Ellen Gruenbaum

(Anthropology) recently returned from Sudan, where she spent part of her sabbatical as a Visiting Professor at Ahfad University for Women in Omdurman.   During February and March she advised students in their master’s degree program in Gender and Development Studies and did research on the social movement against traditional female genital cutting practices.   Being in Sudan also gave her the opportunity to return to the two villages she has been studying since the 1970s for additional research.   

In May, Dr. Gruenbaum returned to Khartoum as a consultant for UNICEF, carrying out four community studies for a research project on female genital cutting in West Kordofan and Kassala states.   Although the original plan included communities in South Darfur as well, Gruenbaum’s research team had to postpone that portion of the project.   Instead, Gruenbaum worked on research for CARE, investigating the results two years later of one community’s declaration of intent to discontinue female genital cutting.

In addition to writing, Gruenbaum will be using this new research in her teaching in anthropology and women’s studies this fall.