LOW, Setha M. 1948-

PERSONAL: Born March 14, 1948, in Los Angeles, CA; daughter of Seth and Marilyn (maiden name, Maxon; present surname, Rudley) Low; married Joel Lefkowitz (a professor), June 26, 1994; stepchildren: Melanie, Jared. Education: Pitzer College, B.A., 1969; University of California—Berkeley, M.A., 1971, Ph. D., 1976; attended Eastern Pennsylvania Psychiatric Institute, 1979-80, and University of Pennsylvania, 1981-82. Hobbies and other interests: Park and garden design, historic preservation, swimming, tennis, skiing, swing dancing.

ADDRESSES: Home—Brooklyn, NY. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Routledge, 29 West 35th St., New York, NY 10001.

CAREER: San Francisco State College (now University), San Francisco, CA, instructor in anthropology, 1971; University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, assistant professor, 1976-82, associate professor of landscape architecture and regional planning, anthropology, and city planning, 1982-88, associate faculty of Center for the Study of Aging, 1982-87, and Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, 1984-87; Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York, New York, NY, professor of environmental psychology and anthropology, beginning 1987, director of Public Space Research Group, beginning 1988. Universidad de Costa Rica, honorary professor, 1986-87; York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, visiting professor, 1991; University of Pennsylvania, visiting lecturer, 1992-95; New York University, visiting professor, 1995; speaker at Yale University and Columbia University. Pinelands Commission of New Jersey, member of Historical Preservation Resource Management Committee, 1983-84; Municipal Arts Society of New York City, member of Committee on Historical and Cultural Landmarks, 1992—; Parks Council of New York, member of Design Committee, 1992—; supporter of National Heritage Areas Coalition and Citizens Committee for New York City, Inc. Conducted anthropological field work in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Japan, Spain, Mexico, France, Cuba, Venezuela, and the United States; consultant to National Park Service, American Folklife Center, and National Trust for Historic Preservation. Gordon & Breach (publisher), member of medical anthropology editorial board, 1992—.

MEMBER: American Anthropological Association (fellow; member of executive board, 1993-96), Society for Urban Anthropology (member of council, 1992-95), Society for Applied Anthropology (fellow; member of executive board, 1993-96), Society for Cultural Anthropology (fellow), Environmental Design Research Association (vice chair, 1987-88; chair, 1988-89; member of board of directors, 1987-90), Society for Latin American Anthropology, Society for Medical Anthropology (member of executive board), American Ethnological Society, Society for Psychological Anthropology, Latin American Studies Association, Columbia University Seminar on the City (associate).

AWARDS, HONORS: Grant for El Salvador, Hunter-Grubb Foundation, 1968-69; fellow, Center for Latin American Studies, 1972-74; National Institute of Mental Health, fellow in Costa Rica, 1972-74, grant, 1976-78; grant from Center for Environmental Design and Planning, 1981-82; grant for Guatemala, Canada's International Development Research Centre, 1981-83; honorary M.A., University of Pennsylvania, 1983; Fulbright fellow in Costa Rica, 1986-87; grants for Spain and Italy from Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthrological Research, 1987-88, 1994-96; National Science Foundation grant for Yugoslavia, 1988; fellow at John Carter Brown Library, National Endowment for the Humanities, 1989-90.

WRITINGS:

Culture, Politics, and Medicine in Costa Rica, Gordon & Breach (Philadelphia, PA), 1985.

(Editor, with E. Chambers) Housing, Culture, and Design: A Comparative Perspective, University of Pennsylvania Press (Philadelphia, PA), 1989.

(Editor, with D. David) Gender, Health, and Illness: The Case of Nerves, Hemisphere Publishing (Washington, DC), 1989.

(Editor, with I. Altman) Place Attachment, Plenum (New York, NY), 1992.

(With F. Johnston) Children of the Urban Poor: The Sociocultural Environment of Growth, Development, and Malnutrition in Guatemala City, Westview (Boulder, CO), 1995.

(Editor) Theorizing the City: The New Urban Anthropology Reader, Rutgers University Press (New Brunswick, NJ), 1999.

On the Plaza: The Politics of Public Space and Culture, University of Texas Press (Austin, TX), 2000.

Behind the Gates: Life, Security, and the Pursuit of Happiness in Fortress America, Routledge (New York, NY), 2003.

Editor of "Medical Anthropology Series," State University of New York Press (Albany, NY), beginning 1983; associate editor, "Advances in Environmental, Behavior, and Design Series," 1989-91. Contributor to books, including Embodiment and Experience: The Existential Ground of Culture and Self, edited by T. Csordas, Cambridge University Press (Cambridge, England), 1994; Conserving Culture: A New Discourse on Heritage, edited by M. Hufford, University of Illinois Press (Urbana, IL), 1994; and Setting Boundaries, edited by D. Pellow, Bergen & Garvey (Amherst, MA), 1996. Contributor of articles and reviews to scholarly journals, including American Ethnologist, Cultural Resources Management, Social Text, Landscape Journal, Human Organization, and City and Society. Medical Anthropology Quarterly, corresponding editor, 1976-82, member of editorial board, 1994—; corresponding editor, Practicing Anthropology, 1977-86; editor, Cultural Aspects of Design Newsletter, 1985—; associate editor, Medical Anthropology Journal, 1986—; editor of special issues, Architecture and Behavior, 1988, and Health Care for Women International, 1989; member of editorial board, City and Society, 1995—.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Library Journal, May 15, 2003, Janet Ingraham Dwyer, review of Behind the Gates: Life, Security, and the Pursuit of Happiness in Fortress America, pp. 110-111.*