Papers of Ann Chowning, American anthropologist, related to her fieldwork in Papua New Guinea among the Molima people of Milne Bay Province on Fergusson Island in 1957-1958 and 1975-1976, the Sengseng people of West New Britain Province in 1962-1966 and 1980-1981, and the Kove people of West New Britain Province in 1966-1968 and 1975-1976. Included are typescripts of field notes organized according to George Murdock's Human Relations Area Files arrangement, language notes largely comprising Sengseng vocabulary lists, essays by Chowning, and 35mm color slides documenting daily life, customs, song performances, and dance of people in West New Britain Province. The slides are complimentary to those found in Jane Goodale Papers (MSS 643) and cover those times when Chowning conducted joint fieldwork with her friend and co-fieldworker Jane Goodale in 1963-1964.

Ann Chowning, American anthropologist, received her B.A. from Bryn Mawr College and her M.A. and Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania. Her doctoral thesis was based on her 1954-1956 fieldwork with the Lakalai people of West New Britain Province, Papua New Guinea. She retired as professor of anthropology at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. Earlier she taught at Bryn Mawr and Barnard Colleges in Pennsylvania and at the University of Papua New Guinea, and was a senior research fellow at the Australian National University. She carried out long-term fieldwork in four distinct Papua New Guinea societies from 1954 through 1992. Studied groups included the Lakalai of West New Britain Province, the Molima of Milne Bay Province on Fergusson Island, the Sengseng of West New Britain Province, and the Kove of West New Britain Province. She studied economic and religious organization, beliefs, practices and relations. Chowning especially focused on Austronesian languages and their comparative aspects, on folklore and religion, and on patterns of insanity.

2.4 Linear feet (6 archives boxes)

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