Robert S. Newman

Robert S. Newman (born February 12, 1943) is an anthropologist based in Marblehead, Massachusetts, USA, primarily known for his contribution to studying post-1961 Goa, India.

In the Peace Corps he worked two years in Lucknow at Literacy House, learned Hindustani, and married an Indian woman, Sudha Dubey.

He wound up teaching English as a Second Language in the immigrant community from the former Soviet Union, but continued working on Goa, publishing a book and several more articles, attending conferences.

Overall, he attempts to show that popular religion in Goa, as separate from the classical versions of Catholicism and Hinduism, is a rich synthesis of the two in which goddesses can be seen (for example) as either Shantadurga or Our Lady, in which Hindus attend certain Catholic feast day ceremonies and Catholics make donations to Hindu temples.

Newman argues that in Goa, as in such places as Mexico, Peru, Brazil, the Philippines, and Mauritius, contact between two or more civilizations created a "fascinating synthesis".

In line with this argument, he did a stint of research in Mauritius in 1987, concentrating on popular Hinduism in its various aspects among the "overseas Indians" there.