A legacy of listening: Dr. Barry Lyons reflects on a career of curiosity, connection and change
After more than two decades at Wayne State University and a career shaped by international fieldwork, teaching, and a commitment to understanding social inequality, the department will wish Dr. Barry Lyons a fond and well-earned retirement. His departure marks the end of a distinguished academic journey rooted in empathy, intercultural dialogue and a passionate curiosity about human beings.
Lyons’ path to anthropology began at Washington University in St. Louis. He majored in history and political science, but his interest in what historical and political events meant to people led him to explore ethnographies and anthropological analyses. A class on peasant societies confirmed his attraction to anthropology.
He had an opportunity to do something like anthropological fieldwork during a two-year Peace Corps assignment in Ecuador in the early 1980s. Charged with agricultural outreach, Lyons soon abandoned top-down models of teaching in favor of listening. The experience sparked a lifelong connection to Ecuador and to the anthropological study of power, inequality and rural communities. A decade later, while conducting doctoral research, Lyons married a member of one of the families he had first become close to during his Peace Corps service.
Lyons earned his Ph.D. at the University of Michigan, studying with influential scholars like Roy Rappaport, Bruce Manheim, Sherry Ortner, and Ruth Behar. Rappaport’s work on religion and ecological systems would leave a lasting impact, while Ortner shaped his understanding of social change. Behar, he said, “showed me that life histories and experience-based narratives can stand at the center of anthropological work.”
After earning his Ph.D., Lyons began teaching at The University of the South (Sewanee), a small liberal arts college. While the experience sharpened his skills as an educator, he sought a more diverse academic environment and joined Wayne State University in 1999, where he has taught ever since.
At Wayne State, Lyons has especially enjoyed sharing his broad range of interests with students in courses from Introduction to Anthropology to mid-level courses on Latin America and Religion to graduate seminars on capitalism. A virtual ethnographic field school he developed during the COVID-19 pandemic brought him full circle as he guided students in fieldwork with his friends and family in the village where he had lived as a Peace Corps volunteer decades earlier.
Lyons’ scholarly work has reflected his deep interests in religion, social histories, inequality, and environmental issues. His doctoral research focused on Indigenous Quichua-speaking communities in Ecuador, while recent projects explored the perspectives of American evangelical Christians on climate change. His work challenged assumptions and emphasized cross-cultural understanding, culminating in the production of a film, "Virginia’s Calling," about a conservative evangelical climate advocate. Lyons remains proud of a short essay published in an Ecuadorian newspaper that captured the stories of mestizo children who faced colorism in their communities and how they processed those experiences.
Beyond his academic work, Lyons has remained committed to public anthropology and the application of anthropological knowledge to pressing global issues, including climate change and political polarization. He is currently exploring how anthropological insights might contribute to business decarbonization strategies.
Lyons is looking forward to spending his retirement hiking, playing music, reading for pleasure and enjoying time with his family, especially his granddaughter. Academically, he intends to revisit the work of Rappaport and continue to develop a theoretical project on language, gifts and commodity exchange.
Reflecting on his career, Lyons expressed gratitude to his students and colleagues. “Wayne State gave me the space to do work I care about and to engage with students who were curious, passionate and thoughtful. I’m thankful for that.”
His advice to future anthropologists is simple but important: “Go to the edges of your comfort zone. Engage with people who see the world differently. Suspend assumptions and expand your empathetic imagination.”
The Department of Anthropology expresses thanks to Dr. Lyons for sharing his experience and inspiring students to push the boundaries of what anthropology can be, showing how we can use it to better the world around us.