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Ruth Bunzel
Ruth Leah Bunzel (née Bernheim) (18 April 1898 – 14 January 1990) was an American anthropologist, known for studying creativity and art among the Zuni people (A:Shiwi), researching the Mayas in Guatemala, and conducting a comparative study of alcoholism in Guatemala and Mexico. Bunzel was the first American anthropologist to conduct substantial research in Guatemala. Her doctoral dissertation, The Pueblo Potter (1929) was a study of the creative process of art in anthropology and Bunzel was one of the first anthropologists to study the creative process.
Ruth Leah Bunzel was born in New York City on April 18, 1898, to Jonas and Hattie Bernheim. Bunzel lived on the Upper East Side of Manhattan with her parents and lived most of her life in Greenwich Village, only leaving New York for long periods of time when conducting fieldwork. Bunzel's father died when she was ten, and she was raised by her mother. Bunzel was the youngest of four children.
Bunzel's mother encouraged her to study German at Barnard College because of her German and Czech heritage, but World War I inspired Bunzel to change her major to European history. Bunzel received a Bachelor of Art in European History in 1918 from Barnard College. She started her career as the secretary and editorial assistant to Franz Boas in 1922, founder of anthropology at Columbia University, after having taken one of his courses in college. Boas encouraged her to take up anthropology directly. Bunzel replaced Esther Goldfrank, a friend of one of her sisters, who resigned the position to study anthropology at Columbia.
By 1924, Bunzel was considering a career in anthropology, but first wanted to observe anthropological fieldwork. Bunzel planned to spend the summer of 1924 in western New Mexico and east-central Arizona, particularly in Zuni Pueblo, New Mexico. She planned to serve as secretary to Columbia University anthropologist Ruth Benedict, aiding in transcription and typing while Benedict was collecting Zuni mythology.
Boas encouraged Bunzel to pursue her own research while in Zuni Pueblo that summer and suggested that Bunzel study art and Zuni potters, instead of working on secretarial work. Anthropologist Elsie Clews Parsons objected to the idea of Bunzel conducted research among the Zuni people since Bunzel lacked formal anthropological training, and Parsons threatened to remove her financial support of Benedict's research. Boas stepped in, and Parsons allowed the research visit as a personal favor to Boas.
In the early twentieth century, anthropologist used a method of study called participant observation, which Bunzel utilized when conducting fieldwork among the Zuni people. In the summer of 1924, Bunzel conducted fieldwork among the Zuni people; she apprenticed herself to Zuni potters and observed as well as made potteryalongside them. Focusing her research on pottery offered Bunzel an opportunity to learn from Zuni women's work since women did not participate in Zuni ritual practices. Bunzel was fascinated by the prominent role of women as potters in Zuni society.
Bunzel also studied the Hopi, San Ildefonso, Acoma, and San Felipe Pueblo Indians of the southwestern United States as well. Bunzel utilized this fieldwork for her dissertation, The Pueblo Potter: A Study of Creative Imagination in Primitive Art, which was published in 1929. Her 1929 dissertation describes the creative process of Zuni potters, who preserve and reproduce traditional patterns even as individual potters innovate and create new ones. Bunzel later said, "Look, I was never studying pottery. I was studying human behavior. I wanted to know how the potters felt about what they were doing."
In 1925, after returning to New York, Bunzel resigned as Boaz's secretary, and just like Goldfrank, enrolled as a student at Columbia University to study anthropology. Bunzel was part of the second cohort trained by Boas at Columbia University. She completed her doctoral dissertation in 1927, but she was not fully awarded her PhD until 1929 when her book, The Pueblo Potter, was published. Bunzel's book was the first anthropological study of individual creativity in art within overarching artistic boundaries.
Ruth Bunzel
Ruth Leah Bunzel (née Bernheim) (18 April 1898 – 14 January 1990) was an American anthropologist, known for studying creativity and art among the Zuni people (A:Shiwi), researching the Mayas in Guatemala, and conducting a comparative study of alcoholism in Guatemala and Mexico. Bunzel was the first American anthropologist to conduct substantial research in Guatemala. Her doctoral dissertation, The Pueblo Potter (1929) was a study of the creative process of art in anthropology and Bunzel was one of the first anthropologists to study the creative process.
Ruth Leah Bunzel was born in New York City on April 18, 1898, to Jonas and Hattie Bernheim. Bunzel lived on the Upper East Side of Manhattan with her parents and lived most of her life in Greenwich Village, only leaving New York for long periods of time when conducting fieldwork. Bunzel's father died when she was ten, and she was raised by her mother. Bunzel was the youngest of four children.
Bunzel's mother encouraged her to study German at Barnard College because of her German and Czech heritage, but World War I inspired Bunzel to change her major to European history. Bunzel received a Bachelor of Art in European History in 1918 from Barnard College. She started her career as the secretary and editorial assistant to Franz Boas in 1922, founder of anthropology at Columbia University, after having taken one of his courses in college. Boas encouraged her to take up anthropology directly. Bunzel replaced Esther Goldfrank, a friend of one of her sisters, who resigned the position to study anthropology at Columbia.
By 1924, Bunzel was considering a career in anthropology, but first wanted to observe anthropological fieldwork. Bunzel planned to spend the summer of 1924 in western New Mexico and east-central Arizona, particularly in Zuni Pueblo, New Mexico. She planned to serve as secretary to Columbia University anthropologist Ruth Benedict, aiding in transcription and typing while Benedict was collecting Zuni mythology.
Boas encouraged Bunzel to pursue her own research while in Zuni Pueblo that summer and suggested that Bunzel study art and Zuni potters, instead of working on secretarial work. Anthropologist Elsie Clews Parsons objected to the idea of Bunzel conducted research among the Zuni people since Bunzel lacked formal anthropological training, and Parsons threatened to remove her financial support of Benedict's research. Boas stepped in, and Parsons allowed the research visit as a personal favor to Boas.
In the early twentieth century, anthropologist used a method of study called participant observation, which Bunzel utilized when conducting fieldwork among the Zuni people. In the summer of 1924, Bunzel conducted fieldwork among the Zuni people; she apprenticed herself to Zuni potters and observed as well as made potteryalongside them. Focusing her research on pottery offered Bunzel an opportunity to learn from Zuni women's work since women did not participate in Zuni ritual practices. Bunzel was fascinated by the prominent role of women as potters in Zuni society.
Bunzel also studied the Hopi, San Ildefonso, Acoma, and San Felipe Pueblo Indians of the southwestern United States as well. Bunzel utilized this fieldwork for her dissertation, The Pueblo Potter: A Study of Creative Imagination in Primitive Art, which was published in 1929. Her 1929 dissertation describes the creative process of Zuni potters, who preserve and reproduce traditional patterns even as individual potters innovate and create new ones. Bunzel later said, "Look, I was never studying pottery. I was studying human behavior. I wanted to know how the potters felt about what they were doing."
In 1925, after returning to New York, Bunzel resigned as Boaz's secretary, and just like Goldfrank, enrolled as a student at Columbia University to study anthropology. Bunzel was part of the second cohort trained by Boas at Columbia University. She completed her doctoral dissertation in 1927, but she was not fully awarded her PhD until 1929 when her book, The Pueblo Potter, was published. Bunzel's book was the first anthropological study of individual creativity in art within overarching artistic boundaries.