Spencer Cook

Candidate statement

Spencer Cook (he/him) is a PhD candidate in Sociocultural Anthropology at the University of Michigan. He holds a BSFS in Culture and Politics from Georgetown University and an MA in Social Sciences from the University of Chicago. Spencer’s dissertation project is a historical ethnography of trade, conflict, and borders in Cyprus since the 1960s. Following everything from sheep and goats to halloumi to craft beer, it explores how economic exchange becomes entangled with the contested politics of division and reunification on the island. As Graduate Student Representative, Spencer hopes to strengthen graduate student participation in all facets of MGSA and to support the growing network of scholars interested in modern Greece and Greek topics—including Cyprus and other, lesser-studied areas of the Greek-speaking world. He has found a warm and encouraging community in MGSA and would love to support its work as Graduate Student Representative.