Dustin M. Wax

Dustin M. Wax is a cultural anthropologist and writer. He is currently the collections manager and assistant curator at the UNLV Barrick Museum and the curatorial director at the Burlesque Hall of Fame. An anthropologist by training, he has taught anthropology and Women’s Studies at both the community college and university levels. His research interests include artistic production, the history of anthropology, gender roles and sexual identity,  and the representation of culture and identity in scientific literature, museums, and the mass media.

Dustin has also been active in attempts to use the Internet to improve and broaden research and education, and is a founding contributor to the anthropology site Savage Minds, selected as one of the 20 Best Science Blogs by Nature in 2006. From 2007-2010, he was the managing editor at the personal productivity site lifehack.org, a Technorati Top 100 blog, where he wrote about writing, learning, studying, project management, technology, and other topics in personal development.

For more information on his teaching, research, and writing, please check out his portfolio at this site.

Personal Summary

I received my MA from the New School for Social Research and a BA from UC Santa Cruz, both in anthropology with honors in the major. After teaching as an adjunct for 8 years, I took a position at the UNLV Barrick Museum where I have curated several shows and worked to cultivate relationships with a number of community arts organizations. I have worked with non-profit organizations, museums, and dot-com startups, doing everything from organizing catering to putting together exhibition brochures to interviewing researchers to writing marketing and educational copy to redesigning websites.

In addition to museum work, I serve on the board of a couple of local arts organizations and galleries, the Contemporary Arts Center and Blackbird Studios. I am an amateur photographer who has shown at several local galleries, including Blackbird Studios, the Arts Factory, the UNLV Barrick Museum, and most recently in the Las Vegas Mayor’s office. I have written and published two books, one on anthropology during the Cold War and another teaching school-life balance skills for college students. I am also an undistinguished guitar player and a voracious reader.