Ruth M. Krulfeld

Professor Krulfeld received her Ph.D. in Anthropology from Yale University in 1974. She has taught at GW since 1964. She was chair of the department of anthropology and founder and first director of the department's specialization in development. Dr. Krulfeld conducted fieldwork on economic and religious change on the Sasak of Lombok, Indonesia (1960-62; 1993) . She has also conducted fieldwork in Singapore, Central America, and the Caribbean — and since 1981, on lowland Lao refugees in the United States. Her current interests include transnational migration, refugees, gender, human rights, ethics, and methods. She teaches courses on comparative values and economic systems, nationalism and ethnicity, with a field work component, if at all possible. Dr. Krulfeld's recent publications include: "Bridling Leviathan: New Paradigms of Method and Theory in Culture Change from Refugee Studies and Related Issues of Power and Empowerment" in Selected Papers on Refugee Issues (II, 1993); Beyond Boundaries: Selected Papers on Refugees and Immigrants (1997), D. Baxter and R. Krulfeld, co-editors.; Reconstructing Lives, Recapturing Meaning: Refugee Identity, Gender, and Culture Change (1994), L.Camino and R. Krulfeld, co-editors; Power, Ethics, and Human Rights: Anthropological Studies of Refugee Research and Action (1998), Ruth Krulfeld and Jeffrey MacDonald, editors. During GW's commencement ceremony in May, Dr. Krulfeld received The George Washington University Award for 2000.