Nicholas Dirks
Nicholas B. Dirks is the Vice President for Arts and Sciences, the Franz Boas Professor of Anthropology, and a Professor of History.
Trained as an anthropologist and historian of South Asia, particularly concerned with southern India, Dirks came to Columbia in 1997, and radically altered the approach of the Anthropology Department toward Postcolonialism. In his role as VP for Arts and Sciences, he has gained credit for aggressively recruiting (and in some cases raiding) faculty to dramatically improve targeted departments, most notably Economics. Despite his administrative role, Dirks still publishes, though he rarely now teaches undergraduates.
He is married to professor of Indian history Janaki Bakhle. They like to weekend in the southern Berkshires.
