Video interview with Gretchen Schaaft

With the professional assistance of Judith Freidenburg, I recently completed an oral interview about my (long) life as an anthropologist.  Judith did the interview from Argentina, while I sat comfortably in my dining room.  Although I am not a tech person, we managed through a few practices to be able to produce a history of domestic and international work in anthropology, with emphasis on methodology and the approach to difficult topics.  Much of my work was done in the realm of U.S. social problems of racism, equity, and inclusion.  For 25 years, I also studied and wrote about facing discrediting history and the problems of civic and professional denial. The interview brought to my attention that my complete body of work as an anthropologist mirrored my personal life and concerns.  That has given me great satisfaction!

The video of the interview is being stored at the University of Kentucky under the auspices of John Van Willigen.  It should be available for classroom use in the coming year.