Barbara Johnson joined the anthropology department at Ithaca College in 1991, after completing her Ph.D. at the University of Massachusetts and teaching at Goddard College in Vermont. She worked with other faculty across the College to create the Jewish studies program, for which she served as coordinator and taught four different anthropology courses: Comparative Jewish Cultures; American Jewish Life; Israel: Ethnicity, Politics, and Culture; and Asian Jewish Cultures. Johnson says that “having lived and taught in India after completing my B.A. at Oberlin College, I’ve encouraged IC students to learn through personal interaction with other cultures, as well as examining their own.” Her research centers on the Cochin Jews, an ancient community in the south Indian state of Kerala. She has devoted more than 35 years to research on their history and culture in Kerala and in Israel, where most of them are now living; most recently, her research resulted in the publication of Oh, Lovely Parrot! Jewish Women’s Songs from Kerala (CD and book, 2004). Johnson reports: “I look forward very much to continuing this research after retirement.”
