Ellen Gruenbaum

(Anthropology/Women's Studies) was an invited speaker in Alexandria , Egypt , recently. An international seminar entitled "Advancing Knowledge of Psycho-Sexual Effects of FGM/C: Assessing the Evidence" brought together scholars from 10 countries in the social and medical sciences who are working against female genital cutting practices. Gruenbaum reported on the anthropological research she conducted during her Fresno State sabbatical leave, which focused on changes in these traditional practices in Sudan , the country where she has been doing research since the 1970s. She also presented a second paper that was a collaborative effort with a Sudanese anthropologist.

In November, Gruenbaum accepted appointment to a two-year term on the Editorial Advisory Board of the Journal of Middle East Women's Studies.

Her most recent publications include a book review in the journal Isis , an international review devoted to the history of science and its cultural influences (June 2004). She reviewed "A Colonial Lexicon of Birth Ritual, Medicalization, and Mobility in the Congo " by Nancy Rose Hunt. She also has a new chapter in "Gender in Cross-Cultural Perspective," 3 rd ed., by C. Brettell and C. Sargent, eds. (Prentice Hall, 2004, pp. 481-494), entitled "Female Genital Cutting: Culture and Controversy."