Jennifer Lansford, B.A. 1995

B.A., Cultural Anthropology and Psychology (1995)

How has being a Cultural Anthropology graduate from Duke helped shape you personally and/or professionally?

"After graduating from Duke, I earned a PhD in developmental psychology from the University of Michigan. I returned to Duke for a post-doctoral fellowship in child and family policy and am now on the faculty at Duke in the Sanford School of Public Policy. For the last 15 years, I have led a project called Parenting Across Cultures, which is a longitudinal study of children, mothers, and fathers in nine countries (China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, the Philippines, Sweden, Thailand, and the United States). My undergraduate degree in cultural anthropology positioned me well to think about how human development is integrally connected to the cultural contexts in which it occurs."

What advice would you give students in Duke's Cultural Anthropology programs?

"Cultural anthropology provides a lens through which human experiences can be understood and analyzed. Regardless of your post-Duke career plans, this lens offers a perspective that is useful in a number of disciplines, including medicine, law, and business, to name few."