Nancy E. Levine

Nancy E. Levine is a Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where she has conducted extensive research on culturally Tibetan societies across Nepal and China. Her work examines how state-sponsored modernization projects impact family structures, community dynamics, and cultural values in highland Asian contexts.

Education:

• Ph.D. in Anthropology, University of Rochester (1978)

Research Focus: Professor Levine specializes in socio-cultural anthropology with emphasis on kinship systems, pastoral economies, and gender dynamics. Her fieldwork spans three and a half years in northwestern Nepal studying household economies, followed by investigations into government reform impacts on Western Tibetan agriculturalists and sedentarization effects on nomadic pastoralists in Sichuan and Qinghai Provinces. Current research analyzes resettlement consequences for Tibetan communities adapting to urban life, including shifts in family relationships, cultural values, and health outcomes. Her methodological approach combines demographic analysis with political economy frameworks to document responses to economic scarcity and mortality patterns in pre-modern contexts.

Publication Trends: Her 15-year publication trajectory reveals consistent focus on kinship adaptation under political change, with increasing attention to multi-species anthropology and sedentarization impacts. Early work established foundational analyses of polyandry and child care systems, while recent scholarship examines taxation traditions and sibling centrality in pastoralist survival strategies, demonstrating longitudinal engagement with Tibetan societies through periods of dramatic socioeconomic transformation.

Advising and Research: Professor Levine mentors graduate students at UCLA with expertise in Himalayan and Central Asian fieldwork. Her research has been supported by grants enabling sustained ethnographic engagement across multiple Tibetan regions, though specific funding sources aren't detailed in available materials. She maintains active scholarly contributions through journal publications and book chapters addressing contemporary challenges in pastoralist communities.