Clifford Geertz

Clifford Geertz
Born	(1926-08-23)August 23, 1926 San Francisco, California, U.S.
Died	October 30, 2006(2006-10-30) (aged 80) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Known for	Thick description Epochalism
Spouse	Hildred Geertz ​ ​ (m. 1948; div. 1981)​
Academic background
Alma mater	Antioch College (BA) Harvard University (PhD)
Thesis	Religion in Modjokuto: A Study of Ritual Belief In A Complex Society (1956)
Doctoral advisor	Talcott Parsons
Influences	Talcott Parsons, Gilbert Ryle, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Max Weber, Paul Ricoeur, Alfred Schütz, Susanne Langer[1]
Academic work
Discipline	Anthropology
School or tradition	Symbolic anthropology, Interpretive anthropology
Institutions	University of Chicago Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, New Jersey
Doctoral students	Lawrence Rosen, Sherry Ortner, Paul Rabinow
Influenced	Stephen Greenblatt, Quentin Skinner

Part of a series on
Anthropology
Outline History
Types Archaeological Biological Cultural Linguistic Social
Archaeological Aerial Aviation Battlefield Biblical Bioarchaeological Environmental Ethnoarchaeological Experiential Feminist Forensic Maritime Paleoethnobotanical Zooarchaeological
Biological Anthrozoological Biocultural Evolutionary Forensic Molecular Neurological Nutritional Paleoanthropological Primatological
Social Cultural Applied Art Cognitive Cyborg Development Digital Ecological Environmental Economic Political economy Feminist Food Historical Institutional Kinship Legal Media Medical Museums Musical Political Psychological Public Religion Symbolic Transpersonal Urban Visual
Linguistic Anthropological Descriptive Ethnological Ethnopoetical Historical Semiotic Sociological
Research framework Anthropometry Ethnography cyber Ethnology Cross-cultural comparison Participant observation Holism Reflexivity Thick description Cultural relativism Ethnocentrism Emic and etic
Key concepts Culture Development Ethnicity Evolution sociocultural Gender Kinship and descent Meme Prehistory Race Society Value Colonialism / Postcolonialism
Key theories Actor–network theory Alliance theory Cross-cultural studies Cultural materialism Culture theory Diffusionism Feminism Historical particularism Boasian anthropology Functionalism Interpretive Performance studies Political economy Practice theory Structuralism Post-structuralism Systems theory
Lists Anthropologists by nationality Anthropology by year Bibliography Journals List of indigenous peoples Organizations
v t e

Clifford James Geertz (/ɡɜːrts/ ^ⓘ; August 23, 1926 – October 30, 2006) was an American anthropologist who is remembered mostly for his strong support for and influence on the practice of symbolic anthropology and who was considered "for three decades... the single most influential cultural anthropologist in the United States."^[2] He served until his death as professor emeritus at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton.