Name: Jessica Leigh Hackett

Address: 45bis Quai Jayr, 69009 Lyon France

Nationality: American

Residency: French resident since 1998.

email: jeleigh@gmail.com

2007- present: PhD Student. Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales

2006-2007:     American Institute of Indian Studies, Advances Marathi Program

2006:     Master 2 Recherche: Medical Anthropology, Aix-Marseille III.

2004:     Maîtrise: Ethnology, Université de Provence.

2002:     Licence: (B.A.): Ethnology, Université de Provence.

1998:     Bachelor's of Arts: French & International Studies, University of Richmond, VA.

1994:     High School Diploma, Selinsgrove Area High School, Selinsgrove, PA.

Scholarships & Awards

2006-2007: American Institute for Indian Studies grant for 2-semester study of Marathi, Pune, India.

2005: Fulbright Student Grant: 9-month anthropological study in India.

1994-98: Awards during B.A study: Phi Beta Delta (Honor Society for International Scholars), Golden Key National Honor Society, Alpha Lambda Delta (National Honor Society for College Freshman), Phi Sigma Iota (International Foreign Language Society), Pi Delta Phi (French Honor Society)

1992-93: Rotary Exchange Scholarship, 1-year exchange program in France.

Research interests: birthing practices, birth and life cycle rituals, popular & folk religion of rural India, Maharashtra, women's studies.

Publications & unpublished theses:

Forthcoming: "Une rencontre avec Zanabai...Pratiques et histoires des matrones du Maharashtra" in Hancart-Petitet, P. (ed.) L'art des matrones revisité. Naissances contemporaines en questions. Paris: Editions Faustroll-Descartes.

unpublished Master's Thesis: 2006. Une dynamique sociale autour de l'accouchement en milieu rural maharashtrien: le cas des suins du Maharashtra. Université Paul-Cézanne, Aix-Marseille III. Aix-en-Provence, France.

unpublished Maitrise Thesis: 2004. L'accouchement à domicile dans le sud de la France. Vers une réhumanisation de la naissance. Université de Provence I. Aix-en-Provence, France.

Research Activities:

2009: Communication: "Réflexions autour des problèmes rencontrés sur le terrain". Université Toulouse-Mirail.

2009: Communication: "Un terrain peut en cacher un autre - Itinéraire de recherche - de la France à l'Inde", Université Toulouse-Mirail.

2009: Communication: "Ethnographie et Reflexivité ou trouver sa place sur le terrain: ce que révèle un terrain au Maharashtra, Inde." Centre d'Anthropologie Sociale, LISST, Toulouse.

2009: Communication: "Doing fieldwork in Maharashtra: Experiences of a PhD student": Institute of Knowledge Engineering, Nasik, India.

2007: Communication: "Zanabai. Un regard sur les matrones du Maharashtra". AJEI Seminar, Aix-en-Provence, France.

2007: Co-organization of AJEI seminar (with Marion Delpeu): "Les Sciences Sociales et la Santé en Asie du Sud".

2006: Co-organization of seminar (with Ashley Ouvrier): "Première Journée Interdisciplinaire d'Etudiants en Sciences Sociales et Santé. Aix-en-Provence.

2004-2005: Affiliation to the French Institute of Pondichery in the research team: Sociétés & Médecines en Asie du Sud" under the direction of Laurent Pordié.

Field visits

2009: Field visit to Maharashtra

2005: 9 month field research for study of traditional birth practices in Maharashtra. (Fulbright student grant)

2003-04: Research on Homebirthing practices in Southern France.

2000-01: Ethnomusicological collection for Indian ONG. (Centre for Cooperative Research in Social Sciences, Pune, India).

Translations

Books:

Renunciation & Power: The Quest for Sainthood in Contemporary Burma, author: Guillaume Rozenberg. (to be published in the Southeast Asia Monograph Series, Yale University.)

Articles:

"Transformation, rupture & continuity: issues and options in contemporary Shugendo", author: Anne Bouchy.

"Free the Ganges!" & "Nationalist Hindus: women in an identity & religious movement", author : Djallal Heuzé.

"Couple Dynamics, PMTCT programs and infant feeding decision-making in Ivory Coast", authors: A. Tijou-Traoré, M. Querre, (...). published in Social Science and Medicine 69 (6): 830-837.

Teaching

ESL and FLE teaching in France since 1998.

Other

Editorial Assistant for Global Business and Organizational Excellence.

Language Skills

English (mother tongue)

French (native fluency)

Marathi (upper-intermediate proficiency)

Spanish (basic knowledge)

Associative Participation

Association for Young Indian Students/Association Jeunes Etudes Indiennes: member since 2004, seminar co-organizer in 2007, Secretary 2008-2009, Administrative Council Member 2009-2010.

Personal Interests

Foreign Languages, music, reading, cinema, vegetarian cooking, hikings, swimming, yoga.