“The Performance Culture of Burning Man"

Scholars are delving into what Nevada’s Burning Man means, just as they did with Woodstock decades ago, and they’re coming up with some interesting answers.

Wendy Clupper wrote a dissertation after attending the festival in Black Rock Desert, Nev. Her paper, “The Performance Culture of Burning Man,” earned Clupper a doctoral degree in performance arts from the University of Maryland. Since then Clupper’s essays on Burning Man have been reprinted in two books. That put Clupper among a growing list of sociologists, business professors, theologists and other scholars who view the event’s mix of hipsters, artisans, zany theme camps and outdoor art gallery as more than a party. They see fertile ground for research.