Transcript Ruth Benedict 1887-1948 Earlier Years

Borne in New York
 Fascinated with death after her father
died
 Received her first degree in English
Literature at Vassar College.
 Received her Ph.D. from Colombia
University in Anthropology

She taught at Columbia University from
1923-1948
 Worked under Franz Boas, another
anthropologist
 Friend and colleague to Margaret
Mead
 Crested a co dependency with
Margaret and worked together with her.

One of the first to apply anthropology to
advanced societies
 She focused on the current societies and
issues
 Studied race and religion and it’s effects
and influences on politics and society.

Ruth wanted to break down and
understand stereotypes with her work
 Her studies of advanced civilizations lead
her to study the Japanese and their
culture during World War ii
 The Chrysanthemum and the Sword:
Patterns of Japanese Culture
 Trying to understand the people America
was at war with

Race, Religion and Politics
 Patterns of Culture
 The Races of Mankind
 Zuni Mythology
And many more…

Ruth Benedict wanted to understand
why there was racism and prejudice
within cultures.
 She wanted to understand what drove
societies today to react the way they do
to certain classes of people.
 Trough her work she hoped to break
down the social barriers to help the
progression of mankind.

Ruth Benedict: An American
Anthropologist
•Anthropology,
University of South Florida. Ruth Fulton
Benedict.
<http://anthropology.usf.edu/women/ruthb/ruthbenedict.
htm>.
•NNDB.
Ruth Benedict.
<http://www.nndb.com/people/786/000097495/>.
•University,
E-museums at Minnnesota State. Ruth Fulton
Benedict.
<http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/information/biography/
abcde/benedict_ruth.html>.