Collection context
Summary
- Title:
- Stephen Leavitt Collection
- Dates:
- 1984 - 1989
- Creators:
- Leavitt, Stephen C., 1959-
- Abstract:
- Ethnographic fieldnotes, audio cassette recordings (1984-1986), and slides created by Stephen Leavitt, American anthropologist and researcher in Melanesian culture. Included are fieldnotes, tape recorded interviews, interview transcripts, census materials, and Arapesh language materials related to the ethnography of the Bumbita Arapesh people of East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea.
- Extent:
- 4.0 Linear feet (5 archives boxes and 11 card file boxes)
- Language:
- English .
- Preferred citation:
-
Stephen Leavitt Collection, MSS 27. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
The Stephen Leavitt Collection documents ethnographic research conducted among the Bumbita Arapesh people of East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea, which formed the core of Leavitt's doctoral dissertation in anthropology at UC San Diego.
Arranged in three series: 1) FIELDNOTES & IMAGES, 2) TRANSCRIPTIONS OF RECORDINGS, and 3) RECORDINGS.
- Biographical / historical:
-
Stephen Christopher Leavitt (1959- ), American anthropologist, graduated with a B.A. from Swarthmore College in 1981. He attended the University of California, San Diego, where he earned his doctorate in anthropology in 1989. His dissertation, entitled Cargo, Christ, and Nostalgia for the Dead: Themes of Intimacy and Abandonment in Bumbita Arapesh Social Experience, was based on fieldwork in Papua New Guinea from 1984-1986, for which he received a Fulbright Research Grant. While in the field, Leavitt worked closely with Professor Donald F. Tuzin, whose own work centered on the neighboring Ilahita Arapesh. In 1989, Leavitt received a Rockefeller Fellowship in the Humanities, which supported his residence at the Center for Pacific Islands Studies at the University of Hawaii. Since then, he has taught at Washington University (St. Louis) and, currently, at Union College (Schenectady). His work has been published in Ethos; Ethnology; Social Science and Medicine; and The Journal of Psychohistory. Leavitt is married to anthropologist Karen Brison, who also conducted fieldwork in the East Sepik Province with the Gawanga people.
- Acquisition information:
- Acquired 1993.
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Indexed terms
About this collection guide
- Date Encoded:
- This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2022-06-13 13:32:05 -0700 .
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
The collection may only be used with the written permission of Stephen Leavitt. Original sound recordings are restricted. Listening copies may be available for researchers.
- Terms of access:
-
Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection.
- Preferred citation:
-
Stephen Leavitt Collection, MSS 27. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego.
- Location of this collection:
-
9500 Gilman Drive, Dept. 0175La Jolla, CA 92093-0175, US
- Contact:
- (858) 534-2533