Professor Emeritus, Social Science (PhD: Harvard, 1960)
2229 Social Sciences Plaza B
(949) 824-7602
email: bncolby at uci dot edu
Professor Colby's interests are focused primarily on culture theory, psychobiological anthropology, and ways to test theoretical statements concerning well-being and biocultural success. The data used include life histories, diaries, interview material, scales, questionnaires, and immunological and other psychiological measures. Techniques are primarily content analysis, artificial intelligence, and statistics. Groups studied include women of different ethnic groups and life stages, and the Ixil Indians of Guatemala.
Selected Publications"Well-being: A Theoretical Program."
American Anthropologist 89.4 (1987): 879-895.
"On the Scientific Study of Folktales."
Fabula: Zeitschrift fr Erzahlforschung 301, 1989.
"The Japanese Tea Ceremony: Coherence Theory and Metaphor in Social Adaptation."
Beyond Metaphor: The Theory of Tropes in Anthropology. Ed. James W. Fernandez. Stanford: Stanford UP, 1991. 244-260.