Kathy Dettwyler
Encyclopedia
Dr. Katherine A. Dettwyler is an anthropology
professor at the University of Delaware in Newark, Delaware. She is also a lecturer
, author
and breastfeeding
advocate
.
Dr. Dettwyler is best known for her work studying the duration of breastfeeding in humans as it relates to other mammals, primarily the nonhuman primates. According to her research, the natural age of weaning is 2½ to 7 years old as determined by weight gain, length of gestation, dental eruption, and other factors. She also studies the cultural context of breasts and breastfeeding in the United States, and is currently doing research on women in the US who nurse their children longer than 3 years.
She earned her BS in Anthropology from the University of California, Davis, in 1977, her MA from Indiana University, Bloomington in 1981, and her Ph.D. in Anthropology also from IU Bloomington in 1985.
She taught at the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, Mississippi from 1985 to 1987.
She taught at Texas A&M University
, College Station, Texas in the Anthropology department from 1987 until 2001, when she took early retirement from her position as a tenured Associate Professor and moved to Delaware with her husband and children.
Through the 1990s she served as a nutritional anthropologist/consultant to a number of organizations providing nutrition education in Mali
, while performing field research there.
She currently teaches part-time as an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Delaware, and continues to write and speak at conferences and universities.
In 1999 Dr. Dettwyler was diagnosed with breast cancer
. After surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy, she has been cancer-free for over 8 years (2008).
She is the mother of three children and the grandmother of one.
Anthropology
Anthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...
professor at the University of Delaware in Newark, Delaware. She is also a lecturer
Lecturer
Lecturer is an academic rank. In the United Kingdom, lecturer is a position at a university or similar institution, often held by academics in their early career stages, who lead research groups and supervise research students, as well as teach...
, author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
and breastfeeding
Breastfeeding
Breastfeeding is the feeding of an infant or young child with breast milk directly from female human breasts rather than from a baby bottle or other container. Babies have a sucking reflex that enables them to suck and swallow milk. It is recommended that mothers breastfeed for six months or...
advocate
Advocacy
Advocacy is a political process by an individual or a large group which normally aims to influence public-policy and resource allocation decisions within political, economic, and social systems and institutions; it may be motivated from moral, ethical or faith principles or simply to protect an...
.
Dr. Dettwyler is best known for her work studying the duration of breastfeeding in humans as it relates to other mammals, primarily the nonhuman primates. According to her research, the natural age of weaning is 2½ to 7 years old as determined by weight gain, length of gestation, dental eruption, and other factors. She also studies the cultural context of breasts and breastfeeding in the United States, and is currently doing research on women in the US who nurse their children longer than 3 years.
Life and career
Kathy Dettwyler was born in 1955 at McClellan AFB in California.She earned her BS in Anthropology from the University of California, Davis, in 1977, her MA from Indiana University, Bloomington in 1981, and her Ph.D. in Anthropology also from IU Bloomington in 1985.
She taught at the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, Mississippi from 1985 to 1987.
She taught at Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University is a coeducational public research university located in College Station, Texas . It is the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System. The sixth-largest university in the United States, A&M's enrollment for Fall 2011 was over 50,000 for the first time in school...
, College Station, Texas in the Anthropology department from 1987 until 2001, when she took early retirement from her position as a tenured Associate Professor and moved to Delaware with her husband and children.
Through the 1990s she served as a nutritional anthropologist/consultant to a number of organizations providing nutrition education in Mali
Mali
Mali , officially the Republic of Mali , is a landlocked country in Western Africa. Mali borders Algeria on the north, Niger on the east, Burkina Faso and the Côte d'Ivoire on the south, Guinea on the south-west, and Senegal and Mauritania on the west. Its size is just over 1,240,000 km² with...
, while performing field research there.
She currently teaches part-time as an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Delaware, and continues to write and speak at conferences and universities.
In 1999 Dr. Dettwyler was diagnosed with breast cancer
Breast cancer
Breast cancer is cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from ducts are known as ductal carcinomas; those originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas...
. After surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy, she has been cancer-free for over 8 years (2008).
She is the mother of three children and the grandmother of one.
Books
- Reflections on Anthropology: A Four-Field Reader (2003) ISBN 0-0724-8598-1 - co-editor with Vaughn M. Bryant
- Breastfeeding: Biocultural Perspectives (1995) ISBN 0-2020-1192-5 - co-editor with Patricia Stuart-Macadam
- Breastfeeding: A Mother's Gift (1999) - co-editor with Patricia Stuart-Macadam
- Dancing Skeletons: Life and Death in West Africa (1994) ISBN 0-8813-3748-X - 1995 Margaret Mead AwardMargaret Mead AwardMargaret Mead Award is an award in the field of anthropology presented by the Society for Applied Anthropology from 1979 to 1983 and jointly with the American Anthropological Association afterwards. This award was named after anthropologist Margaret Mead, who had a particular talent for bringing...
from the American Anthropological Association and the Society for Applied Anthropology.
Selected academic journal articles
- When to Wean: Biological Versus Cultural Perspectives. Clinical Obstetrics and Gynecology, 47(3):712-723. 2004.
- Can Paleopathology Provide Evidence for "Compassion"? American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 84(4):375-384. 1991.
- Styles of Infant Feeding: Parental/Caretaker Control of Food Consumption in Young Children. American Anthropologist, 91(3):696-703. September 1989.
External links
- Kathy's personal web site
- Review of Dr. Dettwyler's session at the 1999 LLLI Conference, by Robin Slaw (originally published in New Beginnings, Vol. 16 No. 5, p. 171)
- Archives of LACTNET, a high volume mailing list for lactation information and discussion, to which Kathy has contributed since 1995
- Busting Out, a 2004 film about breasts by Stir It Up Productions, featuring an interview with Kathy Dettwyler