Sidney Mintz

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Recommended: Caribbean society and culture

Sidney Wilfred Mintz born November 16th, 1922 in Dover, New Jersey. Sidney W. Mintz is a renowned Cultural Anthropologist with an extensive history of socially relevant ethnographic research and literature. He received his Bachelors degree of Psychology in 1943 at the Brooklyn College, and his Doctorate of Anthropology at Columbia University in 1951; both prestigious institutions are located in New York. Mintz started teaching as an undergraduate student and has since been a professional faculty member of several highly esteemed Universities and Institutions in the United States, France, Germany, China, Puerto Rico, and Australia. He is currently a Professor of Anthropological Research at The John Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. The research of Sidney Mintz is focalized to the history of the diverse region of the Caribbean. He has had a multitude of articles, editorials, and books published regarding the culturally relevant effects the sugar industry had on social populations of the Caribbean island nations. Mintz has been the recipient of several awards throughout his career including but not limited to: The Caribbean Review Medalist, 1983; Smithsonian Council, 1985-91; Huxley Memorial Lecturer and Medalist, 1994; and Distinguished Lecturer, The American Anthropological Associated, 1996 (Mintz).

The first fieldwork experience of Sidney Mintz was of Puerto Rico in 1948, while he was studying at Columbia University. Two of his mentors are acclaimed Anthropologists, Ruth Benedict and Julian Steward. This experience must have influenced Mintz greatly, as he has since focused his academic career around Caribbean and South American cultures (Kuever). Mintz quotes on his personal website, “The world area of major interest...

... middle of paper ...

...ey Mintz tries to discern in his works, is the existence of a peasantry class within Caribbean society in a historical context. His socio-cultural ethnographies have contributed a great deal to Anthropology and the history of Caribbean populations and cultures.

Works Cited

Kuever, Erika. “Sidney Mintz.” Indiana University, 2006. Web. 1 Mar. 2011.

Mintz, Sidney. Caribbean Transformations. Chicago: Aldine Publishing Company, 1974. Print.

Mintz, Sidney. Sweetness And Power. New York: Viking, 1985. Print.

Mintz, Sidney. The Birth Of African-American Culture. Massachusetts: Beacon Press, 1992. Print.

Mintz, Sidney. Three Ancient Colonies. Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2010. Print.

Mintz, Sidney. Worker In The Cane. New York: Yale University Press, 1960. Print.

Mintz, Sidney. “Sidney Mintz.” Sidney Mintz, 2010. Web. 22 Feb. 2010.

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