A.J. Faas

AJ Faas Professor and Graduate Coordinator
Ph.D. University of South Florida

Expertise: 
Environmental Anthropology, Political Anthropology, and Economic Anthropology

 

 

Clark Hall 404L
408-924-5732
aj.faas@sjsu.edu

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A.J. Faas, Ph.D., is Professor of Anthropology and Graduate Coordinator at San Jos茅 State University and President of the Society for Applied Anthropology. Trained at the University of South Florida (Ph.D.) and Montclair State University (M.A., B.A. summa cum laude), his research examines disasters, displacement, cooperation, and politics across the Americas, with extensive ethnographic fieldwork in highland Ecuador. He is the author of (Rutgers University Press, 2023) and co-editor of Social Network Analysis of Disaster Response, Recovery, and Adaptation (Butterworth- Heinemann, 2017), along with over forty chapters and peer-reviewed articles in journals such as Human Organization, Annals of Anthropological Practice, Disasters, Disaster Prevention and Management, Journal of Disaster Studies, Critique of Anthropology, Economic Anthropology, Human Nature, and the Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology. His scholarship advances theoretical debates on vulnerability, cooperation, reciprocity, statecraft, and memory in disaster contexts while contributing to applied projects in wildfire response, pandemic recovery, and community resilience in the San Francisco Bay Area. In addition to his academic appointments, Faas has served as a consultant for organizations including the Human Relations Area Files, the U.S. Geological Survey, and local disaster relief networks, bridging research and practice. He has been recognized with awards such as the Western Social Science Association鈥檚 President鈥檚 Outstanding Emerging Scholar Award and multiple research fellowships and grants from the National Science Foundation and San Jos茅 State University. A sustaining fellow of the Society for Applied Anthropology and affiliated faculty with 91猎奇鈥檚 Wildfire Interdisciplinary Research Center, Faas is committed to advancing anthropology鈥檚 relevance to urgent global crises through engaged research, teaching, and disciplinary leadership.

Faas鈥檚 research centers on the anthropology of disasters, environmental crises, displacement, resettlement, cooperation, and reciprocity:

  • Disasters, Environmental Crises, Displacement & Resettlement: How societies experience and respond to disasters and the ensuing displacement, resettlement, and reconstruction of affected communities.
  • Cooperation, Reciprocity & Mutual Aid: Patterns of social cooperation and reciprocity, especially within disaster-affected contexts.
  • Anthropology of the State & Postcolonial Perspectives: How state systems, particularly within postcolonial contexts, shape disaster responses, humanitarian interventions, and resettlement processes.
  • Humanitarianism & Applied Anthropology: Investigating humanitarian efforts, the role of NGOs, and disaster prevention, response, and recovery in real-world settings, often with a focus on organizational and community-level dynamics.
  • Participatory Action Research & Community Leadership: Faas engages directly in participatory research initiatives, especially in San Jos茅, California鈥攁ddressing topics like community-based leadership, vulnerability, and disaster preparedness through collaborative, action-oriented methods.

Selected Publications

Faas, A. J., Alyssa Singh, and Cibella Gamma. 2025. 鈥淛apanese Incarceration Memorial as Trauma Portfolio Play.鈥� Human Organization 84(1):108鈥�23. . 

Faas, A. J. 2024. 鈥淥n (Not) Seeing Like a State: Ethnography and Intertextuality on the Way to Practice.鈥� Journal of Disaster Studies 1(1): 91-102. . 

Faas, A. J. 2023. 鈥淎 Picaresque Critique: The Anthropology of Disasters and Displacement in the Age of Global Warming and Pandemics.鈥� In , edited by Susan Crate and Mark Nuttall. Routledge.

Faas, A. J. 2023. 鈥淪tate Aesthetics and the Other-Nature in Disaster Memorials.鈥� Critique of Anthropology 43(1): 3-23. .

Faas, A. J. 2022. 鈥淎ntropolog铆as de Desastres en Ecuador: Conexiones y Aperturas.鈥� In , edited by Virginia Garc铆a-Acosta. CIESAS, Gedisa, y Colegio de Michoac谩n.

Faas, A. J., Roberto Barrios, Virginia Garc铆a-Acosta, Adriana Garriga-L贸pez, Seven Mattes, and Jennifer Trivedi. 2020. 鈥�.鈥� Special Issue on COVID-19. Human Organization 79(4): 333鈥�342.

Faas, A. J., and Elizabeth Marino. 2020. 鈥�.鈥� Disaster Prevention and Management 29(4):481-484.

Marino, Elizabeth, and A. J. Faas. 2020. 鈥�.鈥� Annals of Anthropological Practice 44(1):33-46.

Faas, A. J. 2020. 鈥淎nthropologies of Disasters in Ecuador: Connections and Apertures.鈥� : The State of the Art, edited by Virginia Garc铆a-Acosta, 102-125. New York: Routledge.