Elizabeth Colson
US social anthropologist / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Elizabeth Florence Colson (June 15, 1917 ā August 3, 2016) was an American social anthropologist and professor emerita of anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley.[1] She was best known for the classic long-term study of the Tonga people of the Gwembe Valley in Zambia and Zimbabwe,[2] which she began in 1956 with Thayer Scudder, 11 years after she obtained her doctorate and while Scudder was a second-year graduate student.[1] Dr. Colson focused her research on the consequences of forced resettlement on culture and social organization,[3] the effects of economic pressure on familial relationships, rituals, religious life, and even drinking patterns.[4]
Quick Facts Born, Died ...
Elizabeth Colson | |
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Born | (1917-06-15)June 15, 1917 Hewitt, Minnesota, U.S. |
Died | August 3, 2016(2016-08-03) (aged 99) |
Nationality | American |
Citizenship | American |
Alma mater | University of Minnesota Radcliffe College |
Known for | Study of the Gwembe Tonga |
Awards | American Association of University Women fellowship, (1942-1943) Lewis Henry Morgan Lecturer, University of Rochester (1973) AAA Distinguished Lecture (1975) Honorary Degrees, Brown University, Rochester University National Academy of Sciences (1977) |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Social anthropology |
Doctoral advisor | Clyde Kluckhohn |
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