April 2004. Paper was awarded the Best Paper of Meeting prize and the Best Paper of Symposium prize.?
Bandkeramik, Jats, Anabaptists and Amish: the Persistence of Agricultural Tribes
2005–2005 In Invited Panel: Intensive Agricultural Communities I: Independence autonomy and community. Annual Meetings of the American Anthropological Association. Washington D. C. Nov. 30-Dec. 4. I was also co-organizer of the panel, with Barbara Dilly.
The physical farm budget: simulating an indigenous simulation
2005–2005 Presented in a panel titled: Not Just Heuristic: Simulation models as experiments. Meetings of the Society for Anthropological Sciences, Santa Fe, NM, Feb. 23-27, 2005.?I also organized the panel.
The Structure of Cultural Information Systems and Communicative Probabilities
2006–2006 Paper presented in Symposium F, Cultural Systems, at the 18th European Meetings of Cybernetics and Systems Research, sponsored by the Austrian Society for Cybernetic Studies. Vienna, Austria 18-21 April 2006. Paper was awarded the Best Paper of Symposium prize.?
Walter C. (Terry) Neale
2004–2004 Invited remarks at Memorial meeting at the Annual Meetings of the Center for South Asian Studies, University of Wisconsin, Madison. October 24, 2004. Professor Neale was a leading institutional economist, dealing with South Asia.

Additional Information

Community Service (partial list)Community Service (partial list)
  • 1975-76  Honorary Member, Board of Directors of Sikh Gurudwara Committee of Dallas and Fort Worth.
  • 1984-86  Adjunct Curator, Dallas Museum of Natural History.
  • 1986-95 Member, Board of Directors, Research Committee on the Punjab.
  • 1991-1996  Treasurer-Secretary, U T Dallas Chapter Texas Faculty Association
  • 1996-2001  President, U T Dallas Chapter Texas Faculty Association
  • 1994-2002  Member, editorial board, Regional Development Dialogue, the journal of the United Nations Centre for Regional Development, Nagoya, Japan.
  • 2000-        Member, editorial board, Mathematical Anthropology and Cultural Theory. (online journal).
  • 2003-4  President Elect, Culture and Agriculture section of the American Anthropological Association.
  • 2005-7 President, Culture and Agriculture section of the American Anthropological Association.
  • 2005-2007  Treasurer, Society for Anthropological Science, an independent scientific society incorporated in California.
  • 2005-2007  Treasurer, Section for Anthropological Sciences of the American Anthropological Association and independent scientific society (formerly an interest group in the Association). 
School of Social Sciences (School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences)
  • 1975-76 Chairman, College V Interdisciplinary Studies Committee.  Faculty Advisor, Political Economy Program.
  • 1976-78 Member, Personnel Review Committee, School of Social       Sciences. Chairman, Anthropology Faculty Search Committee.
  • 1977-78 Member, Undergraduate Curriculum Committee and Graduate Curriculum Committee, School of Social Sciences.
  • 1978-79 Member, Personnel Review Committee, Faculty Recruitment Committee, Committee on Undergraduate Studies.        
  • Spr.1978-Sum. 1979 Co-Master, School of Social Sciences.
  • Fall 1979-Spring 1986 Master, School of Social Sciences.
  • Fall 1981 Chairman, Anthropology Search Committee.
  • 1984-87 Member, Social Sciences Personnel Review Committee.
  • 1986-87 Reviewed and reported on Political Economy advising system.  Member of Committee on Graduate Study, Curriculum Review Committee, Theory Examination Committee.
  • 1989-2001     Library coordinator, School of Social Sciences.
  • 2004 Ad hoc committee for tenure review of Susan McElroy.
  • 2004-07 Member MPA committee, Member PPPE program committee, Coordinator PPPE Development group.
University Service, UTD (Partial list)
  • 1975-77 Executive Director, UTD Accreditation SelfStudy. Coordinated committee activity and edited SelfStudy report.
  • 1977-78 Secretary, Academic Senate/Council.  Member, President's Committee on Goals.
  • 1978-79 Secretary, Academic Senate/Council. Member, Ad Hoc Committee on Faculty Handbook. With John Kimmeldorf,     redrafted Senate constitution and committee charges to bring them into a coherent system, pursuant to evaluation in accreditation self-study.
  • 1981-83 Member, Committee on Educational Policy.
  • 1982-83 Member, Academic Senate; Member Academic Council; Secretary Academic Senate and Council; Member Committee on Qualifications of Academic Personnel.  
  • 1983-87 Member, Academic Senate.
  • 1984-85 Member, Academic Council.
  • 1983-87 Member, Committee on Qualifications of Academic Personnel (two terms).
  • 1984-86 Member Clark Foundation Scholarship Committee.
  • 1986-87 Member, UTD Self-Study Committee (Chaired undergraduate program review until going on leave, July 1987.)
  • 1989-92 Member, Committee on Qualifications of Academic Personnel.
  • 1989-1992. Member, Committee on Qualifications of Academic Personnel, UTD.
  • 1989-90  Member, committee on freshman-sophomore program, School of Social Sciences.
  • 1990-95  Member, committee on core curriculum, UTD.
  • 1991-93 Member, Academic Senate, UTD.
  • 1994-95 Member, Academic Senate and Council, UTD.
  •     3+3 committee on evaluation of administrators.
  •     CEP.
  •     3+3 committee on affirmative action policy.
  • 1996-98 Member, Academic Senate and Council, UTD.
  • 1998-99 Member, Academic Senate, UTD.
  • 1997-98 Member, UT Dallas Library Committee,
  • 1998-2000  Chair, U T Dallas Library Committee (two terms).
  • 2001-Spr 2004   Speaker of the U T Dallas Academic Senate (three terms). This entailed several additional ex-officio positions.
  • 2001-2   Member, President's Task Force on UTD Master Plan.
  • 2004    Member, UTD Presidential Search Advisory Committee.
  • 2004-2005 Member, Academic Senate, U T Dallas. Member, Academic Council. Chair, Committee on Facilities; Chair, Task force on Workload Strategies; Chair, ad hoc Committee on Signage, Member, Committee on Committees.
  • 2006-present Speaker of the Faculty. This entails several ex-officio positions. Chair, Campus Facilities Oversight Committee.
  • May 2001-Present (multiple terms) Member U T System Faculty Advisory Council.
  • 2005-      Member, Executive Board of University of Texas System Faculty Advisory Council
  • 2005-     Co-Chair of Governance Subcommittee, University of Texas System Faculty Advisory Council
  • 2007-8  Member, Search Committee for Dean of School of Engineering and Computer Sciences, UT Dallas.
  • 2007-8 Member, Search Committee for Vice President for Enrollment Management, UT Dallas.