345:, Bunzel focused on the psychological factors contributing to different drinking patterns in Chamula and Chichicastenango. This was the first anthropological study on alcoholism and drinking patterns among different cultures. Bunzel stated that she was not studying alcohol; rather, she studied "people and their drinking habits as seen in their cultural contexts and the influences behind these habits."
274:, which was published in 1929. Her 1929 dissertation describes the creative process of Zuni potters, who preserve and reproduce traditional patterns even as individual potters innovate and create new ones. Bunzel later said, "Look, I was never studying pottery. I was studying human behavior. I wanted to know how the potters felt about what they were doing."
393:
in the RCC, the
Columbia University Research in Contemporary Cultures Project. This project was funded by the office of Naval Research to study different cultures and Bunzel lead a research group studying China which interviewed Chinese immigrants in New York City between 1947 and 1951. In 1951 and 1952, Bunzel developed interview techniques at the
357:
development. Like at the Zuni Pueblo, when Bunzel relied greatly on one female informant Flora Zuni and her family, she did the same in
Chichicastenango, and attached herself to one informant to obtain a focused perspective on a small group of people rather than generalizing her results to an entire culture.
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During World War II, Bunzel worked in
England translating broadcasts from English to Spanish and translating incoming Spanish broadcasts for the U.S. Government Office of War Information from 1942 to 1945. Bunzel also contributed to propaganda analysis efforts. After World War II, she became involved
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During her professional career, Bunzel faced social gender politics that prevented her from obtaining a tenure position and threatened her fieldwork. Some of her male colleagues spread inflammatory rumors about unprofessional activity in
Chichicastenango that negatively affected Bunzel's professional
293:
Bunzel published her research widely and contributed to publications by other prominent anthropologists. She also produced literature related to Zuni language and culture, providing material for
Benedict's Zuni information in Patterns of Culture. Bunzel became known as an authority on the Zuni people
277:
In 1925, after returning to New York, Bunzel resigned as Boaz's secretary, and just like
Goldfrank, enrolled as a student at Columbia University to study anthropology. Bunzel was part of the second cohort trained by Boas at Columbia University. She completed her doctoral dissertation in 1927, but she
229:
By 1924, Bunzel was considering a career in anthropology, but first wanted to observe anthropological fieldwork. Bunzel planned to spend the summer of 1924 in western New Mexico and east-central
Arizona, particularly in Zuni Pueblo, New Mexico. She planned to serve as secretary to Columbia University
348:
Bunzel advanced her field by challenging its methodology. She argued that her primary consultant's insights were incomplete and could not therefore provide generalized information about the culture, rather viewing his or her contributions as partial and individual to that person or smaller groups of
356:
Bunzel also juxtaposed her own interpretations of
Guatemalan ritual events with those offered by her informants in her monograph Chichicastenango. Her monograph Chichicastenango was greatly influenced by Boas' historical particularism and Benedict's culture and personality research focused on child
313:
During her fieldwork among the Zuni people, Bunzel lived with Flora Zuni and her family, who initiated her into the Beaver clan and gave her the Zuni name
Maiatitsa or "blue bird". Bunzel was also given another Zuni name, Tsatitsa, by the former governor of the pueblo and one of her key informants,
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to study
Mexican culture but was redirected to study Guatemala, as little American anthropological research existed in this area at the time. Bunzel studied the Santa Tomas Chichicastenango, a Highland Mayan Village, from 1930 to 1932, resulting in the completion in 1936 and publication in 1952 of
290:, and poetry were published in 1932. Bunzel focused on the aesthetic freedom of the individual. Her research produced many publications on Pueblo art, ritual, and folklore, including "Notes on the Kachina Cult in San Felipe" (1928), "The Emergence" (1928), Zuni Texts (1933), and "Zuni" (1935).
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objected to the idea of Bunzel conducted research among the Zuni people since Bunzel lacked formal anthropological training, and Parsons threatened to remove her financial support of Benedict's research. Boas stepped in, and Parsons allowed the research visit as a personal favor to Boas.
353:, an urban center and hub in the Central American trade system, as opposed to rural settings in Guatemala. Bunzel did not follow anthropological conventions of the time to study "pure," isolated cultures but instead chose to study centers of change, contact, and trade.
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because of her German and Czech heritage, but World War I inspired Bunzel to change her major to European history. Bunzel received a Bachelor of Art in European History in 1918 from Barnard College. She started her career as the secretary and editorial assistant to
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True to her prior plans, Bunzel also conducted fieldwork in Chamula in Chiapas, Mexico from 1936 to 1937 as part of a comparative study on "The Role of Alcoholism in Two Central American Communities," in Chichicastenango and Chamula. Influenced by psychoanalyst
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Parsons, who had initially objected to Bunzel travelling to study the Zuni, sponsored her second trip to study ceremonialism among the Zuni people as well as future trips and projects. The products of this research on Zuni ceremonialism, creation myths,
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alongside them. Focusing her research on pottery offered Bunzel an opportunity to learn from Zuni women's work since women did not participate in Zuni ritual practices. Bunzel was fascinated by the prominent role of women as potters in Zuni society.
409:. According to her official appointment card, Bunzel retired in 1966 from her position at Columbia University but even after her official retirement, continued to teach until 1972. From 1972 to 1974, Bunzel worked as a visiting professor at
226:, after having taken one of his courses in college. Boas encouraged her to take up anthropology directly. Bunzel replaced Esther Goldfrank, a friend of one of her sisters, who resigned the position to study anthropology at Columbia.
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people. Bunzel viewed knowledge production as culturally situated, limiting her ethnographic interpretations to a specific group of Maya-K'iche' people in the Guatemalan highlands. Bunzel also advanced the field by studying
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Boas encouraged Bunzel to pursue her own research while in Zuni Pueblo that summer and suggested that Bunzel study art and Zuni potters, instead of working on secretarial work. Anthropologist
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and learned the Zuni language and actively incorporated her informant's views into her writing on the Katcina Cult, something that she also did in her later monograph
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in the prelude, noting how Bunzel allowed Mead to use of her manuscript related to Zuni economics and offered criticisms and suggestions throughout the writing.
1154:
270:, San Ildefonso, Acoma, and San Felipe Pueblo Indians of the southwestern United States as well. Bunzel utilized this fieldwork for her dissertation,
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people. In the summer of 1924, Bunzel conducted fieldwork among the Zuni people; she apprenticed herself to Zuni potters and observed as well as made
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Nick Tumaka. Bunzel returned to the Zuni people in 1939 to study Zuni child development. This was her last trip to Zuni Pueblo, New Mexico.
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177:. Bunzel was the first American anthropologist to conduct substantial research in Guatemala. Her doctoral dissertation,
413:. Bunzel had a heart attack on January 14, 1990, and died at the age of 91 in St. Vincent's-Roosevelt Hospital Center.
1042:. Columbia University contributions to anthropology, ed. by Franz Boas.vol. VIII. New York: Columbia University press.
853:
French, Brigittine M. (2005). "Partial Truths and Gendered Histories: Ruth Bunzel in American Anthropology".
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between 1933-1935 and 1937–1940. Like many other female anthropologists at Columbia University, including
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project until her appointment as an adjunct professor of anthropology at Columbia University in 1953.
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French, B. M. (2005). "Partial truths and gendered histories: Ruth Bunzel in American anthropology",
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The Pueblo potter; a study of creative imagination in primitive art, by Ruth L. Bunzel.
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and Bunzel was one of the first anthropologists to study the creative process.
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652:"Partial Truths and Gendered Histories: Ruth Bunzel in American Anthropology"
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In the early twentieth century, anthropologist used a method of study called
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The Pueblo Potter: A Study of Creative Imagination in Primitive Art (1929)
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Murphy, Robert F. (1991). "Anthropology at Columbia: A reminiscence,"
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on April 18, 1898, to Jonas and Hattie Bernheim. Bunzel lived on the
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The Pueblo potter; a study of creative imagination in primitive art
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Bunzel, R. (1976). "Chamula and Chichicastenango: A Re-examination"
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Bunzel, R. (1976). "Chamula and Chichicastenango: A Re-examination"
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The Pueblo Potter: A Study of Creative Imagination in Primitive Art
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From 1969 to 1987, Bunzel served as a senior research associate at
272:
The Pueblo Potter: A Study of Creative Imagination in Primitive Art
385:, Bunzel never held a full-time university appointment or tenure.
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1036:
Bunzel, Ruth Leah; Archaeological Institute of America. (1929).
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Psychiatry: Journal for the Study of Interpersonal Processes
254:, which Bunzel utilized when conducting fieldwork among the
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of Manhattan with her parents and lived most of her life in
912:, Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications, Inc., pp. 36–37,
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1938 "The Economic Organization of Primitive Peoples." In
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also acknowledged Ruth Bunzel's contribution in her book
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The Ruth Leah Bunzel Papers are currently housed at the
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During her early career, Bunzel worked as a lecturer at
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was not fully awarded her PhD until 1929 when her book,
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The role of alcoholism in two Central American cultures
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her monograph Chichicastenango: A Guatemalan Village.
181:(1929) was a study of the creative process of art in
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Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni
153:) (18 April 1898 – 14 January 1990) was an American
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Cooperation and Competition Among Primitive Peoples
544:edited by Margaret Mead and Nicolas Calas: 266–275
500:edited by A.W. Lessa and Evon Vogt (1958): 401–404
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Cooperation and Competition Among Primitive Peoples
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213:Bunzel's mother encouraged her to study German at
157:, known for studying creativity and art among the
977:Cross-Cultural Approaches to the Study of Alcohol
567:Cross-Cultural Approaches to the Study of Alcohol
547:1964 "The Self-effacing Zuni of New Mexico." In
81:Anthropological study of Native American culture
839:Woodbury, N. F. (1991). "Ruth Leah Bunzel," in
806:Journal of Anthropological Research, 513-532.
485:Above three texts collected and reprinted as
8:
1081:"Ruth Bunzel, 91, Dies; Taught Anthropology"
841:International Dictionary of Anthropologists
608:"Ruth Leah Bunzel | Jewish Women's Archive"
540:1953 "Psychology of the Pueblo Potter." In
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910:Encyclopedia of Women in the American West
471:. Chicago: US Government Printing Office.
464:. Chicago: US Government Printing Office.
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991:"Notes on the Katcina Cult in San Felipe"
1145:American people of German-Jewish descent
979:, The Hague: Mouton & Co., pp. 21-22
556:The Golden Age of American Anthropology.
169:, and conducting a comparative study of
1116:Guide to the Papers of Ruth Leah Bunzel
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554:1960 Mead, M., and Bunzel, R. L., eds.
535:Chichicastenango, a Guatemalan Village.
430:Notes on the Katcina Cult in San Felipe
306:and contributed to Boas and Benedict's
300:The Golden Age of American Anthropology
904:McShane, Becky Jo (Gesteland) (2003),
843:. New York and London: Garland, S, 86.
569:, The Hague: Mouton & Co.: 21–22.
296:Chichicastenango: A Guatemalan Village
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476:Introduction to Zuni Ceremonialism
246:Fieldwork among the Pueblo of Zuni
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1155:Jewish American social scientists
487:Zuni Ceremonialism: Three Studies
418:National Anthropological Archives
395:Bureau of Applied Social Research
328:Fieldwork in Guatemala and Mexico
995:The Journal of American Folklore
759:"Ruth Leah Bunzel Papers · SOVA"
537:University of Washington Press.
509:. Part 3, edited by Franz Boas.
489:, ed. by Nancy J. Parezo (1992)
478:." Bureau of American Ethnology
906:"Bunzel, Ruth Leah (1898–1990)"
551:edited by Harold Driver: 80–92
498:Reader in Comparative Religion,
492:1932 "The Nature of Kachinas."
1150:American women anthropologists
650:French, Brigittine M. (2005).
519:edited by Franz Boas: 327–408
457:. Courier Dover Publications.
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1140:Scientists from New York City
1053:Mead, Margaret (2002-11-01).
193:Ruth Leah Bunzel was born in
58:New York City, New York, U.S.
42:New York City, New York, U.S.
951:www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org
867:10.3998/jar.0521004.0061.404
668:10.3998/jar.0521004.0061.404
448:Journal of American Folklore
441:Journal of American Folklore
434:Journal of American Folklore
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496:47: 837–1006. Reprinted in
161:(A:Shiwi), researching the
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1059:. Transaction Publishers.
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369:from 1929 to 1930 and at
332:Bunzel interviewed for a
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266:Bunzel also studied the
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252:participant observation
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446:1928 "The emergence."
989:Bunzel, Ruth (1928).
918:10.4135/9781412950626
424:Selected bibliography
334:Guggenheim Fellowship
515:General Anthropology
308:General Anthropology
542:Primitive Heritage,
407:Columbia University
371:Columbia University
361:Professional career
239:Elsie Clews Parsons
224:Columbia University
109:Columbia University
72:Columbia University
1085:The New York Times
947:"Ruth Leah Bunzel"
785:"Ruth Leah Bunzel"
558:George Braziller.
469:Zuni Ritual Poetry
411:Bennington College
1066:978-1-4128-2039-4
494:BAE Annual Report
480:BAE Annual Report
462:Zuni Origin Myths
280:The Pueblo Potter
203:Greenwich Village
179:The Pueblo Potter
173:in Guatemala and
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763:sova.si.edu
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