Out in the Field : Reflections of Lesbian and Gay Anthropologists

"Definitive and well-rounded. . . . Explores how anthropologists manage issues of identity and sexuality in field research and professional life. In an era when the field worker's positionality is critical to research and ethnographic writing, this insightful book has much to say to gay and straight researchers alike." -- Louise Lamphere, University of New Mexico "Addresses sensitive, controversial, and tabooed subjects. . . . Out in the Field will be read by a variety of audiences, within and outside of anthropology." -- Jean Jackson, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lesbian and gay anthropologists write candidly in Out in the Field about their research and personal experiences in conducting fieldwork, about the ethical and intellectual dilemmas they face in writing about lesbian or gay populations, and about the impact on their careers of doing lesbian/gay research. The first volume in which lesbian and gay anthropologists discuss personal experiences, Out in the Field offers compelling illustrations of professional lives both closeted and out to colleagues and fieldwork informants. It also concerns aligning career goals with personal sexual preferences and speaks directly to issues of representation and authority currently being explored throughout the social sciences. CONTRIBUTORS: Geoffrey Burkhart, Liz Goodman, Delores M. Walters, Walter L. Williams, Sabine Lang, Ellen Lewin, William L. Leap, Ralph Bolton, Elizabeth Lapovsky Kennedy, Madeline Davis, Will Roscoe, Esther Newton, Stephen O. Murray, James Wafer, Kath Weston, Sue-Ellen Jacobs