Manduhai Buyandelger

Manduhai Buyandelger is a Professor of Anthropology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Director of Women's and Gender Studies. Her work focuses on the intersection of religion, gender, and politics in Mongolia, with a regional emphasis on post-socialist transitions. She has authored two influential monographs: Tragic Spirits: Shamanism, Gender, and Memory in Contemporary Mongolia (University of Chicago Press, 2013) and A Thousand Steps to Parliament: Constructing Electable Women in Mongolia (University of Chicago Press, 2022).

• PhD in Anthropology from Harvard University (2004)
• Class of 1956 Career Development Professor at MIT
• Recipient of the prestigious Levitan Prize for her research on Mongolian parliamentary elections

Her research explores cultural memory, shamanism, and gendered political participation in Mongolia. She bridges anthropological inquiry with immersive technologies like VR and collaborates with MIT's Nuclear Science and Engineering department on climate-related Anthro-Engineering projects. Buyandelger has received multiple accolades for her work, including the Mongolian Writers Association Golden Quill Pen Award and the Society of East Asian Anthropology's Francis L.K. Hsu Book Prize.