Office Hours
Wednesday, 9:30–10:30 via Zoom
Education
PhD, Sociocultural Anthropology, University of Washington, 2010
MA, Sociocultural Anthropology, University of Washington, 2006
MLIS, University of South Carolina, 2021
About Me
Dr. Tami Blumenfield is a sociocultural anthropologist, China expert and educator, and media producer. Her work foregrounds inclusive practices and participatory methodologies, with a particular focus on gender, ethnic identity, and information ethics. She has published on cultural heritage politics, tourism, resilience, community transformation, changing family forms, poverty alleviation, and gender-balanced communities, particularly the Mosuo of southwest China. Her work has been featured on NBC's The Today Show, BBC Radio, and National Geographic Television. She is currently working on a book about gender in Asia from an anthropological perspective.
Areas of Expertise
Anthropology of China, Visual Anthropology, Critical Heritage Studies, Gender Studies, Ethnographic Media Production, Tourism Studies, Gender in Asia, Archiving, Representation, Language Transmission, Involuntary Relocation, Family and Kinship Studies, Cultural Ecology
Research Interests
Mosuo, Nuosu and Naxi communities in southwest China, including social transformation, family, kinship and marriage patterns, religion, language, and cultural practices of healing and health
Publications
Selected Publications
2024 Blumenfield, Tami. “Foreword to Poverty and Development in China: Alternative Approaches to Poverty assessment (2013) by Caizhen Lu: Reflections from Tami Blumenfield, ‘After This Book, Things Can Never Be…The Same.’” In Reflecting Forewords for the Twenty-First Century. Robert Chambers and Tessa Lewin, eds. Rugby, UK: Practical Action Publishing.
2024 Chun-Yi Sum, Tami Blumenfield, Siobhán M. Cully. “Beyond romantic partnerships: Sese, gender egalitarianism, and kinship diversity in Mosuo society.” Chapter 14. In Gender in Cross-Cultural Perspective, 8th Ed. Adrienne E. Strong and Richard Powis, eds. New York: Routledge.2016 Cornet, Candice and Tami Blumenfield, eds. Doing Fieldwork in China ... with Kids! The Dynamics of Accompanied Fieldwork in the People’s Republic. Copenhagen: NIAS Press.
2023 Blumenfield, Tami. “Following Gemu: Journeys around a Mosuo Goddess.” Matrix: A Journal for Matricultural Studies 3(1): 22-50.
2023 Mukhopadhyay, Carol C. and Tami Blumenfield, with Susan Harper and Abby Gondek. Gender and Sexuality Chapter in Perspectives: An Open Invitation to Cultural Anthropology, 2nd Edition (June 2023 update), edited by Nina Brown, Laura Tubelle de González, and Thomas McIlwraith. Pp. 282-335. Published by the American Anthropological Association.
2023 Mattison Siobhán M., Peter M. Mattison, Bret A. Beheim, Ruizhe Liu, Tami Blumenfield, Chun-Yi Sum, Mary K. Shenk, Edmond Seabright, and Sarah Alami. “Gender disparities in material and educational resources differ by kinship system.” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 378(183), B3782022029920220299 http://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2022.0299
2022 Sum, Chun-Yi, Tami Blumenfield, Mary K. Shenk, and Siobhán M. Mattison. “Hierarchy, Resentment, and Pride: Politics of Identity and Belonging among Mosuo, Yi, and Han in Southwest China.” Modern China 48(3): 568–92. https://doi.org/10.1177/00977004211017814
2022 Adler Miserendino, Rebecca A; Meyer, Rachel Sarah; Zimkus, Breda M; Bates, John; Silvestri, Luciana; Taylor, Crispin; Blumenfield, Tami; Srigyan, Megha; Pandey, Jyotsna L. "The Case for Community Self-Governance on Access and Benefit Sharing of Digital Sequence Information." Bioscience 72(5): 405-408.
2021 Blumenfield, Tami. Fostering Campus-Wide Dialogue and Student-Centered Learning through Film Festivals and Media Projects: Engaging Chinese Environmental Issues Beyond the Asian Studies Classroom. ASIANetwork Exchange: A Journal for Asian Studies in the Liberal Arts 27(2): 13-24.
2021 Mattison, Siobhán M., Chun-Yi Sum, Adam Z. Reynolds, Gabrielle D. Baca, Tami Blumenfield, Sara Niedbalski, Ruizhe Liu, Meng Zhang, Lige Liu, Lin Wei, Mingjie Su, Hui Li, Mary K. Shenk, and Katherine Wander. Using evolutionary theory to hypothesize a transition from patriliny to matriliny and back again among the ethnic Mosuo of Southwest China. Matrix: A Journal for Matricultural Studies 2(1): 90-117.
2013 Blumenfield, Tami and Helaine Silverman, eds. Cultural Heritage Politics in China. New York: Springer.
Courses Taught
ANTH 1000 Anthropology: Culture and Adaptation