Joseph Whitecotton

Joseph W. Whitecotton (born September 11, 1937) is an American academic anthropologist and ethnohistorian, a specialist in Latin American cultural anthropology and in particular of Mesoamerican cultures. His primary research focus has been on the Zapotec civilization of central Mexico and Oaxaca, and he is the author of half a dozen monographs on the subject. In addition to his research on the Zapotec, Whitecotton has made contributions in historical ethnography, the study of political economies and the effects of globalization trends on local cultures. He has also investigated evidence for pre-Columbian contacts and trade between Mesoamerica and cultures in the American Southwest, and conducted ethnographical research of the Hispanos in New Mexico. Whitecotton is also a performing jazz musician and has written on the influences of jazz in popular culture.

The majority of Whitecotton's academic career has been associated with the University of Oklahoma (OU), where he lectured in various positions from 1967 until his official retirement in 1999. Since then he has retained a position at OU as Professor Emeritus of Anthropology and Liberal Studies, and continued to be active in research publications and conferences.