Adrienne L. Kaeppler
Encyclopedia
Adrienne Lois Kaeppler is an American anthropologist, curator of Oceanic Ethnology
at the National Museum of Natural History
at the Smithsonian Institution
in Washington, DC. Since 2005, she has been President of the International Council on Traditional Music. Her research focuses on the interrelationships between social structure and the arts, including dance, music, and the visual arts, especially in Tonga
and Hawaii
. She is considered to be an expert on Tongan dance, and the voyages of the 18th-century explorer James Cook
.
Kaeppler attended the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, and received her Masters and PhD from the University of Hawaii
. In the 1970s, she was an anthropologist at the Bishop Museum
in Honolulu, Hawaii
. She has taught anthropology, ethnomusicology
, anthropology of dance, and art history at the University of Hawaii
; the University of Maryland, College Park
; the Queen’s University in Belfast, Northern Ireland; Johns Hopkins University
; and the University of California, Los Angeles
. She was also a member of the State Council on Hawaiian Heritage. In 1998, she worked in Tonga at the Tongan National Museum, setting up a special exhibition on the 80th birthday of King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV
. In 2004, she was vice-president of the International Council for Traditional Music
, and she was elected as President in 2005, taking over from Krister Malm. She is currently curator and anthropologist at the National Museum of Natural History
of the Smithsonian Institution
.
Ethnology
Ethnology is the branch of anthropology that compares and analyzes the origins, distribution, technology, religion, language, and social structure of the ethnic, racial, and/or national divisions of humanity.-Scientific discipline:Compared to ethnography, the study of single groups through direct...
at the National Museum of Natural History
National Museum of Natural History
The National Museum of Natural History is a natural history museum administered by the Smithsonian Institution, located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. Admission is free and the museum is open 364 days a year....
at the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
in Washington, DC. Since 2005, she has been President of the International Council on Traditional Music. Her research focuses on the interrelationships between social structure and the arts, including dance, music, and the visual arts, especially in Tonga
Tonga
Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga , is a state and an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, comprising 176 islands scattered over of ocean in the South Pacific...
and Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
. She is considered to be an expert on Tongan dance, and the voyages of the 18th-century explorer James Cook
James Cook
Captain James Cook, FRS, RN was a British explorer, navigator and cartographer who ultimately rose to the rank of captain in the Royal Navy...
.
Career
Her research focuses on material culture and the visual and performing arts in their cultural contexts, including traditional social and political structures and modern cultural identity.Kaeppler attended the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, and received her Masters and PhD from the University of Hawaii
University of Hawaii
The University of Hawaii System, formally the University of Hawaii and popularly known as UH, is a public, co-educational college and university system that confers associate, bachelor, master, and doctoral degrees through three university campuses, seven community college campuses, an employment...
. In the 1970s, she was an anthropologist at the Bishop Museum
Bishop Museum
The Bishop Museum , is a museum of history and science in the historic Kalihi district of Honolulu on the Hawaiian island of O'ahu...
in Honolulu, Hawaii
Honolulu, Hawaii
Honolulu is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii. Honolulu is the southernmost major U.S. city. Although the name "Honolulu" refers to the urban area on the southeastern shore of the island of Oahu, the city and county government are consolidated as the City and...
. She has taught anthropology, ethnomusicology
Ethnomusicology
Ethnomusicology is defined as "the study of social and cultural aspects of music and dance in local and global contexts."Coined by the musician Jaap Kunst from the Greek words ἔθνος ethnos and μουσική mousike , it is often considered the anthropology or ethnography of music...
, anthropology of dance, and art history at the University of Hawaii
University of Hawaii
The University of Hawaii System, formally the University of Hawaii and popularly known as UH, is a public, co-educational college and university system that confers associate, bachelor, master, and doctoral degrees through three university campuses, seven community college campuses, an employment...
; the University of Maryland, College Park
University of Maryland, College Park
The University of Maryland, College Park is a top-ranked public research university located in the city of College Park in Prince George's County, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C...
; the Queen’s University in Belfast, Northern Ireland; Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
; and the University of California, Los Angeles
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...
. She was also a member of the State Council on Hawaiian Heritage. In 1998, she worked in Tonga at the Tongan National Museum, setting up a special exhibition on the 80th birthday of King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV
Taufa'ahau Tupou IV
Tāufaāhau Tupou IV, King of Tonga, GCMG, GCVO, KBE, KStJ son of Queen Sālote Tupou III and her consort Prince Viliami Tungī Mailefihi, was the king of Tonga from the death of his mother in 1965 until his own death in 2006...
. In 2004, she was vice-president of the International Council for Traditional Music
International Council for Traditional Music
The International Council for Traditional Music is a UNESCO-recognized NGO, an academic organization focused on musicology and dance research. Founded in London on September 22, 1947, it publishes the Yearbook for Traditional Music once a year, and a twice-yearly bulletin. Since 2005, its...
, and she was elected as President in 2005, taking over from Krister Malm. She is currently curator and anthropologist at the National Museum of Natural History
National Museum of Natural History
The National Museum of Natural History is a natural history museum administered by the Smithsonian Institution, located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. Admission is free and the museum is open 364 days a year....
of the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
.
Awards
- Honored by the YWCAYWCAThe YWCA USA is the United States branch of a women's membership movement that strives to create opportunities for women's growth, leadership and power in order to attain a common vision—to eliminate racism and empower women. The YWCA is a non-profit organization, the first of which was founded in...
in 1978 as a leading female scientist focused on the understanding of native cultures. - Kaeppler's 2009 book James Cook and the Exploration of the Pacific won:
- First International Prize for a Tribal Art Book by Sotheby's Paris Headquarters
- Book of the Month, April 2010, Hodern House, Australia
- 2010, Smithsonian Secretary's Distinguished Research Lecture Award, which "recognizes a scholar’s sustained achievement in research, longstanding investment in the Smithsonian, and outstanding contribution to a field, as well as his or her ability to communicate research to a non-specialist audience"
Selected writing
|title= "L'Aigle" and HMS "Blonde": The Use of History in the Study of Ethnography |work=Hawaiian Journal of History |publisher=Hawaii Historical Society |volume= 12 |year=1978 |pages=28–44 }}- Poetry in Motion: Studies in Tongan Dance, 1993
- Polynesian and Micronesian sections of Oceanic Art, published in French, German, and English, 1993–1997
- From the Stone Age to the Space Age in 200 Years: Tongan Art and Society on the Eve of the Millennium, 1999
- The Pacific Arts of Polynesia and Micronesia, Oxford University PressOxford University PressOxford University Press is the largest university press in the world. It is a department of the University of Oxford and is governed by a group of 15 academics appointed by the Vice-Chancellor known as the Delegates of the Press. They are headed by the Secretary to the Delegates, who serves as...
, 2008