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Noah Butler, advanced lecturer in the Department of Anthropology, has been appointed director of the Ricci Scholars program in the Office of Global and Community Engagement. For nearly two decades, the Ricci Scholars program has offered students opportunities to bridge study abroad, experiential learning, and rigorous firsthand research experience in international settings. The program provides funding for highly qualified students to study and conduct cross-cultural research during their junior year, spending their fall semester at Loyola’s John Felice Rome Center for the fall semester, followed by a destination in East Asia for the spring semester.
Starting in Spring 2025, there are several options for students to study in East Asia: Kansai Gaidai University (Hirakata, Japan), Chinese University of Hong Kong (Hong Kong SAR), and Hanyang University (Seoul, South Korea). Students prepare their research proposals and apply for this unique scholarship as sophomores, conduct field research with their seminar professors and travel as juniors, and complete their projects as seniors.
Butler received his PhD in Anthropology from Northwestern University, with research support from Fulbright-Hays, the National Science Foundation, the Mellon Foundation, and the American Council of Learned Societies. He received his BA with honors from Boston University, double-majoring in Social Anthropology with distinction and French Language and Literature and receiving the Herbert H. Golden prize from the Department of Romance Studies and the Department of Linguistics.
Butler has extensive international research experience, both ethnographic and archival, and has worked closely with the Ricci Scholars program for over a decade. He has supervised multiple Ricci student research projects on a broad array of topics, including informal economies and cultures of consumerism; religious tourism and the commodification of culture; gendered religious symbolism; the globalization of Korean pop culture; and a comparative history of NGO service provisioning.
The Ricci Scholars Program is named in honor of Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci SJ (1552-1610), who served in China and came to be known for his accommodating approach to Chinese cultural practices, rituals, and worship.
