Beverly J. Stoeltje
Encyclopedia
Beverly J. Stoeltje is a professor in both the Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology and the Department of Anthropology at Indiana University (Bloomington). She also serves as Affiliated Faculty in African Studies, American Studies, Cultural Studies, Gender Studies, and at the Russian-East European Institute.
Stoeltje earned her B.S. in Education in 1961, from the University of Texas, Austin. She continued on at the University of Texas to pursue both her M.A. (1973) and her Ph.D. (1979) in Folklore
(Folkloristics
) within the graduate folklore program associated with the UT Department of Anthropology
. Stoeltje's dissertation and early work was focused on the American West and, in particular, on her home state of Texas
. She is well known as a student of Rodeo
and associated forms of cultural performance. She has continued to pursue her initial interests in performance, ritual, and gender, but shifted her geographical interests in the early 1990s to Ghana and West Africa, exploring the role of Asante Queen Mothers (see Akan Chieftaincy
). She has also expanded her inquiries to include the anthropologies of law and nationalism.
Stoeltje earned her B.S. in Education in 1961, from the University of Texas, Austin. She continued on at the University of Texas to pursue both her M.A. (1973) and her Ph.D. (1979) in Folklore
Folklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
(Folkloristics
Folkloristics
Folkloristics is the formal academic study of folklore. The term derives from a nineteenth century German designation of folkloristik to distinguish between folklore as the content and folkloristics as its study, much as language is distinguished from linguistics...
) within the graduate folklore program associated with the UT Department of Anthropology
Anthropology
Anthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...
. Stoeltje's dissertation and early work was focused on the American West and, in particular, on her home state of Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
. She is well known as a student of Rodeo
Rodeo
Rodeo is a competitive sport which arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain, Mexico, and later the United States, Canada, South America and Australia. It was based on the skills required of the working vaqueros and later, cowboys, in what today is the western United States,...
and associated forms of cultural performance. She has continued to pursue her initial interests in performance, ritual, and gender, but shifted her geographical interests in the early 1990s to Ghana and West Africa, exploring the role of Asante Queen Mothers (see Akan Chieftaincy
Akan Chieftaincy
In many parts of West Africa, there is an old chieftaincy tradition. The Akan of Ghana have developed their own hierarchy which exists aside the democratic structure of the country. The Akan word for the ruler is nana. In colonial times, Europeans translated it to “chief”, which is not equivalent....
). She has also expanded her inquiries to include the anthropologies of law and nationalism.
Representative Work
- Stoeltje, Beverly. (1979) Children's Handclaps: Informal Learning in Play. Austin: Southwest Educational Development Laboratory.
- Stoeltje, Beverly, Colleen Ballerino Cohen, and Richard Wilk, eds. (1995) Beauty Queens on the Global Stage: Gender, Contests and Power. New York: Routledge.