“As a cultural anthropologist, I have spent over 20 years researching issues in the anthropology of reproduction, focusing most closely on childbirth, obstetrics, and midwifery, which I continue to study and write about. I have also found opportunities to branch out into other areas that fascinate me: ritual and gender studies, corporate futures planning, biomedicine, integrative medicine, science and technology studies. This for me is part of the magic of anthropology: it gives you a set of tools for studying any arena of life that captures your interest.”
Robbie Davis-Floyd

Welcome to my website!

This website contains the full texts of many of my published articles, for your convenience. It will also guide you to the talks that I give around the world, to my full CV and a short bio, and to the books that I have published.
I am available for public speaking in many forums: universities, childbirth and midwifery conferences, conferences on alternative health care, on gender issues, on myth and ritual, and on science and technology. I often sit on dissertation committees or serve as external examiner, and supervise independent study for students interested in creating their own projects. I also offer consulting and editorial services.
As an anthropologist, I have always sought to make my work relevant not only to students and other anthropologists, but also to the people
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LIVE-IN INTERNSHIPS

Robbie Davis-Floyd offers live-in internships to interested students. The purpose of the internship can range from an introduction to the Anthropology of Reproduction to writing up your Master’s thesis or PhD dissertation, or article or book, with Robbie’s help. The internship could be designed as an Independent Study course for which you could get credit from your own university; it can also be used as a “writer’s retreat.” In return for her assistance with your project, Robbie will ask you at times to help with certain aspects of her own work, such as tape transcription or perhaps conducting interviews. Interns can also come to conduct fieldwork in Austin, where we have a rich variety of midwives and medical centers. The length of the internship can vary from some weeks to some months. If you are interested please contact Robbie at davis-floyd@austin.utexas.edu.

TESTIMONIAL


Rosana Fontes

"I am a Brazilian obstetrician. My path to birth led me to new frontiers--in my career and beyond my country borders. When studying about the Anthropology of Birth, everything has made so much sense to me, and made me see my own work in a very different way. And theses paths could not take anywhere else than to Robbie´s house in Texas.... so there I went, and she did welcome me: she shared her house, shared her family, shared her friends.

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Rosana Fontes
MD

Ieva Paberzyte

When I wrote my first e-mail to Robbie Davis-Floyd, encouraged by my dear friend, I did not believe for a minute to receive a reply from the world-known anthropologist. Robbie replied within a few hours, as she always does, and already the next day I was buying my ticket to Austin. I have spent three weeks at Robbie’s home as an intern. My goal was to advance my doctoral thesis and to move beyond the point I was stuck in for awhile.

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Ieva Paberzyte
PhD candidate in Anthropology, McGill University, Montreal, Canada

Michelle Sadler

Spending a few weeks with Robbie was an experience of pure delight. Beautiful house overlooking the forest, art nouveau colored-glass lamps in every corner, three friendly dogs, creek walks every other day… I was longing to have time for long and uninterrupted sessions of writing and I found that time at Robbie’s home. Plus super bonus: writing was followed by wonderful conversations and discussions with Robbie. And best of the day: fireplace, TV series (can´t believe I hadn´t watched Downtown Abbey!) and soup. Thank you Robbie.

Michelle Sadler

RECENT ARTICLES

Oral Histories From The Pioneers of America’s Space Program

Professor Davis-Floyd, I am writing a PhD dissertation at MIT on the history of flight...
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Open and Closed Knowledge Systems, the 4 Stages of Cognition, and the Cultural Management of Birth

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The rituals of american hospital birth This article appears in Conformity and Conflict: Readings in...
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The art of grieving gracefully: Robbie Davis-Floyd’s Suggestions for Coping with Loss and Pain Begun...
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The technocratic model of birth Robbie E. Davis-Floyd This chapter appeared in Feminist Theory in...
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Storying corporate futures: The Shell Scenarios An Interview with Betty Sue Flowers This chapter appeared...
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Bucky balls, fullerenes, and the future: An Oral History Interview with Professor Richard E. Smalley...
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On reproduction

On reproduction Robbie Davis-Floyd and Sarah Franklin This article appears in the Sage Encyclopedia of...
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Midwifery Robbie Davis-Floyd and Gwynne L. Jenkins This article appears in the Sage Encyclopedia of...
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Sages birth 4

On birth This article appears in the Sage Encyclopedia of Anthropology, Sage Publications, 2005 Until...
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Reproductive technologies

Reproductive technologies Sarah Franklin PhD, Dept. of Sociology, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK Robbie Davis-Floyd Ph...
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On Childbirth

On Childbirth This entry appears in the Blackwell Dictionary of Anthropology. Thomas Barfield, ed. Oxford:...
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Obstetric training as a rite of passage

Obstetric training as a rite of passage This article appeared in Obstetrics in the United...
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Types of midwifery training : An anthropological overview

Types of midwifery training : An anthropological overview by Robbie Davis-Floyd PhD This article appears...
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Ways of knowing: open and closed systems

Ways Of knowing : open and closed systems Robbie Davis-Floyd This article appears in Midwifery...
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Some thoughts on bridging the gap between nurse – and direct-entry midwives

Some thoughts on bridging the gap between nurse - and direct-entry midwives by Robbie Davis-Floyd...
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The ups, downs and interlinkages of nurse- and direct-entry midwifery

The ups, downs and interlinkages of nurse- and direct-entry midwifery : status, practice, and education...
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