Professor
Ph.D., Univ. of Minnesota, 1975

Research Interests
Within Social anthropology, my specialty is in the relationship between kinship, marriage, and rituals and the meaning of the construction of gender in India. I have done extensive work on caste and the life cycle rites of Hindus, now I am addressing the recent structural changes to the institution of marriage and what constitutes the person. My research interests on nationalism and post colonial studies has taken me to a more comparative approach addressing the feminist movement, the problems and politics of identity and citizenship within Islam and Hinduism. In addition to the primary research work in India , I also focus on East and North Africa communities.

My interest in visual anthropology took me beyond using films to teach. I co-directed four documentary films on varied themes and topics about communities I work with.

•  Seed and Earth. Directed by Fruzzetti, L., Ostor, A., Guzzetti, A. and Johnston, N.

•  Khalfan and Zanzibar. Directed by Fruzzetti, L., Ostor, A. and Guzzetti, A.

•  Fishers of Dar. Directed by Fruzzetti, L., Ostor, A., Lihamba, A. and Ross, S.

•  Singing Pictures. Directed by Fruzzetti, L., Ostor, A. and Sarkar, Aditinath

Selected Publications

Fruzzetti, L., and Tenhunen, Sirpa (eds), 2006. Culture, Power and Agency: Gender in Indian Ethnography. STREE , Calcutta , India.

Fruzzetti, L., Ostor, A. 2003. Calcutta Conversations. Delhi: Chronicle Books

Fruzzetti, L., and Perez, Rosa Maria. 2002. The Gender of the Nation: Allegoric Femininity and Women's Status in Bengal and Goa. Ethnographica 6, 1 (Lisbon , ISCTE).

Fruzzetti, L . 1998. Women Orphans, and Poverty: Social Movements and Ideologies of Work in India. Quebec: World Heritage Press.

Fruzzetti, L. 1993. 3rd reprint. [1982]. The Gift of a Virgin: Women, Marriage Ritual and Kinship in Bengali Society. New Introduction. Delhi: Oxford University Press; 1982, Piscataway, NJ: Rutgers University Press.

Ostor, A., Fruzzetti, L. and Barnett, S. 1992 second reprint. Concepts of Person: Kinship, Marriage, and Caste in India. New Introduction. Delhi: Oxford University .

Fruzzetti, L., Ostor, A. 1984. Kinship and Ritual in Bengal: Anthropological Essays. New Delhi : South Asian Press

Courses Taught
For current and scheduled courses taught by Professor Fruzzetti, click here.