Richard A. Shweder
Psychological anthropology and cultural psychology, with special reference to the anthropology of thought and cross-cultural human development; symbol systems and intellectual processes; cultural belief systems; culture and moral development; rationality and moral reasoning; person perception; concepts of the person; culture and health behavior; multiculturalism, immigration and norm conflict between cultures.
Director:   NIMH Culture and Mental Health Behavior Training Grant program.
John Lucy, Bertram Cohler, Co-directors.

(773) 702-1524

Downloadable publications:

Shweder, R.A. (2009) "A Great Moral Legend from Orissa." Orissa Society of Americas Souvenir, 40th annual convention of the Orissa Society of the Americas, July 2009.

Shweder, R.A. (2009) "Shouting at the Hebrews: Imperial Liberalism v. Liberal Pluralism and the Practice of Male Circumcision." Law, Culture, and the Humanities, 5: 247-265.

Shweder, R. A. (2007). "The Resolute Irresolution of Clifford Geertz." Memorial essay for Clifford Geertz. Written for the journal Common Knowledge (Vol. 13 No. 2)

Shweder, R. A. (2006). "Protecting Human Subjects and Preserving Academic Freedom: Prospects at the University of Chicago." Within the terms of the federal regulatory scheme requiring Institutional Review Board (IRB) oversight of federally funded research with human subjects, projects that are not federally funded are not mandated for IRB review. Eighty percent of social science projects at the University of Chicago are not federally funded. This essay is a critique of the overextension of federal regulations by university and college administrators and provides some suggestions for reform. [Academic Freedom, IRB, Human Subjects Protection, Research Ethics]

Shweder, R. A. (2005). "From Persons and Situations to Preferences and Constraints." This essay expands on remarks delivered on June 11, 2005 at Columbia University at a Festschrift in honor of Walter Mischel titled "Toward a Science of the Person: Paradigm Change in Psychological Models of Human Nature" (organized by Yuichi Shoda and Daniel Cervone).

Shweder, R. A. (2004). "Tuskegee re-examined." Spiked Essays, www.spiked-online.com. A cultural anthropologist offers a counter-narrative to the infamous story of US government scientists allowing black men to suffer from untreated syphilis.

Shweder, R. A. (2003). "When Cultures Collide: Which Rights? Whose Tradition of Values? A Critique of the Global Anti-FGM Campaign." Originally prepared for Joint Princeton University/Central European University Conference on "Universalism and Local Knowledge in Human Rights" (October 24-25, 2003), Princeton, New Jersey.

Shweder, R. A. et al. (2003). "The 'Big Three' of Morality (Autonomy, Community, Divinity) and the 'Big Three' Explanations of Suffering." Originally from "Morality and Health." Allan Brandt and Paul Rozin (eds). New York: Routledge, 1997. Reprinted in "Why Do Men Barbecue?: Recipes for Cultural Psychology." Shweder, R. A. Cambridge, MA: Havrard University Press.

Shweder, R.A. (2003). "Anti-Postculturalism (Or, the View from Manywheres)" In "Why Do Men Barbecue?: Recipes for Cultural Psychology." Shweder, R. A. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Shweder, R. A. et al. (2002). "The nature of morality: The category of bad acts." From Medical Ethics vol. 9 issue 1, pp. 6-7.

Shweder, R. A. (2002). "'What about female genital mutilation?' and why understanding culture matters in the first place." From "Engaging cultural differences:  the multicultural challenge in liberal democracies", R. Shweder, M. Minow, & H. Markus (Eds.).

Shweder, R.A., Balle-Jensen, L., & Goldstein, W.M (1995) "Who Sleeps By Whom Revisited: A Method for Extracting the Moral Goods Implicit in Practice." In Jacqueline Goodnow, Peggy Miller, and Frank Kessel (eds.) Cultural Practices as Context for Development. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Also available in: Shweder, R. A. (2003) Why do Men Barbecue?: Recipes for Cultural Psychology. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press

Shweder, R. A. (1994). "Are Moral Intuitions Self-Evident Truths?" From the journal Criminal Justice Ethics. Vol 13, no 2. pp 24-31.

Shweder, R. A. & Haidt, Jonathan. (1993). "The Future of Moral Psychology: Truth, Intuition, and the Pluralist Way." From the journal Psychological Science. Vol 4, no 6. pp 360-365.

Shweder, R.A. & Much, N. (1991) "Determinations of Meaning: Discourse and Moral Socialization" Originally from "Moral Development Through Social Interaction."   William Kurtines and Jacob Gewirtz (eds.) Reprinted in "Thinking Through Cultures: Expeditions in Cultural Psychology," Shweder, R.A., Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1991

Shweder, R.A. (1991) "The Astonishment of Anthropology." In "Thinking Through Cultures: Expeditions in Cultural Psychology," Shweder, R.A., Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1991.

Shweder, R. A. (1990). "In Defense of Moral Realism: Reply to Gabennesch" From the journal Child Development. Vol 61, no 6. pp 2060-2067.

Shweder, R. A. et al. (1987). "Culture and moral development." From "The emergence of morality in young children" (pp. 1-83). J. Kagan & S. Lamb (eds). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Shweder, R. A. (1982). "Liberalism as Destiny" From the journal Contemporary Psychology. Vol 27, no 6. pp 421-424.

Shweder, R.A. & Bourne, E.J. (1982). "Does the concept of the person vary cross-culturally?" Originally from "Cultural Conceptions of Mental Health and Therapy," A. Marsella and G. White (eds.) Dordrecht, Holland: Reidel. Reprinted in "Thinking Through Cultures: Expeditions in Cultural Psychology," Shweder, R.A., Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1991.

Shweder, R. A. et al. (1981). "The moral intuitions of the child." From "Social Cognitive Development: Frontiers and Possible Futures." John H. Flavell & Lee Ross (eds). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Selected Publications:

1. Shweder, R.A. (Editor), “The Child: An Encyclopedic Companion”, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2009.

2. Minow, M., Shweder, R.A., and Markus, H. (Editors), Just Schools: Pursuing Equality in Societies of Difference, New York: Russell Sage Foundation Press (2008)

3. Why Do Men Barbecue?: Recipes for Cultural Psychology. Harvard University Press: Cambridge, MA   (Spring 2003)

4. Engaging Cultural Differences: The Multicultural Challenge in Liberal Democracies.  Russell Sage Foundation Press: NY  2002 (Richard A. Shweder, Martha Minow, Hazel Markus, editors)

5. Ethnography and Human Development: Context and Meaning in Social Inquiry. The University of Chicago Press: 1996. Richard Jessor, Anne Colby, and Richard Shweder, editors.

6. Clifford Geertz by His Colleagues. The University of Chicago Press. Byron Good and Richard Shweder, editors.

7. Welcome to Middle Age! (And Other Cultural Fictions). University of Chicago Press.  (Richard A. Shweder, editor)

8. Cultural Psychology: The Chicago Symposia. New York: Cambridge University Press. (James Stigler, Richard A. Shweder, Gilbert Herdt, editors).

9. Thinking through Cultures: Expeditions in Cultural Psychology. Cambridge, MA.: Harvard University Press.

10. Metatheory in Social Science: Pluralisms and Subjectivities. (1986), Chicago:The University of Chicago Press. (Richard A. Shweder and D.W. Fiske, editors).

11. Culture Theory: Essays on Mind, Self and Emotion. (1984) New York: Cambridge University Press, (Richard A. Shweder and Robert A. Levine, editors).

12. Shweder, R.A. & Bourne, E.J. (1982). "Does the Concept of the Person Vary Cross-Culturally?" Originally from "Cultural Conceptions of Mental Health and Therapy," A. Marsella and G. White (eds.) Dordrecht, Holland: Reidel. Reprinted in "Thinking Through Cultures: Expeditions in Cultural Psychology," Shweder, R.A., Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1991.