Elizabeth Colson
Elizabeth Colson | |
|---|---|
| Born | June 15, 1917 Hewitt, Minnesota, U.S. |
| Died | August 3, 2016 (aged 99) |
| Alma mater | University of Minnesota Radcliffe College |
| Known for | Study of the Gwembe Tonga |
| Awards | American 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 | |
| Fields | Social anthropology |
| Doctoral advisor | Clyde 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. She was best known for the classic long-term study of the Tonga people of the Gwembe Valley in Zambia and Zimbabwe, which she began in 1956 with Thayer Scudder, 11 years after she obtained her doctorate and while Scudder was a second-year graduate student. Colson focused her research on the consequences of forced resettlement on culture and social organization, the effects of economic pressure on familial relationships, rituals, religious life, and even drinking patterns.