Phillip McArthur
American folklorist and anthropologist
Phillip H. McArthur is an American folklorist and anthropologist who is a Brigham Young University–Hawaii faculty member. McArthur's scholarly work focuses on the Marshall Islands. McArthur has spent much of his career documenting and analyzing Marshall Islander narratives, mythology, songs, and performances.
Background
Education
McArthur initially lived in the Marshall Islands as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and later returned for his Ph.D. research. He would later study under folklorists and scholars Richard Bauman and Beverly J. Stoeltje. He obtained an associate degree in psychology from Ricks College, a bachelor's degree in anthropology from Brigham Young University, and both master's and Ph.D. degrees in folklore studies and cultural anthropology from Indiana University Bloomington.
Research
McArthur's work in the Marshall Islands closely examines social power and indigenous epistemologies with special attention to the tumultuous relationship with the United States. His research emphasizes social theoretical and semiotic approaches to traditional narrative (i.e. myth, oral history), cultural performance (ritual, ceremony, festival, spectacle), history, cosmology, and local cultures within the contexts of decolonization, nationalism and globalization. This includes a deepening attention to political and economic forces, and their relationship to social power and practice.
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