Diane Bell
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Diane Bell (born 1943) is a pioneering Australian feminist anthropologist, author and activitist. Most recently, a Professor of Anthropology and Director of Women’s studies at the George Washington University in Washington DC, USA, Bell has now retired back to her native Australia. She currently lives in South Australia.
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[edit] Training and Career
Originally trained as a primary teacher in Victoria, Australia,she received her BA in Anthropology at Monash University, and a Ph.D. from Australian National University in 1981. During the 1980s, Bell held a range of positions in Australia. She worked for the Northern Territory Sacred Sites Authority in the early 1980s, before establishing her own anthropological consultancy in Canberra. She subsequently held academic posts, first as a Research Fellow at the ANU, and then as the Chair of Australian Studies at Deakin University in Geelong. In 1989, Bell moved to the United States where she remained throughout the 1990s and much of this decade -- she held posts at Holy Cross College in Worcester, Massachusetts and at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. She also worked closely with the administration of Virginia Tech University as they revised their curriculum, and served on the Board of Directors for Hampshire College.
Bell is the author of several significant monographs on Australian Aboriginal culture with a focus on women and religion.[1]
[edit] Changing the Face of (Australian) Anthropology
Bell's first full-length anthropological monograph, "Daughter's of the Dreaming", was ground breaking scholarship. Her explicit focus on the religious, spiritual and ceremonial lives of Aboriginal women in Central Australia was not without controversy, but her rich ethnographic material had an indelible mark on Australian anthropoogy, and beyond. "Daughter's of the Dreaming" was a best-seller in Australia, and Bell has the distinction of being one of the few Australian anthropologists to enjoy main-stream publishing success with an academic tome.
In the late 1980s, Bell was commissioned to write a book about women in Australia for the 1988 Bicentenary. The book -- Generations -- with photos by Ponch Hawkes -- explored generations of Australian women and the changes over the time, it was about ordinary people, (included in the book was a chapter about her mother, herself and her daughter). The book was on top of the Australian best seller list for months and in the top ten for a year.
Bell continued to write and publish throughout the 1980s and 1990s, with edited collections on feminist ethnography, feminist scholarship, Aboriginal religion and social justice.
[edit] "Anthropology in the Eye of the Storm"
Throughout the latter part of the 1970s, and through most of the 1980s, Bell was involved in issues surrounding Aboriginal land rights and law reform. With lawyer, Pam Ditton, she authored "Law: the old and the new. Aboriginal Women in Central Australia Speak Out (Central Australian Aboriginal Legal Aid Service, 1980) which addressed issues of law reform in Central Australia, in the wake of the passage of the Northern Territory Land Rights Act (1976). Bell worked on a number of land claim cases in the Northern Territory, particularly in Central Australia, but also in and around the Top End.
In the 1990s, Bell was a key player in the court case surrounding 'Secret Women's Business' on Hindmarsh Island - an island in South Australia which was connected to the mainland by a bridge. The Aborigional women of the area claimed that such a construction over the water was in conflict with their religious beliefs. The court case ruled that 'secret women's business' on Hindmarsh Island was fabricated in order to prevent construction. An inquest (held after the bridge had been built) ruled otherwise. Bell's subsequent monograph on the Njarrindjeri was nominated for several prizes and is often cited as an important example of alternate ethnographic prose.
[edit] Fiction
Aside from her numerous anthropological texts, and feminist works, Bell has also delved into fictional writing. Her first book, titled "Evil", addresses secrets within the churches and is set on the campus of an American college.
[edit] References
- ^ Bell, Diane - Bright Sparcs Biographical entry
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