Dr. Regina Bendix (born May, 31, 1958 in

Brugg , neighboring_municipalities = Gebenstorf, Habsburg, Hausen, Holderbank, Lupfig, Riniken, Rüfenach, Schinznach, Untersiggenthal, Villigen, Villnachern, Veltheim, Windisch , twintowns = Rottweil (Germany) , website ...

, Switzerland) is a professor of European

Ethnology Ethnology (from the grc-gre, ἔθνος, meaning 'nation') is an academic field that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural, social, or sociocultural anthropology). ...

at the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen, (german: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, known informally as Georgia Augusta) is a public research university in the city of Göttingen, Germany. Founded ...

, Germany.

History

Bendix began her academic studies in Volkskunde, cultural anthropology and German studies in her native Switzerland. She immigrated to the United States in 1980 when she moved to

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and E ...

. Here she completed a B.A. in

Folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...

at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

. She pursued graduate studies at Indiana University (Bloomington) where she completed a M.A. in 1984 in Folklore, with minors in cultural anthropology and German studies. Ultimately she was awarded her PhD in these disciplines in 1987. After teaching at various institutions in the United States and Switzerland, in 1993 she took a position as assistant professor at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

, in the Department of Folklore and

Folklife Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging fr ...

. She would ultimately be appointed associate professor and chair of the Program in Folklore and Folklife within the Department of

Anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of be ...

at Penn. She served in this capacity from 1993 until 2001, when she returned to

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

Career

Bendix is currently professor and chair of European ethnology at the University of Göttingen, Germany. Starting in the mid-1990s Dr. Bendix' research interests and fieldwork focused on cultural tourism (primarily in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

) embedded within the larger historical project of popular ethnography in the late

19th-century The 19th (nineteenth) century began on 1 January 1801 ( MDCCCI), and ended on 31 December 1900 ( MCM). The 19th century was the ninth century of the 2nd millennium. The 19th century was characterized by vast social upheaval. Slavery was abolis ...

Austro-Hungarian Empire. Since moving to Germany, she has devoted significant ethnographic attention to the workings of the academic framework in Germany. Her research emphases continue to focus on narrative,

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism mor ...

heritage Heritage may refer to: History and society * A heritage asset is a preexisting thing of value today ** Cultural heritage is created by humans ** Natural heritage is not * Heritage language Biology * Heredity, biological inheritance of physica ...

and culture, the ethnography of the senses, the history of cultural fields of research and the culture of

academia An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...

. Bendix was president of the International Society for Ethnology and Folklore from 2001 to 2008. Her language fluencies include: Swiss German (native), Standard German, English, French and some

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

Other ventures

Bendix has a film editing credit for the 2005 production of the German documentary on folklore titled ''Musical und Märchenstunde''. One of her most influential written works is ''In Search of Authenticity. The Formation of Folklore Studies'' (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1997). She produced a relevant collection of articles for the study of folklore: Regina F. Bendix and Galit Hasan-Rokem (eds.), ''A Companion to Folklore'' (Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2012).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bendix, Regina 1958 births Living people German ethnologists Women ethnologists University of Göttingen faculty German women academics Swiss women academics Folklorists Women folklorists