Judi Pajo

Faculty Bio

Judi Pajo is Associate Professor of Anthropology and Chair of the Society of Fellows of Dyson College at Pace University. Professor Pajo's research revolves around developing a quantitative falsification framework for qualitative findings and interpretations, adapting anthropological methods to investigating magnitudinal and longitudinal phenomena, and illuminating the sociocultural existence of nuclear waste in American public discourse. Her articles have appeared in Social Science Computer Review; PLOS One; Energy, Sustainability, and Society; Anthropos; and Anthropology News. Professor Pajo received her doctorate from the University of California-Irvine, on an ethnographic study of the German culture of recycling. She has been the recipient of research funding from the National Science Foundation as well as a number of sources at the University of California and at Pace University. Between 2015 and 2019 Professor Pajo was a Board Member of the American Anthropological Association's section of the Anthropology of Public Policy; she was also Co-editor of the Anthropology of Policy section of the AAA's Anthropology News. Between 2010 and 2015 she was a Visiting Scholar at New York University; she was also NYU's Faculty Advisor for the Transatlantic Consortium for European Union Studies and Simulations. As the Editor of ROROTOKO Professor Pajo curates and produces in-depth features on some of the most fascinating scholarship at the cutting edge of the social sciences and the humanities.

PhD Anthropology, University of California-Irvine, 2008

Visiting Student, Europäische Ethnologie, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 2006

Diplom Theologie, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, 2001

Visiting Student, Theology and Religious Studies, The Catholic University of America, 1999

Vordiplom Theologie, Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen, 1998

Past Courses

ANT 101: Introduction to Anthropology
ANT 108: Glbl Culture & Lcl Identities
ANT 210: Urban Ethnography
ANT 218: Wmn & Gender in a Glbl Perspec
ANT 226: Environmental Anthropology
ANT 227: Economic Anthropology
ANT 228: Political Anthropology
ANT 296: Topic: Economic Anthropology
ANT 297: Policy & Culture in Erpn Union
ANT 297: Topic: Political Anthropology
ANT 300: Culture in the Anthropocene
ANT 390: Internship in Anthropology
ENV 110: Nature & Culture: Connections
ENV 226: Environmental Anthropology
ENV 240: Env Pract in Amrcn Cltr & Scty
ENV 380: Junior Year Research Seminar
ENV 498: Mentoring Seminar
ENV 499: Senior Year Exp/Environmental
INT 299: Tpc: Envrnmnt, Tchnlgy, Scty
INT 299: Welcome to the Anthropocene
MAT 143: Intro Stats for the Social Sci
SOC 380: Social Research Methods
SOC 390: Internship in Sociology
SOC 395: Independent Study in Sociology
UNV 101: First-Year Smnr Unvrsty Cmmnty

Publications

Qualitative Designs and Data Collection
Pajo, J. (2022). In Introduction to Research Methods: A Hands-On Approach. Second Edition. Sage.

Quantitative Falsification for Qualitative Findings: Falsifying an Ethnographic Theory of American Public Discourse on Nuclear Waste With Text Mining in R
Pajo, J. (2019). Social Science Computer Review. Vol 37 (Issue 3) , pages 315-332.

Recycling Entrepreneurs: Reflections on the Enterprise of “Scavenging” Beverage Containers in Berlin and New York
Pajo, J. (2016). Anthropos. Vol 111 (Issue 2) , pages 628-637.

Two Paradigmatic Waves of Public Discourse on Nuclear Waste in the United States, 1945-2009: Understanding a Magnitudinal and Longitudinal Phenomenon in Anthropological Terms
Pajo, J. (2016). PLoS ONE. Vol 11 (Issue 6) , pages 1-22.

Danger explodes, space implodes: the evolution of the environmental discourse on nuclear waste, 1945–1969
Pajo, J. (2015). Energy, Sustainability and Society. Vol 5 (Issue 36) , pages 1-13.

Presentations

Nuclear Waste: Landscapes and Timescapes
Pajo, J. (2021). 81st Annual Meeting of the Society for Applied Anthropology. Norfolk, VA.

Learning From Texts, and Text as Data
Pajo, J. (2020). Institut für Materielle Kultur. Carl von Ossietzky Universität. Oldenburg, Germany.

What is New in American Academia, and What Does it Mean?
Pajo, J. (2020). Institut für Materielle Kultur. Carl von Ossietzky Universität. Oldenburg, Germany.

Environment: Social Formations and Natural Formations
Pajo, J. (2019). 2nd World Congress on Undergraduate Research. Oldenburg, Germany.

Transforming Environments in Europe and North America: Narratives, Histories, Cultures
Pajo, J. (2018). Trans-Atlantic Summer Institute. University of Minnesota. Minneapolis, MN.

A Report from the Text Mine
Pajo, J. (2017). 116th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association. Washington, DC.

Cultural Models of Radioactive Waste: A Text Mining Approach
Pajo, J. (2016). 115th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association. Minneapolis, MN.

Cultural Models of Radioactive Waste: Who Is Responsible?
Pajo, J. (2016). 23rd International Conference of Europeanists. Philadelphia, PA.

Is Nuclear Power Really Alternative Energy? Public Discourse on Risks, Emissions, and the Future of Energy
Pajo, J. (2015). 114th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association. Denver, CO.

Fossil Fuels and Co.: What Does Alternative Energy Mean to the Public?
Pajo, J. (2015). 40th Annual Meeting of the Society for Social Studies of Science. Denver, CO.

‘National Burying Place Needed:’ The Story of Nuclear Waste in the New York Times, 1945-1969
Pajo, J. (2014). 113th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association. Washington, DC.

Public Discourse on Nuclear Waste in the United States Since 1945
Pajo, J. (2014). 6th Annual Meeting of the Association for Environmental Studies and Sciences. New York, NY.

Energy Revolution: The End of Nuclear in Germany and the Future of Renewables in Europe
Pajo, J. (2013). 112th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association. Chicago, IL.

Living on Pfandflaschen and Dosenpfand in Berlin: An Ethnographic Study of Scavengers and Recycling Entrepreneurs
Pajo, J. (2013). 36th Annual Conference of the German Studies Association. Denver, CO.

Environmental Policies and Recycling Cultures in the United States and the European Union
Pajo, J. (2012). 72nd Annual Meeting of the Society for Applied Anthropology. Baltimore, MD.