Elizabeth Colson

Elizabeth Colson
Born(1917-06-15)June 15, 1917
Hewitt, Minnesota, U.S.
DiedAugust 3, 2016(2016-08-03) (aged 99)
Monze, Zambia
Alma materUniversity of Minnesota
Radcliffe College
Known forStudy of the Gwembe Tonga
AwardsAmerican Association of University Women fellowship, (1942-1943)
Lewis Henry Morgan Lecturer, University of Rochester (1973)
AAA Distinguished Lecture (1975)
Honorary Degrees, Brown University, University of Rochester
National Academy of Sciences (1977)
Scientific career
FieldsSocial anthropology
Doctoral advisorClyde Kluckhohn

Elizabeth Florence Colson (June 15, 1917 – 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] 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]

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference IU-bio was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Lisa Cliggett (2008). "The Gwembe Tonga Research Project". University of Kentucky. Retrieved 8 November 2013.
  3. ^ Elizabeth Colson (1995). Social Organization of the Gwembe Tonga. Berg Pub Ltd. ISBN 978-0854962860.
  4. ^ Elizabeth Colson (1989). "Overview". Annual Review of Anthropology. 18. Annual Reviews: 1–17. doi:10.1146/annurev.an.18.100189.000245.