Faculty

Dr. Pellegrino Luciano, an associate professor of anthropology at the American University of Kuwait, earned his doctoral degree in anthropology from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York in 2005. His doctoral work focused on the intersection of neoliberalism, nature/heritage conservation, and inequality in Peru. He is the author of Neoliberal Reform in Machu Picchu: Protecting a Community, Heritage Site and Tourism Destination in Peru (2018). 

His book centers on investigating property relations within the context of conserving public resources, such as heritage and nature. During his fieldwork in the southern Peruvian Andes, Dr. Luciano explored how economic restructuring transforms nature and heritage into commodities for a tourism-based economy. His work illuminates the strategies employed by residents of the Sanctuary of Machu Picchu to adapt to and contest the efforts of governing authorities to privatize and restrict access to their land under the guise of conservation, while simultaneously justifying concessions to private investments.

In addition to his work in Peru, Dr. Luciano conducted anthropological research on public health issues related to drug use and AIDS in New York City. Over the course of a three-year ethnographic study, he investigated the HIV infection risks associated with intravenous drug use, examining the various methods by which syringes, and paraphernalia are obtained and their correlation with structural factors contributing to high-risk behaviors. The findings from this research have been widely disseminated through journal publications and professional presentations, informing public health policy regarding messaging on the sharing of drug paraphernalia and outreach efforts.