I received my Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Chicago in 1995 and have conducted extensive ethnographic research in south India. I am Professor Emeritus at Appalachian State University in North Carolina, but have relocated to Seattle, my hometown. I took early retirement to work on my writing and to help others with theirs. My own ethnographic work analyzes how people relate to place and time, how they tell stories about themselves, and how various materialities (words, things, thoughts, deities, plants, animals) thread through and constitute social life. Among the analytic frameworks I draw upon in my writing are semeiotics, material history, phenomenology, and existential anthropology.

I have always enjoyed talking about the writing process and thinking about different ways to get the work done. Does it have to be so grueling? Throughout my career, I have explored and experimented with many ways to enjoy the process more and to produce the kind of writing I want. I find editing work to be a good way to continue my enthusiasm for writing. I have worked with many academic writers—from students and colleagues to clients—and am skilled at helping academic writers make their ideas clear, their arguments tight, and their writing tailored to target audiences whether general readers, undergraduate students, or specialists.

My own book publications include two edited volumes and two monographs, with a third in process:

Mines, Diane P. 2005. Fierce Gods: Inequality, Ritual, and the Politics of Dignity in a South Indian Village. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

Mines, Diane P. 2009. Caste in India. Ann Arbor: Association for Asian Studies; Illustrated edition.

Mines, Diane P. and Sarah Lamb, co-editors. 2010. Everyday Life in South Asia, 2nd Edition. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. (First edition published 2002.)

Mines, Diane P. and Nicolas Yazgi, co-editors. 2010. Village Matters: Relocating Villages in the Anthropology of India. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.