Research Focus

Alcoholism and drug-related problems; cross-cultural dynamics of treatment; applied clinical research; culture and family; family and community rituals and routines; ethnic identity, socialization, and culture change; European ethnic groups in the U.S. (Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes); Europe, especially the former Yugoslavia (Croatia and Serbia); and Native Americans

Academic Summary

Dr. Bennett is a Professor of Anthropology and the Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and Research, College of Arts and Sciences. After receiving her MA from Indiana University (1966) and PhD from American University (1976), she became a research faculty member at the Center for Family Research, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, George Washington University Medical Center. She joined the Department of Anthropology faculty at The University of Memphis in 1986. Professor Bennett has conducted fieldwork in the former Yugoslavia, especially Croatia, and in the United States in the areas of medical anthropology (particularly studies on alcohol use and alcohol-related problems) and ethnicity. She is co-author of The Alcoholic Family (1987), co-editor of The American Experience with Alcohol: Contrasting Cultural Perspectives (1985), and author of Russian-English Language Guide for Adopting Families (1997, 2003).

Dr. Bennett has been an active leader in anthropology, having served as president of the Society for Applied Anthropology, the National Association for the Practice of Anthropology, and the Washington Association of Professional Anthropologists. She is currently an at-large member of the Executive Board of the American Anthropological Association. Bennett is founder and chair of the Consortium of Practicing and Applied Anthropology (COPAA) Programs http://www.copaa.info/. In recent years, she has been particularly interested in the place of applied and engaged scholarship, especially in urban universities such as The University of Memphis.

Recent Publications

Bennett, Linda A., J. L. Johnson, and A. Austin. “Issues in Cross-Cultural Assessment.” In Ethical Interventions into Drug Use. J. Kleininger and S. Einstein, eds., Huntsville, TX: Office of International Criminal Justice, Sam Houston State University: 630-635, 2006.

Whiteford, Linda M., and Linda A. Bennett. “Applied Anthropology and Health and Medicine.” In Applied Anthropology: Domains of Application, edited by Satish Kedia and John van Willigen. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 2005.

Kedia, Satish, and Linda A. Bennett. “Applied Anthropology.” In Anthropology, from Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS). Developed under the auspices of UNESCO, published online at http://www.eolss.net. Oxford, UK: EOLSS Publishers, 2005.

Hyland, Stanley, and Linda A. Bennett. “Introduction: Advancing a Conceptual Framework for Community Building.” In Community Building in the Twenty-First Century, edited by Stanley Hyland. Santa Fe, NM: School of American Research, 2005.

Kiser, Laurel J., Linda A. Bennett, Jerry Heston, and Marilyn Paavola. “Family Ritual and Routine: Comparison of Clinical and Non-Clinical Families.” Journal of Child and Family Studies 14, no. 3 (2005): 357-372.

Bennett, Linda A. “Moonshine: Anthropological Perspectives.” In Moonshine Markets: Issues in Unrecorded Alcohol Beverage Production and Consumption, edited by Alan Haworth and Ronald Simpson, 145-165. New York: Brunner-Routledge, 2004.

Bennett, Linda A. Russian-English Language Guide for Adopting Families. Memphis, TN: Williams-Illien Adoptions, Inc., 2003, 1997.

Marshall, Mac, Genevieve Ames and Linda A. Bennett. “Anthropological Perspectives on Alcohol and Drugs at the Turn of the New Millennium.” Introduction to a special issue of Social Science and Medicine 53 (2001): 153-164.

Bennett, Linda A., Carlos Campillo, C.R. Chandrashekar, and Oye Gureje. “Alcohol Consumption in India, Mexico, and Nigeria: A Cross-Cultural Comparison.” Alcohol, Health, and Research World 22, no. 4 (1999): 243-280.

Bennett, Linda A. “A Forty-Year Retrospective of the Anthropology of Former Yugoslavia.” In Europe in the Anthropological Imagination, edited by Susan Parman, 118–33. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1998.

Bennett, Linda A., and Paul W. Cook, Jr. “Alcohol and Drug Studies.” In Medical Anthropology: Contemporary Theory and Method, revised edition, edited by Carolyn F. Sargent and Thomas M. Johnson, 235–51. Westport, CT: Praeger, 1996.

Room, R., A. Janca, L.A. Bennett, L. Schmidt, and N. Sartorius. “WHO Cross-Cultural Applicability Research on Diagnosis and Assessment of Substance Use Disorders: An Overview of Methods and Selected Results.” Addiction 91, no. 2 (February 1996): 199-220.

Finerman, Ruthbeth, and Linda A. Bennett. “Overview: Guilt, Blame, and Shame in Sickness.” Social Science and Medicine 40, no. 1 (1995): 1-3.

Janca, A., M. Isaac, L.A. Bennett, and G. Tacchini. “Somatoform Disorders in Different Cultures―A Mail Questionnaire Survey.” Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology 30 (1995): 44-48.

Bennett, Linda A. “Accountability for Alcoholism in American Families.” Social Science and Medicine 40, no. 1 (1995): 15-25.

Research Projects

Bennett, Linda A. (Co PI). "Biological and Cultural Micro Differentiation Among Rural Populations of Croatia." Research for the Smithsonian Institution and the Institute for Anthropological Research, 1983-Present.

Bennett, Linda A. (PI). "Neighborhood Rituals and Routines." Memphis, TN, 1998-Present.

Bennett, Linda A. (PI). "Cross-cultural comparison of the consumption of non-commercially produced alcoholic beverages and consequences," 2002-2003.

Bennett, Linda A., and Laurel Kiser (PIs). "Family Rituals in Clinical and Non-Clinical Populations." Health Science Center and the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Tennessee, Memphis, 1990-2000.

Bennett, Linda A., and Laurel Kiser (PIs). "Collaborative Study on Family Rituals." Health Science Center and the Department of Psychiatry, University of Tennessee, Memphis: Plough Foundation, 1996-1998.

Awards

Board of Visitors’ Eminent Faculty Award, The University of Memphis, 2003

Meritorious Faculty Award, College of Arts and Sciences, The University of Memphis, 1999

Superior Performance in University Research (SPUR) Award, The University of Memphis, 1994

Distinguished Contribution to Family Systems Research Annual Award, American Family Therapy Association, 1991

Annual Research Award, Sigma Xi, Memphis State Chapter, 1990

Decorated by the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia for advancing collaborative research between Yugoslavia and the United States

Leadership Positions

Chair, American Anthropological Association, 2004-2006

Advisory Committee, Practitioner Anthropology, 2004-2006

Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and Research, College of Arts and Sciences, The University of Memphis, 1998-Present

Advisory Board, Adoption Center of the Mid-South, 2005-Present

Governance Commission, American Anthropological Association, 2005-Present

Advisory Committee, American Anthropologist, 2005-Present

Ad hoc Task Force on Engaged Scholarship, The University of Memphis, 2002-Present

Executive Board Member, American Anthropological Association, 2002-2005

Chair and Founder, Consortium of Practicing and Applied Anthropology Programs (COPAA), 2000-Present

Board of Directors, Chair (1996-2003), Williams International Adoptions, Inc., 1995-Present

Advisory Editor, Psychiatry, 1988-Present

Advisory Editor, Family Process, 1996-2002

Advisory Board, The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 1993-2002

President, Society for Applied Anthropology, 1999-2001

Chair, Department of Anthropology, The University of Memphis, 1994-1998

Chapter President, Sigma Xi, The University of Memphis, 1995-1996

Executive Committee Member, Society for Applied Anthropology, 1992-1995

President, National Association for the Practice of Anthropology, 1992-1994

Editorial Board Member, Dynamics of Addiction, 1990-1993

Advisor, Division of Mental Health, World Health Organization, 1991-1992

Courses Taught at The University of Memphis