Associate Professor of Anthropology

Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work

7018 Haley Center, Auburn University, Auburn AL 36849-5256

334/844-2822(w). 334/887-6960(h). Camermm@mail.auburn.edu

Ph.D. 1993 Michigan State University, MI Anthropology

Dissertation title: On the Edge of the Auspicious: The Practice and Meaning of Gender and Caste in Rural Nepal's Lower Caste Households and Society

M.A. 1988 Michigan State University, MI Anthropology

B.S. 1978 (with honors) Russell Sage College, NY Biology and Chemistry

Cultural Anthropology, Nepal and South Asia, rural southern America, urban northern America. Gender and culture, medical anthropology, caste and gender politics, Ayurvedic medicine, international alternative movements, farmers and artisans, women and international development, agrarian change, the body

1998-99 Director-elect, Women's Studies Program, Auburn University

1998 Nominated, Fulbright Senior Fellowship, Nepal (for 1999)

1998 Professional Improvement Leave, for Winter 1999, Auburn University

1998 Research Grant-in-Aid, Competitive Grant, Auburn University

1998 Humanities Development Grant, College of Liberal Arts, Auburn University.

1997 Breeden Teaching Award, Provost's Office, Auburn University.

1996 Teaching Effectiveness Award, College of Liberal Arts, Auburn University.

1995 Phi Beta Delta, International Scholars Honor Society.

1994 Illinois-NWSA Book Award, first place. On the Edge of the Auspicious: Caste and Gender in Nepal.

1993 Research Grant-in-Aid, Competitive Grant, Auburn University

1993 Humanities Development Grant, College of Liberal Arts, Auburn University.

1988-89 Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Grant. Michigan State University. dissertation research, Nepal.

1988-89 U.S. Agency for International Development, Women in Development Section, Washington, D.C., dissertation research, Nepal.

1989 World Bank Grant. Nepal. dissertation research, analysis of quantitative data, with Meena Acharya, Ph.D.

1988 Sigma Xi Grant-in-Aid of Research, dissertation research, Nepal.

1987-88 Foreign Language Area Studies Fellowship, Michigan State University, graduate course work; dissertation research, Nepal.

1987 Department of Anthropology Graduate Office Fellowship, Michigan State University.

1985 Sigma Xi Grant-in-Aid of Research, pre-dissertation research, Nepal.

1984-85 Foreign Language Area Studies Fellowship, Michigan State University, University of Michigan, and University of Wisconsin, CIC Visiting Scholar, graduate language studies.

1983-84 Department of Anthropology Graduate Office Fellowship, Michigan State University.

1978 Member, Tri-Beta Biological Honor Society, Russell Sage College, NY.

1974-78 Full-tuition Academic Scholarship, Russell Sage College, NY.

1974-78 Dean's List, Russell Sage College, NY.

1998 Auburn University, three months preliminary research on Ayurvedic medicine, Kathmandu, Nepal

1998 Auburn University, one week preliminary research on medicinal plants, St. Ann's Bay, Jamaica, West Indies.

1994-95 Auburn University, three months anthropological field research on exchange networks among lower caste families, Nepal.

1993 Auburn University, one month biodiversity conservation and medicinal plants marketing feasibility study, Nepal.

1988-89 Michigan State University, Department of Anthropology, sixteen months anthropology dissertation field research on gender and caste, Nepal.

1986 Michigan State University, Department of Anthropology, Medical Anthropology Program; collected data on Department of Public Health's formation of AIDS-related public health legislation in Michigan.

1985 Michigan State University, Department of Anthropology, Medical Anthropology Program; pre-dissertation field research on local medical response to measles epidemic, Nepal.

1984 Michigan State University, Department of Psychiatry, College of Human Medicine; library research on culture-bound syndromes; research assistant to Ronald Simons, M.D., M.A.

1984 Michigan State University, Department of Anthropology, Medical Anthropology Program; library research on infant mortality rates and maternal nursing practices in Third World countries; research assistant to Ann V. Millard, Ph.D.

1978 Russell Sage College, Department of Biology; collected data on bryophyte ecology in Blue Ridge Mountains; research assistant to Nancy Slack, Ph.D.

I. Books

1998. Cameron, Mary M. On the Edge of the Auspicious: Gender and Caste in Nepal. Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Press.

II. Refereed Journals

1995. Cameron, Mary M. "Transformations of Gender and Caste Divisions of Labor in Rural Nepal: Land, Hierarchy, and The Case of Untouchable Women." Journal of Anthropological Research, Vol.51 (3): 215-46.

1995. Cameron, Mary. "Biodiversity Conservation and Economic Development in Nepal's Khaptad National Park Region: Untouchables as Entrepreneurs and Conservation Stewards." Himalayan Research Bulletin, Vol.15 (2): 56-63.

1996. Cameron, Mary M. "Biodiversity and Medicinal Plants in Nepal: Involving Untouchables in Conservation and Development." Human Organization, Vol.55 (1): 84-92.

III. Book Chapters

1997. Cameron, Mary M. "The Riti-Bhagya System in Western Nepal: Farmers and Artisans, Caste and Gender." Peoples of the Himalayas: Ecology, Culture, Development and Change. Edited by K.C. Mahanta. New Delhi: Kamla-Raj Enterprise. Pp. 189-94.

1997. Cameron, Mary M. "Applied Research in Anthropology: Biodiversity and Untouchables in Nepal." Society, Culture and the Environment, second edition. Edited by Paul Starr. NY: American Heritage Custom Publishing. Pp. 93-8.

1998. Cameron, Mary M. "Negotiating Marriage in Nepal: Bride price and Untouchable Women's Work." Til Death Do Us Part: A Multicultural Approach to Marriage. Edited by Robin Miller and Sandra Browning. NY: JAI Press.

1999. Cameron, Mary M. "Gaining Ground: Labor, Land Tenure, and Untouchable Women's Power in Nepal." forthcoming. Agricultural Commercialization: Its Effects on Women Farmers and Gender Ideologies. Edited by Anita Spring. NY: Lynne Rienner.

IV. Non refereed Journals

1982. "A Nepalese Journal." Sage Bulletin, Russell Sage College Publications.

V. Book Reviews

1987. Of Marriage and the Market, Edited by KateYoung, Carol Wolkowitz and Roslyn McCullagh, 1981. CASID Current, Vol. 6 (17), Michigan State University.

1996. Body and Emotion: The Aesthetics of Illness and Healing in the Nepal Himalayas, Robert Desjarlais, 1994. Medical Anthropology Quarterly, Vol.10 (1): 98-100.

1999. Cameron, Mary M. "Local Bodies and Feminist Ethnography in a Hindu World: Women, Power and Space in Rural Nepal." Cultural Anthropology.

"Demystifying the Gift: Caste, Gender, and Marriage in Western Nepal." to be submitted, Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society.

"The Practice of Begging (Maagnu) and the Constitution of Intercaste Boundaries in Far Western Nepal." to be submitted, Journal of Asian Studies.

"Landlessness and Survival in Nepal: Low-caste Women and Work." to be submitted, Michigan State University's Occasional Papers, Women in International Development.

"Ethnomedicine and Epidemics in Rural Nepal." to be submitted, Social Science and Medicine.

1997. Fluid Boundaries: Constituting Thakali Identity and Culture in the Himalayas. Berkeley: University of California Press.

1994. "Living Arrangements of Elderly Women and Men in Chinese Cities." Sociological Spectrum.

1993. "Political Restructuring and Women's Development in Nepal." Working Papers on Women and International Development.

1993. "What Love has to do With it." Sociological Spectrum.

1998. Organizer and discussant, with Mary Riley. Situated Epistemologies, Universal Narratives? Ethnomedicine, Biomedicine, Perceived Efficacy and Meaning of Healing Practices in Several Sociocultural Systems. American Anthropological Association Annual Conference, December 2-6. Philadelphia, PA.

1997. "Local Bodies and Feminist Ethnography in a Hindu World: Women, Place, and Embodied Culture in Nepal." American Anthropological Association Annual Conference, November 19-23. Washington, D.C.

1995. "Untouchable Labors: Embodiment and Aesthetics of Low-Caste Artisan Production in Western Nepal." Annual Conference on South Asia, October 26-29, University of Wisconsin, Madison.

1995. "Begging Borders: Caste, Gender and Exchange in Rural Nepal." International Conference on The United States, Latin American and South Asia: Comparative Perspectives. December 15-17. American Studies Research Center, Hyderabad, India.

1992. panel co-chair. Social and Cultural Boundaries in Nepal, Part I. Annual Conference on South Asia, Nov. 6-8, University of Wisconsin, Madison.

1992. "The Practice of Begging (Maagnu) and the Constitution of Intercaste Boundaries in Far Western Nepal." Annual Conference on South Asia, Nov. 6-8, University of Wisconsin, Madison.

1991. panel co-chair. Politics and Practice: Land use, Ownership, and Forms of Rural Production in Nepal. Annual Conference on South Asia, Nov. 1-3, University of Wisconsin, Madison.

1991. "A Critical Examination of Structure and Practice in Nepal's Jajmani System: Exchange, Domination, and Resistance from the Perspective of Low Castes." Annual Conference on South Asia, Nov. 1-3, University of Wisconsin, Madison.

1989. "Selling Daughters: Caste, Gender, and Marriage in Western Nepal." Annual Conference on South Asia, Nov. 5-7, University of Wisconsin, Madison.

1989. "Landlessness and Survival in Nepal's Far West: Low-caste Women and Work." American Anthropological Association Annual Conference, Nov. 16-19, Washington, D.C.

1986. "Ethnomedicine and Epidemics: A Case Study of Measles in Nepal." Annual Conference on South Asia, Nov. 7-9, University of Wisconsin, Madison.

1998. "Buddhist Meditation and the Noble Eightfold Path." Auburn Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. April 5.

1997. "Buddhist Meditation: Theory and Practice," Auburn Lifelong Learners, November 4.

1997. "Enhancing Multiculturalism through Ethnographic Understanding." Toward Multiculturalism: The Role of the Organization in Reaffirming Diversity: Part II. Auburn University, August 4-5.

1997. "Buddhist Meditation: Theory and Practice," Auburn Lifelong Learners, January 20.

1996. "Ayurvedic Medicine and Shamanistic Healing," Auburn Lifelong Learners, December 2.

1996. "Love and Family in the Himalayas," Unitarian Universalist Church, January 21.

1996. "Buddhism: Theory and Practice," Auburn Lifelong Learners, February 5.

1995. "Local Bodies: Women, Place and Power in Rural Nepal." Bowdoin College, ME. October 12.

1995. "Pollution Delivered: What Happens when Untouchable Midwives Deliver the Babies of High-caste Women," The Bluestocking Club of Auburn/Opelika, May. Opelika, AL.

1994. "On the Edge of the Auspicious: Untouchable Women of Nepal". Keynote Speaker, 10th Anniversary of Women Studies at Auburn University, AL.

1994. "History and Anthropology: The Emergence of Female Laborers in Nepal". HST 601 "Seminar in Women's History," Dr. Ruth Crocker. Department of History, Auburn University, AL.

1994. "Women and Indigenous Healing Systems in Nepal." NUR 391, "Women's Health Issues," Dr. Debra Hackett. School of Nursing, Auburn University, AL.

1993. "Buddhist Meditation: Theory and Practice." RL 301, "World Religions," Dr. Richard Penaskovic. Department of Religion, Auburn University, AL.

1993. "Issues in Teaching Women's Studies Courses." Roundtable discussion. Women's Studies Program, Auburn University, AL.

1992. "Experiences in Nepal." 11th grade history class, Auburn High School, Auburn, AL.

1992. "Women and Agricultural Work in Nepal." Graduate Seminar, Department of Rural Sociology, Auburn University, AL.

1990. "Landlessness and Survival among Low-caste Families in Western Nepal." Society for International Development, October 26, Michigan State University, MI.

1990. "Demystifying the Gift." Department of Anthropology, Michigan State University, MI.

1990. "Landlessness and Survival Among Low Caste Families in Nepal." Society for International Development, Michigan State University, MI.

1990. "Ethnomedicine and Epidemiology: A Case Study of Indigenous Response to Measles in Rural Nepal." International Health Informal Seminar, Institute of International Health, Michigan State University, MI.

1984. "Rural Women of Nepal: Myth and Reality of Change." Society for International Development, May 4, Michigan State University, MI.

1982. "Education and Women in Nepal." Tri-Beta Biological Honor Society induction ceremony, May 10, Russell Sage College, NY.

1998. Dr. Lynn Kwiatkowski, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of South Alabama. For Women's Studies Program and Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Social Work, Auburn University. "Gender and Violence in North Vietnam." April 30.

1996. Dr. Kathryn Oths, Department of Anthropology, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa. For Women's Studies Program and Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Social Work, Auburn University. "Women's Work: The 'Second Shift' Phenomenon and its Impact on Brith Outcomes." February 28.

1997 to present. Associate Professor of Anthropology. Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work, Auburn University, Auburn, AL.

1992-1997. Assistant Professor of Anthropology. Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work, Auburn University, Auburn, AL.

1989-92; 1985-87. Assistant Ombudsman. President's Office, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI.

1989-92; 1985-86. Teaching Assistant. Department of Anthropology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI.

1984-85. Research Assistant. Departments of Anthropology and Psychiatry (College of Human Medicine), Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI.

1983-84. Tutorial Coordinator. Athletics Department, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI.

1983-84. Library Assistant. Department of Anthropology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI

1981-83. Regents Chemistry and Biology Teacher. Bishop Maginn High School, Albany, NY.

1978-81. American Peace Corps Volunteer, Mathematics and Science teacher. American Peace Corps, Nepal.

1974-78. Teaching, Laboratory, and Research Assistant. Department of Biology, Russell Sage College, Troy, NY.

Auburn University

ANTH 0524 Medical Anthropology (new course)

ANTH 0524 Medical Anthropology in Nepal (new study abroad course)

ANTH 0401 Kinship, Marriage and the Family

ANTH 0313 The Anthropology of Gender (new course)

ANTH 0206 Contemporary Anthropology

ANTH 0550 Directed Readings in Anthropology

SY/ANT 690 Methods in Ethnographic Research (new course)

ANTH 0201 Cultural Frameworks

ANTH 0200 Biosocial Background

UNIV 0101 Society, Culture, and Environment

Michigan State University

ANP 171 Introduction to Cultural Anthropology

ANP 206 The Status of Women in Cross-cultural Perspective

Auburn University

University Committees

Academic Standards Committee

Research Grant-in-Aid, Competitive Grants

Semester Transition Committee, representing Academic Standards Committee

Senate Committees

Faculty Senate Subcommittee on Sexual Harassment

College Committees

Women's Studies Program Steering Committee

Women's Studies Program Speakers Committee

Women's Studies Curriculum Committee

Department Committees

Bulletin Committee

Inter-departmental Graduate Coordinating Committee

Priorities and Goals Committee

Search Committees for tenure-track positions in Anthropology and Social Work

Graduate Students Committees

1995. Traxler, Maria J. Masters Thesis. Rural Sociology. "Public Perceptions of Risk: Gender, Belief in Science, and Trust in Institutions as Determinants of Pesticide Safety Concern."

1996. Walkingstick, Tamara L. Doctoral Dissertation, Forestry. "Pulpwood, Dinettes, and Double-Wides: Comparative Case Studies of Forest Dependency in Alabama."

1998. Hutchens, Laura Melissa Briggs. Master's Thesis, Rural Sociology. "Women, Forest Dependency and Community in Rural Alabama: A Case Study."

1998. Jordan, Avaria. Doctoral Dissertation Committee. Rural Sociology. "Coping Strategies among Rural Women and Minorities in Timber Dependent Communities."

1998. Becky Matthews. Doctoral Committee. History. "Crow Ethnography".

Senior Thesis Advisor, Cultural Anthropology

1995. Floyd, David B. "People Without a Home: The Navajo-Hopi Land Dispute."

1995. Kroelinger, Charlan D. "Peruvian Ideas of Sickness and Healing: A Traditional versus a Modern View of Medicine."

1996. Owens, Jennifer L. "Reproductive Technologies: Liberation or Continued Dominance?"

1996. Kinnaird Amber L. "Autonomy and Reproduction: A Cross-cultural Analysis of Patriarchal Influence on Women's Reproductive Lives."

1997. Boschma, James H. III. "The Picts: Evidence for a Matrilineal Celtic Culture, ca. First to Ninth Centuries AD."

1997. Boles, Suzanne L. "Margaret Mead: Feminist Anthropologist?"

1997. Stampfli, Amy C. "Australian Aboriginal Dreamtime."

1997. Buzby, Karen L. "A Cross-cultural Study of Death."

1997. Price, Randan. T. "Presentations of Self in African-American Culture."

1996-present. Ethnic design and composition. Standard Deluxe, Inc., design and print shop, Waverly, AL.

1994-present. Cultural anthropology and alternative medicine tour guide, Nepal. Explorations in Medicine and Culture, Ann Arbor, MI.

1994. Nepal. socioeconomic feasibility of biodiversity conservation and high-altitude medicinal plants marketing. Biodiversity Consortium Network, Washington, D.C.

1985. Nepal. language and editorial advising, publications section. New ERA (Nepal's first non-governmental research organization), Kathmandu.

Asian Studies Association

Board Member and Conference Editor, Nepal Studies Association

Board Member, Institute for Biodiversity Conservation in Nepal

Board Member, WHID (Western Himalayas Integrated Development- an NGO)

Board Member, East Alabama Task Force on Battered Women

American Anthropological Association

Society for Feminist Anthropology

Society for Applied Anthropology

Society for Cultural Anthropology

National Women's Studies Association

National Organization of Women

Tri-Beta Biological Honor Society

1990-92. Crisis counselor, The Listening Ear (oldest 24-hour crisis hot-line in U.S. and recipient of "A Thousand Points of Light" Presidential Award), East Lansing, MI.

1978-80. Mathematics and science high-school teacher, Thalara, Bajhang District, Seti Zone, Nepal. American Peace Corps.

Nepali; fluent in speaking, semi-fluent in reading and writing

Bajhangi; fluent in speaking (non-written dialect of Nepali)

Hindi and Urdu; semi-fluent in speaking and reading

French; semi-fluent in speaking and reading