I am an anthropologist focused on the dynamics of community change and the ethics of creating and archiving knowledge. I am also a documentary filmmaker, cultural translator and program evaluator with expertise in China, the U.S., France and Israel. I am fluent in several Chinese dialects and French.
I hold a Sociocultural Anthropology PhD from the University of Washington (2010) and a Master's in Library and Information Science from the University of South Carolina (2021).
My work in China focuses on the Southwest, where the Na, or Mosuo, people and their Nuosu neighbors live in an ethnically diverse zone. I produce my own films, develop exhibits with Na collaborators, and consult with television networks and journalists on their projects. Topical research areas include gender, heritage, media, tourism, identity, food systems, ecology, and inequality. My research and filming work has been supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation, two Fulbright fellowships, the American Association of University Women, and the Association for Asian Studies. My Academia.edu and Imdb.com pages offer publication and media project details, including about my co-edited books on Cultural Heritage Politics in China and on combining fieldwork and families.
In all my work, I bring special attention to issues of gender equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility. I was President of the Cool Mountain Education Fund, an organization that supported gender-informed education projects in China, until 2022. I previously co-led the Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies program at Furman University (2017-18). I also incorporate an equity and diversity lens into my work as an external evaluator, examining academic and non-profit programs using qualitative and quantitative methods.
Research Interests:
Ethnicity, media, tourism, and gender in southwest China
Na (Mosuo) and Nuosu communities in southwest China
Narua (Yongning Na) language transmission
Cultural heritage politics
Emergence of inequality
Discourses and mediations of indigeneity
Critical and collaborative research methodologies
Internationalization and interdisciplinarity in graduate education
Further Information:
New Film: Zhuan: Turning, Spinning, Circling
Publications on Academia.edu: https://unm.academia.edu/TamiBlumenfield
Publications on ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Tami-Blumenfield
ORC ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5833-0123
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2434712/
Library and Information Science Capstone Portfolio: http://portfolio.blumenfield.uofsccreate.org/professional-portfolio/index
Mosuo Collaborators:
Professor YANG Lifen (Nianzhe Xiaoma)
Recent Publication:
YANG Lifen (Nianzhe Xiaoma). 2023. "Mosuo Songs and Dances: From the Villages to the University Campus." Tami Blumenfield, trans. and ed. Matrix: A Journal for Matricultural Studies (3)1: 218-234. Article download link.
Journal issue website: https://www.networkonculture.ca/activities/matrix/issues/vol3_iss1
Banamu
Recent Publication:
Banamu. 2023. "Mosuo Love: An Eight-Poem Collection." Tami Blumenfield, trans. and compiler. Matrix: A Journal for Matricultural Studies (3)1: 192-217. Article download link.
Journal issue website: https://www.networkonculture.ca/activities/matrix/issues/vol3_iss1
Contact:
Email: tblumenfield @ unm . edu