Ruth Hill Useem (31 May 1915 – 10 September 2003) was an American sociologist and

anthropologist An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms and ...

who introduced the concept of

Third Culture Kid Third culture kids (TCK) or third culture individuals (TCI) are people who were raised in a culture other than their parents' or the culture of their country of nationality, and also live in a different environment during a significant part of thei ...

(TCK) to describe children who spent part of their developmental years in a foreign culture due to their parents' working abroad. Her work was the first to identify common themes among various TCKs that may affect them throughout their lives. After her retirement in 1985, Useem focused her research on Adult Third Culture Kids (ATCKs). Third Culture Kids include

military brat A military brat (colloquial or military slang) is a child of serving or retired military personnel. Military brats are associated with a unique subcultureDavid C. Pollock, Ruth E. van Reken. ''Third Culture Kids: Growing Up Among Worlds'', Revise ...

missionary kid Missionary’s kids (or MKs) are the children of missionary parents, and thus born or raised abroad (that is, on the "mission-field"). They form a subset of third culture kids (TCKs). The term is more specifically applied when these children retur ...

s, diplomatic kids, and business kids. Many books have been written on Third Culture Kids and "Global

Nomad A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the popu ...

s" based on the concept originally proposed and defined by Useem. Ruth Useem graduated with a PhD in sociology and

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 behavi ...

from the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...

in 1947. She taught at

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

from 1952 to 1985.

References

External links

Third Culture Kids World Biography on Ruth Hill Useem
1915 births 2003 deaths University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Letters and Science alumni American sociologists American women sociologists Modern nomads 21st-century American women {{US-sociologist-stub