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Recent and upcoming courses

Spring 2026

• SSCI 300: Seeing Like a Social Scientist
• ANSO 102: Introduction to Cultural Anthropology

Biography

Jose Leonardo Santos is professor of social science at �鶹ֱ�� in Saint Paul, Minnesota. He received his BA in anthropology from Brown University (1999) and his MA (2005) and PhD (2008) in cultural anthropology from Southern Methodist University. He previously researched immigration, evangelicalism, and masculinity. His dissertation research became the book Evangelicalism and Masculinity: Faith and Gender in El Salvador in 2012. From 2012 through 2022, he often featured on Minnesota Public Radio, discussing topics including politics, gender, race, and more. He now researches issues in higher education, including career readiness, teaching, learning, the COVID-19 pandemic, shared governance, political polarization, as well as cuts and closures to colleges and universities. Courses he has taught at Metro State include ANTH 301 Approaches to Cultural Anthropology; ANTH 302 Gender and Culture; ANSO 305 Anthropology of Religion; ANTH 310 Anthropology of Masculinity; and ANSO 383 Careers in Social Issues. He also teaches core courses within the social science major, including SSCI 300 Seeing Like a Social Scientist and SSCI 451 Empirical Capstone.

Scholarly Publications

2025 “Anthropology in 2025: Addressing the Crisis.” Advance online publication Practicing Anthropology 1–7.

2025 “’Eliminate Anthropology’: Attitudes toward social science in the public discourse.” American Anthropologist 127 (2): 278-291.

2025 “Ethnographies of a dying discipline: Anthropology in the 21st century.” American Anthropologist 127 (2):3656-367.

2024 “Menacing Oracle: An Anthropologist’s Journey into Political Polarization in Higher Education.” Practicing Anthropology. 47 (1): 29-35.

2023 with Matthew Filner (In Review) “Shared Governance in the Public University: A Case Study from the US Midwest.” Learning and Teaching: The International Journal of Higher Education in the Social Sciences.

2021 “Special Issue: Teaching and Learning Anthropology in the Time of COVID-19.” Teaching and Learning Anthropology. 1 (4): 1-7

2021 “Teaching in 2020: Preliminary Assessments.” Teaching and Learning Anthropology. 1 (4): 8-28

2020 “Anxiety and Learning: Cultural Polarisation in Social Science Courses.” Learning and Teaching: The International Journal of Higher Education in the Social Sciences. 13 (2): 62-84.

2017 “Dear Friends and Colleagues.” in Michelle Harris, Sherrill L. Sellers, and Frederick W. Gooding Jr. (eds.) Stories from the Front of the Room. Rowman and Littlefield: New York.

2015 “Social Construction Theory.” in Patricia Wheelhan and Anne Bolin (eds.) The International Encyclopedia of Human Sexuality. John Wiley and Sons: Malden, Oxford.

2014 “Symbols that Speak: Christ and His Word in El Salvador.” in Scott Moeschberger and Rebekah Phillips DeZalia (eds.) Symbols that Bind, Symbols that Divide: The Semiotics of Peace and Conflict. Springer: New York.

2013 “How to Change a Man: Spiritual Transformation and Shifts in Gender Ideology in Evangelical El Salvador.” in Caroline Brettell and Carolyn Sargent, editors, Gender in Cross-Cultural Perspective, Pearson Prentice Hall, Sixth Edition.

2012 Evangelicalism and Masculinity: Faith and Gender in El Salvador. Lexington Books: Lanham, Maryland.

2010 “Arrival and Adaptation of Salvadoran Immigrants in the North Texas Metroplex.” Urban Anthropology & Studies of Cultural Systems & World Economic Development. 39 (1-2): 109-147.

2007 with Robert V. Kemper, Julie Adkins, Marco Flores “From Undocumented Camionetas (Mini-Vans) To Federally Regulated Motor Carriers: Hispanic Transportation in Dallas, Texas, and Beyond.” Urban Anthropology & Studies of Cultural Systems & World Economic Development. 36 (4): 381-423.

Commentaries

2025 “Many people dislike college and anthropology. How can anthropologists respond?” Anthropology Career Readiness Network World of Work Blog, April 20, 2025.

2019 “State must better support its universities to deal effectively with mental health issues” MinnPost, January 11, 2019.

2018 “What are Minnesotans prepared to do about street harassment?” MinnPost, August 16, 2018.

2018 “Minnesota’s Standing Rock moment?” Pioneer Press, February 1, 2018, with Melissa Lorenz.

2017 “Swastikas in Minnesota: Without fuss, we lose” MinnPost September 7, 2017.

2017 “Why we need liberal studies now more than ever” MinnPost, April 26, 2017.

2013 “If you think part-time students don't work as hard, think some more” Minnesota Public Radio, February 15, 2013.

2013 “Our cultures clash, and we risk personal isolation as a result” Minnesota Public Radio, January 16, 2013.

2012 “The key to getting along in the world is to show respect” Minnesota Public Radio, September 21, 2012.

2012 “A message for young men: Anger is OK, but violence isn't” Minnesota Public Radio, September 3, 2012.

2012 “Grief at losing his dog made him wary of getting another” Minnesota Public Radio, August 10, 2012.

2012 “Beware those who argue every difference in extremist terms” Minnesota Public Radio, July 30, 2012.

2012 “U.N. inquiry into U.S. treatment of Indians is overdue” Minnesota Public Radio, May 3, 2012.

2012 “A Minnesota anthropologist considers the politics of identity” Minnesota Public Radio, April 5, 2012.

2012 “If I told you what I think of you, would you still dig me out of a snow bank?” Minnesota Public Radio, March 13, 2012.