Department of Anthropology

Margaret holds an MA in Near and Middle Eastern Studies from SOAS and a BA in Theater and German Studies from Oberlin College. Outside of academia, she has 5 years of experience teaching adult ESL in London and high school history in New Mexico. Margaret's research in cultural anthropology focuses on the raqs sharqi (belly dance) industry in Egypt and the effects of globalization. This work centers questions of mobility, media, gender, performance, sex work, and stigma. The growing number of foreign dancers in Egypt ties Margaret's research into the regional and global political economies, while discourse about the changing dance scene reflects contemporary Egyptian cultural politics and those of the global belly dance community.

Margaret's cultural anthropology research in Egypt is supported by a Fulbright US Student Award and she is currently affiliated with the American University in Cairo. She is analyzing the changing raqs sharqi (belly dance) industry in Egypt and the effects of globalization, in particular mobility. Her article about corporeal and attention economies in the Egyptian dance industry will appear in a special economic issue of Anthropology of the Middle East in January 2023.