Ruth Behar
My blogs
| Gender | Female |
|---|---|
| Introduction | Ruth Behar was born in Havana, Cuba, and grew up in New York City. She received her doctorate in cultural anthropology from Princeton University and has since achieved international recognition for her compassionate stories about her experiences as a traveler in Spain, Mexico, and Cuba. Reviewers say her narratives “tug at the heart” and reveal an artistry that allows her to “capture and share intimate stories while preserving their tellers’ dignity.” Her books include The Presence of the Past in a Spanish Village (1986), Translated Woman: Crossing the Border with Esperanza’s Story (1993), and The Vulnerable Observer: Anthropology That Breaks Your Heart (1996). Her latest book, An Island Called Home: Returning to Jewish Cuba (2007), a blend of memoir, ethnography, and photography, is about her encounter with the Jewish community that remains on the island she left as a child. |
| Interests | She is co-editor, with Deborah Gordon, of Women Writing Culture (1996), an exploration of the contributions that women have made to the field of cultural anthropology. Seeking communication between island Cubans and diaspora Cubans, she edited Bridges to Cuba/Puentes a Cuba (1996), and more recently, with Lucía Suárez, co-edited The Portable Island: Cubans at Home in the World (2008). She directed and produced Adio Kerida/Goodbye Dear Love: A Cuban Sephardic Journey (2002), a feature-length documentary distributed by Women Make Movies, which has been shown around the world. Behar is Professor of Anthropology at the University of Michigan. Among her honors, she is the recipient of a MacArthur “genius” Award, a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship, and a Distinguished Alumna Award from Wesleyan University. She created the University of Michigan Semester Abroad Program in Havana, Cuba in winter 2010, and looks forward to continuing this unique and exciting educational adventure which focuses on cultural arts, ethnography, and documentary traditions. |