Dancing Skeletons

1. In Dancing Skeletons, Dettwyler states that, “Since my research involved documenting traditional infant
feeding practices and their on effects on children’s growth, I usually didn’t interfere with the infant feeding
practices of my informants” (1994:2). Is this an admirable attempt to objectivity, or ethically problematic? Is
Dettwyler very successful at doing this?
2. At one point during her research, Dettwyler’s undergraduate research assistant, Heather, is shocked by
a woman who has twelve living children. Why are large families both culturally and economically important
in Mali? How does this relate to Western assumptions about how to solve global malnutrition?
Essays should be 3 pages double-spaced, Times New Roman 12pt font, with 1 inch margins. All papers
should have a clear thesis statement that maps your argument for the paper. Papers should directly answer
the essay prompt using course materials only; do not use Internet sources. All papers should be cited
appropriately using Chicago author-date style (see Citations in modules). You do not need a title page.
Papers must be submitted as a Word document or PDF only; all other file types will not be graded. Please
see rubric (click the icon with three vertical dots in upper right).