Richard P. Horwitz is an Emeritus Professor at the University of Iowa and an independent consultant. He earned a Ph.D. (1975) in American Civilization from the University of Pennsylvania where he studied interdisciplinary approaches to the United States, emphasizing history and the social sciences. His professional experience has varied widely but centered on the interpretation of everyday life in the U.S. – institutions, routines, and folkways on the job, in neighborhoods, at home and abroad. It remains both scholarly and applied, particularly in regard to emergency and environmental management, agriculture, interdisciplinariy education, and international affairs. He has worked extensively in more than a dozen African, Asian, and European nations to contribute to the development of his field and cross-cultural understanding more generally. These visits have been sponsored by universities, non-governmental organizations, and national as well as international agencies, including two Distinguished Senior Fulbright Awards. Although retired from regular university duties, he has continued to work as a researcher, writer, and consultant on cultural issues in agricultural and environmental affairs – analyzing and assisting communication and cooperation among policymakers, scientists, first responders, and the public. From 2002 to 2009, he produced and maintained all of Rhode Island's plans for dealing with environmental and agricultural emergencies. From 2010 to 2018, he was principal investigator for several state, regional, and national projects to secure public food supplies, to promote continuity of small-farm operations, and to reduce the risk of livestock disease emergencies in the US as a whole. Since then, chiefly with funding from the USDA, he has researched, developed and coordinated plans to improve prevention, detection, response to and recovery from outbreaks of highly contagious or zoonotic animal diseases, such as foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) and "bird flu" (HPAI). Major publications include five books: two anthologies – The American Studies Anthology (an international, interdisciplinary introduction to the sources of interest in the U.S.) and Exporting America (about American Studies around the world, with contributions from eleven countries) – and three original volumes – Anthropology Toward History (about interdisciplinarity, applied toward understanding workaday life in an industrializing New England town), The Strip (about highway-oriented commerce, making beds, burgers, cash, and community along a modern Midwestern roadside) and Hog Ties (about the implications of modern agriculture and medical science for the quality of life in America). This last work draws on his experience moonlighting as a hired hand on a 2000-acre hog/grain/cattle farm for 20 years. He has also served as a researcher, writer, photographer, consultant, and public presenter for the Smithsonian Institution (e.g., for the Festival of American Folklife) and several state and national science, arts, education, humanities, and public policy agencies. His public-sector projects include documentary fieldwork among diverse groups, especially "stakeholders," producers and consumers of environmental information (e.g., about emergencies, climate change, public health and safety, agriculture and wildlife management). Awards include prizes for life-time achievement in mentoring students and for the outstanding article of the year in American Studies. Updated April 2026 |