Columbia Professor on Her Research During a Visitorship Program in Paris
Location
ParisPosted
January 13, 2026
Faculty Visitor Paige West on her collaborative anthropological work, biocultural revitalization in New Ireland, and a new study of Papua New Guinea’s burgeoning fashion industry.
The Reid Hall Faculty Visitorship program, supported by Columbia Global Center Paris and the Institute for Ideas and Imagination, offers Columbia faculty and researchers the opportunity to collaborate with fellows and other colleagues in Paris, conduct research, and organize workshops, talks, or conferences.
One recent visitor, Paige West, Claire Tow Professor of Anthropology at Barnard College and Columbia University, recently discussed her her research focusing on Indigenous ecological knowledge, environmental conservation, and socio-political change in Oceania, especially Papua New Guinea, where she has conducted over 110 months of fieldwork since 1997.
I met with colleagues from CREDO, a major French institute at the University of Marseille, which focuses on work in Melanesia. Together we are planning a project focused on biocultural diversity revitalization in several sites. Without my time at Reid Hall, planning this work would have been difficult. The in-person meetings were crucial for this collaboration.
Paige West
