Years at Knox: 1995 to present

Education
Ph.D., Anthropology, 1978, University of Rochester
M.A., Anthropology, 1973, University of Rochester
B.A., Geography, magna cum laude with high honors, 1971, Clark University

Professional Interests
"For more than twenty years, I have been studying change in the lives of urban west Africans. Sub-Saharan Africa remains one of the most intense locales for changes in the lifeways and values of people, with some of the highest rates of urbanization in the world, and extensive and complex multilingualism.

In my research, patterns of language use and language loyalty (especially the spread of English) are indicators of larger cultural changes underway. Field study through long-term participant-observation has been my principal method of investigation. Understanding how urban West Africans adapt to, reject, and sometimes create change is part of a larger enterprise to more fully understand how humans use 'culture' to create a sense of their own identity in an increasingly complex, interconnected world."

Teaching Interests
Language & Culture, Linguistics, First-Year Preceptorial

Recent Scholarly Achievements
Recent Publications
Presentations
Activities and Recognitions

Recent Publications
"Don't Tell Me What I said, I Know What I Meant," Inside Higher Education, December 5, 2006.

Speaking and Social Identity: English in the Lives of Urban Africans.  Mouton, 1998.

"Anthropology's Challenge: Disquieting Ideas for Diverse Students." The Teaching of Anthropology: Problems, Issues, and Decisions, 1997.

With Irene Glassner. Urban Anthropology in the 1990s. 2nd edition.  Society for Urban Anthropology and American Anthropological Association, 1996.

Presentations
"Global Citizenship," paper delivered as part of a panel on "Off-Campus Study and the Goals of Liberal Learning." Annual meeting of the Association of American Colleges and Universities, Washington, D.C., January 2006.

"Getting to the Capstone, Getting Beyond the Capstone," presentation for the Pew-Midstates Science/Mathematics Consortium "Workshops on the Capstone Experience." Chicago, Illinois, February 2006.

"Information Literacy at Knox College," presentation for the Council for Independent Colleges workshop, "Transformation of the College Library," Boston, Massachusetts, April 2006.

"Off-Campus Study–How Students Learn." Plenary Presentation, ACM Conference on Engaging Students in Liberal Learning, Lake Forest College.

"Institutional Initiatives." Presentation for session on Pipeline to the Professoriate: Recruitment Strategies, Institute on Teaching and Mentoring, Compact for Faculty Diversity, Arlington, Virginia.

Activities and Recognitions
Panelist for Research Fellowships, National Endowment for the Humanities, 2000, 2001.

Executive Committee of the Board of Advisors (Deans), Associated Colleges of the Midwest, 1999 to present.

Fulbright Senior Scholar Research Award for African Regional Research, 1988.

Contact
309-341-7216 
lbreitbo@knox.edu

What Students Say
"Despite the considerable challenges involved in being an administrator, teacher and scholar, Dean Breitborde has boundless energy and a great sense of humor. He is genuinely interested in the lives of the students. He's particularly good at seeing the connections among the various academic disciplines."
—Ellen Landers, Independent Major