David M. Schneider
Encyclopedia
David Murray Schneider was an American
cultural anthropologist, best known for his studies of kinship
and as a major proponent of the symbolic anthropology approach to cultural anthropology. He received his B.S. in 1940 and his M.S. from Cornell University
in 1941. He received his PhD in Social Anthropology
from Harvard in 1949, based on fieldwork on the Micronesia
n island of Yap
.
After completing his graduate work, he first taught at the University of California, Berkeley
. In 1960, he accepted a position at the University of Chicago
, where he spent most of his career, teaching in Anthropology and the Committee on Human Development. He was Chairman of Anthropology from 1963 to 1966.
While at Chicago, Schneider was director of the Kinship Project, a study supported by the National Science Foundation that looked at how middle-class families in the United States and Great Britain respond to their kinship relations. His findings challenged the common-sense assumption that kinship in Anglo-American cultures is primarily about recognizing biological relatedness. While a rhetoric of "blood" ties is an important conceptual structuring device in US and British kinship systems, cultural and social considerations are more important. The discoveries he demonstrated through a series of books, most famously American Kinship: a cultural account, revolutionized and revitalized the study of kinship within anthropology, on the one hand, and contributed to the theoretical basis of feminist anthropology
, gender studies, and lesbian and gay studies, on the other.
As a teacher, Schneider was also known for taking on and encouraging students studying nontraditional topics, and as a mentor to women and lesbian or gay graduate students, who often otherwise had difficulty finding mentors.
After retiring from Chicago in 1986, he joined the anthropology department at the University of California, Santa Cruz
, where he remained until his death in 1995.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
cultural anthropologist, best known for his studies of kinship
Kinship
Kinship is a relationship between any entities that share a genealogical origin, through either biological, cultural, or historical descent. And descent groups, lineages, etc. are treated in their own subsections....
and as a major proponent of the symbolic anthropology approach to cultural anthropology. He received his B.S. in 1940 and his M.S. from Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
in 1941. He received his PhD in Social Anthropology
Social anthropology
Social Anthropology is one of the four or five branches of anthropology that studies how contemporary human beings behave in social groups. Practitioners of social anthropology investigate, often through long-term, intensive field studies , the social organization of a particular person: customs,...
from Harvard in 1949, based on fieldwork on the Micronesia
Micronesia
Micronesia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising thousands of small islands in the western Pacific Ocean. It is distinct from Melanesia to the south, and Polynesia to the east. The Philippines lie to the west, and Indonesia to the southwest....
n island of Yap
Yap
Yap, also known as Wa'ab by locals, is an island in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean. It is a state of the Federated States of Micronesia. Yap's indigenous cultures and traditions are still strong compared to other neighboring islands. The island of Yap actually consists of four...
.
After completing his graduate work, he first taught at the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
. In 1960, he accepted a position at the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
, where he spent most of his career, teaching in Anthropology and the Committee on Human Development. He was Chairman of Anthropology from 1963 to 1966.
While at Chicago, Schneider was director of the Kinship Project, a study supported by the National Science Foundation that looked at how middle-class families in the United States and Great Britain respond to their kinship relations. His findings challenged the common-sense assumption that kinship in Anglo-American cultures is primarily about recognizing biological relatedness. While a rhetoric of "blood" ties is an important conceptual structuring device in US and British kinship systems, cultural and social considerations are more important. The discoveries he demonstrated through a series of books, most famously American Kinship: a cultural account, revolutionized and revitalized the study of kinship within anthropology, on the one hand, and contributed to the theoretical basis of feminist anthropology
Feminist anthropology
Feminist anthropology is an approach to studying cultural anthropology that aims to correct for a perceived androcentric bias within anthropology...
, gender studies, and lesbian and gay studies, on the other.
As a teacher, Schneider was also known for taking on and encouraging students studying nontraditional topics, and as a mentor to women and lesbian or gay graduate students, who often otherwise had difficulty finding mentors.
After retiring from Chicago in 1986, he joined the anthropology department at the University of California, Santa Cruz
University of California, Santa Cruz
The University of California, Santa Cruz, also known as UC Santa Cruz or UCSC, is a public, collegiate university; one of ten campuses in the University of California...
, where he remained until his death in 1995.
Notable Students
- James Boon
- Vern Carroll
- Richard Handler
- Susan Montague, cultural anthropologist, Trobriand Islands
- Esther NewtonEsther NewtonEsther Newton is an American cultural anthropologist best known for her pioneering work on the ethnography of lesbian and gay communities in the United States. Newton was born in New York...
, cultural anthropologist, gay and lesbian communities in U.S. - Bradd Shore, psychological anthropologist
- Roy WagnerRoy WagnerRoy Wagner is a cultural anthropologist who specializes in symbolic anthropology. He received a B.A. in Medieval History from Harvard University , and a Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Chicago , where he studied under David M. Schneider...
- Gary Witherspoon.
- Triloki Nath Pandey, anthropology professor at UC Santa Cruz
Select bibliography
- A Critique of the Study of Kinship
- American Kinship : A Cultural Account
- Matrilineal Kinship
- Personality in Nature, Society, and Culture
- Dialectics and Gender: Anthropological Approaches
- History of Public Welfare in New York State: 1867-1940
- The Micronesians of Yap and Their Depopulation (1949)
- 1995. Schneider on Schneider: The Conversion of the Jews and Other Anthropological Stories by David Schneider, as told to Richard Handler. Ed. Richard Handler. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press.
- 1997. "The Power of Culture: Notes on Some Aspects of Gay and Lesbian Kinship in America Today." Cultural Anthropology 12 (2): 270-74.
Secondary literature
- Bashkow, Ira. 1991. The Dynamics of Rapport in a Colonial Situation: David Schneider's Fieldwork on the Islands of Yap. In Colonial Situations: Essays on the Contextualization of Ethnographic Knowledge. George Stocking, ed. pp. 170–242. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.