Bambi Chapin, Anthropology, on Mothering

What makes a good mother? Bambi Chapin, assistant professor of anthropology, tackles this question in a new three-minute UMBC Talking Heads video: “Mothering as Everyday Practice.” Chapin’s upcoming special issue of Ethos explores not just what mothers say about parenting, but what they actually do, and how diverse value systems, social structures, traditions, habits and life circumstances shape mothering practices. Chapin undertook this research while parenting her own child in the field, and she describes how others’ reactions to her mothering had unexpected effects on her fieldwork.