Sherry B. Ortner

Sherry B. Ortner is a Distinguished Research Professor of Anthropology at UCLA, specializing in cultural and social theory, feminist theory, and media studies. She holds degrees from Bryn Mawr College (A.B.), University of Chicago (M.A., Ph.D.). Her research spans Sherpa ethnography in Nepal, U.S. social class dynamics, and independent film critique. She has been awarded the J.I. Staley Prize, Retzius Medal, and MacArthur Fellowship.

Ortner’s work interrogates late capitalism, neoliberalism, and cultural production, particularly through independent film movements. Her shift from Himalayan studies to U.S. cultural analysis reflects a focus on global and local power structures. She has held academic positions at Berkeley, Columbia, and the University of Michigan before joining UCLA in 2004.

• Key Research Themes: Feminist theory, media anthropology, class and capitalism, cultural critique.
• Awards: American Academy of Arts and Sciences membership, Guggenheim and NEH fellowships.

Her publications include Not Hollywood (2013), New Jersey Dreaming (2003), and Life and Death on Mt. Everest (2000). Ortner’s recent work critiques patriarchal structures and neoliberalism’s cultural impacts. She is a foundational voice in contemporary anthropological theory.