Academic Career
The University of Sydney was the first university in Australia to teach anthropology. The university was once an academic home to anthropologists such as A.P. Elkin, Raymond Firth, Ian Hogbin, A.R. Radcliffe-Brown, and Camilla Wedgwood. Kaberry studied under A.P. Elkin, a firm believer that female anthropologists were able to give a unique and beneficial perspective of women in various societies – a subject neglected during this time.
During her first years as a graduate student, Kaberry took an interest in New Guinea. Her master's thesis was the result of this interest, and was a survey of the effects of government policies on native conditions. Such an issue would also be seen in her later work in Australia and Africa. She would later renew her Melanesian interests after 1939 when she traveled to New Guinea to study the social organization among the Abelam people of the Sepik District. She became curious in Melanesian diet, specifically the central role yams played. Unfortunately, the effects of World War II shortened her stay.
Read more about this topic: Phyllis Kaberry
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