Ronald Cohen Papers
Scope and Content
The Ronald Cohen Papers date from 1950 to 1996. The papers are primarily related to his research and anthropological field work in Nigeria, focusing on the ethnography and social structures of the Nigerians living in Borno (Bornu), particularly the Kanuri and Bura-Pabir speaking peoples. The bulk of the collection consists of field notes, oral histories, grant proposals, and interviews created while conducting field research from the 1950s to the 1980s. A large number of these documents were created by Nigerians working in the field with Cohen. In particular, a majority of the oral history interviews were conducted by individuals belonging to the same clans and families as the interview informants. These interviews, along with observations about the informants and villages, were recorded in field notebooks, many of which include drawings of tools and ceremonial objects, hand-drawn maps of villages, and sketches of houses and other structures. Several of these field notebooks have been transcribed in typescript format. In addition to these important oral histories, several files in the collection contain photographs, notes, and research materials created or collected by Cohen while in Nigeria.
The collection also includes an excellent representation of Cohen's published and unpublished writings, including journal articles, book contributions, monographs, reports, and reviews. Of course, a large a number of the publications pertain to Nigerian culture and the research Cohen conducted there over 30 years. Many of these writings exist in multiple versions, from early manuscript drafts to final typescripts and copies of publications and reprints. In addition, there are professional papers related to lectures, symposia, professional associations, consultancy, the Carter Lectures on Africa, and various academic departments in which Cohen served as a faculty member. There is very little material concerning Cohen's activities as an instructor at these academic institutions, but there is a small amount of correspondence with colleagues and students. The collection does not include many personal papers or items pertaining to Cohen's family life.
Dates
- Creation: 1950-1996
Creator
- Cohen, Ronald. (Person)
Access
The collection is open for research.
Biographical Note
Ronald Cohen was born in Toronto, Canada, in 1930. In 1955, he married Diana B. Cohen. He received a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1960. He served as Lecturer in Anthropology at the University of Toronto from 1958 to 1961. In 1961, he accepted a position as Assistant Professor at McGill University. From 1963 to 1982 Cohen served as a professor of anthropology at Northwestern University, including periods as Chair of the Department of Anthropology in the early 1970s and as Co-Director of the Program in Ethnography and Public Policy in the early 1980s. During the 1970s, he also took leave from Northwestern to serve as Chair of the Department of Anthropology and Sociology at Ahmadu Bello University. Professor Cohen joined the faculty of the University of Florida's Department of Anthropology in 1982, where he served until his retirement in 1995.
Cohen's extensive field work includes four major research projects undertaken in Nigeria. In the mid-1950s, Cohen conducted ethnographic research examining social changes among the Kanuri of Borno in Northern Nigeria. In the late 1960s, he researched the high divorce frequency among the Kanuri. In the early 1970s, he conducted a large ethnographic study of the origins and structure of Babur-Bura society in Borno with a special emphasis on the spread of Islam and the split between the Babur (predominately Islamic) and the Bura groups in this region. In the mid-1980s, Cohen returned to Nigeria once again to examine the organization of food production in Nigerian agriculture, including farming scale and productivity.
At the time of his retirement from academics, Ronald Cohen had over 30 years of research experience in Nigeria and was widely known for his many publications on Nigerian culture, political anthropology, and development issues.
- 1930 Born in Toronto, Canada
- 1951 B.A. (Philosophy), University of Toronto
- 1954 M.Sc. (Anthropology), University of Wisconsin-Madison
- 1955 Weds Diana Barbara Williams
- 1955-1957 Foreign Area Fellowship, Field Work in Borno, Nigeria
- 1957-1958 John Evans Fellowship
- 1958-1961 Lecturer in Anthropology, University of Toronto
- 1960 Ph.D. (Anthropology), University of Wisconsin-Madison (Dissertation: "The Structure of Kanuri Society"
- 1960-1963 Grant: Department of Northern Affairs, Ottawa, Development of the Mackenzie River, Canada (Field Work: 1961)
- 1961-1963 Assistant Professor, McGill University Chair, African Students Foundation of Canada
- 1962 Publication of book, A Survey of Communities of the McKenzie Valley
- 1962-1997 Editor (associate), Anthropologica (including as Guest Editor of special issue on "Power in Complex Societies in Africa" in 1962)
- 1962-1963 Founding Chairman, African Studies Association of Canada
- 1963-1968 Associate Professor, Northwestern University
- 1964-1965 Grant: NIMH, Pilot Study for Family Conflict in Borno
- 1966-1968 Grant: National Science Foundation, Family Conflict in Borno
- 1966-1970 Editor in charge of anthropology, African Abstracts
- 1967 Publication of book, The Kanuri of Bornu Publication of book, Comparative Political Systems (edited with John Middleton)
- 1967-1971 Board member, Central States Anthropological Association
- 1968 Lecture tour of six African countries for Northwestern University Herskovits Memorial Lecture, University of Edinburgh
- 1968-1972 Review Panel, NIMH (Behavioral Sciences)
- 1968-1973 Grant (with others): Ford Foundation, National Unity in Africa
- 1968-1982 Professor of Anthropology and Political Science, Northwestern University
- 1970-1972 Chair, Department of Anthropology, Northwestern University Assistant Editor, American Anthropologist
- 1971 Publication of book, Dominance and Defiance: A Study of Marital Instability in an Islamic African Society Publication of book, From Tribe to Nation in Africa (edited with John Middleton) Publication of book, Handbook of Method in Cultural Anthropology (edited with R. Narroll)
- 1972-1974 Grant: NSF, NEH and Rockefeller, Origins of the State in Borno and Gongola, Nigeria (Field Work in the Biu Division while at the University of Maiduguri) Chair, Department of Anthropology and Sociology, Ahmadu Bello University (on leave from Northwestern)
- 1972-1982 Co-Editor (with John Paden) of the series, Studies in Political Culture, Northwestern University Press
- 1973-1974 Consultant to Udoji Commission on Nigeria's Federal Public Services
- 1974-1975 Associate Editor, Political Anthropology
- 1975-1977 Consultant, National Academy of Sciences, evaluation of ETIP division of the Department of Commerce
- 1976-1977 Fellow, Center for Advanced Studies in Behavioral Sciences, Palo Alto (Stanford)
- 1977-1979 Consultant, IPA, for the Master Plan, New Federal Capital of Nigeria
- 1978 Publication of book: Origins of the State (edited with E.R. Service)
- 1979-1982 Grant (with others): Ford Foundation, Drought in East Africa
- 1980 Publication of book: Hierarchy and Society (edited with G. Britan)
- 1980-1981 Co-Director, Northwestern University Program in Ethnography and Public Policy
- 1980-1982 Review Panel, National Science Foundation
- 1980-1984 Grant (with others): NIMH, Training Program in Anthropology for Policy Analysis and Research
- 1981-1983 Executive Board, Central States Anthropological Association
- 1982-1995 Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of Florida
- 1983-1984 Grant: National Science Foundation, African Studies (UF), Production and Organization in Nigerian Agriculture (Field Work in Borno)
- 1983-1988 Board member, Association of Political and Legal Anthropology (APLA)
- 1984-1985 Fulbright-Hays Research Grant, Production and Organization in Nigerian Agriculture
- 1984-1986 Appointed to joint USA-USSR working group of scholars to develop cooperative research on ethnicity and state formation
- 1985-1988 Appointed by International Union of Ethnological and Anthropological Sciences to plan Symposia on peace at Zagreb meeting
- 1985-1990 Carter Lectures on Africa (Ronald Cohen, Chair): Ford Foundation, African Studies Center Grant, Ford Foundation for Human Rights
- 1987 Publication of book: The Kanuri of Borno (revised edition) Distinguished Lecture: Annual Meeting, Society for Cross-Cultural Research Keynote Address: Annual Meeting, Society for Economic Anthropology
- 1988 Publication of book: State Formation and Political Legitimacy (edited with J. Toland) Publication of book: Satisfying Africa's Food Needs: Food Production and Commercialization in African Agriculture Consultant to AID on Research Methods: USAID training and its effects on bureaucratic agency developmental results (Nepal and Kenya) Symposium in Honor of Ronald Cohen, African Studies Association Meetings, Chicago
- 1988-1989 President elect, APLA Appointed to the Staley Prize Committee to choose best book in Anthropology
- 1988-1990 Review Panel, IIE, Fulbright Grants for doctoral research in Africa
- 1989-1990 President, APLA
- 1990 Keynote Address: Conference on Rural Transformation in Africa, Ohio State University Grant (with others): Ford Foundation, Human Rights and Governance in Africa
- 1991-1992 Board Member, APLA
- 1992-[1994] Co-Chair of the Board of Directors with Dele Olowu of "Transition to Democracy in Nigeria" Project, UF and Obafemi Awolowo University
- 1992-1995 Grant: USIA, Democratization in Nigeria
- 1993 Publication of book: Human Rights and Governance in Africa (with G. Hyden) One of two North American scholars (from Yale and UF) invited to the second international symposium on evolutionary epistemology, Vienna
- 1995 Retirement from the University of Florida
- 2018 Passed away in Micanopy, Florida
- 1930
- Born in Toronto, Canada
- 1951
- B.A. (Philosophy), University of Toronto
- 1954
- M.Sc. (Anthropology), University of Wisconsin-Madison
- 1955
- Weds Diana Barbara Williams
- 1955-1957
- Foreign Area Fellowship, Field Work in Borno, Nigeria
- 1957-1958
- John Evans Fellowship
- 1958-1961
- Lecturer in Anthropology, University of Toronto
- 1960
- Ph.D. (Anthropology), University of Wisconsin-Madison (Dissertation: "The Structure of Kanuri Society"
- 1960-1963
- Grant: Department of Northern Affairs, Ottawa, Development of the Mackenzie River, Canada (Field Work: 1961)
- 1961-1963
- Assistant Professor, McGill University
- Chair, African Students Foundation of Canada
- 1962
- Publication of book, A Survey of Communities of the McKenzie Valley
- 1962-1997
- Editor (associate), Anthropologica (including as Guest Editor of special issue on "Power in Complex Societies in Africa" in 1962)
- 1962-1963
- Founding Chairman, African Studies Association of Canada
- 1963-1968
- Associate Professor, Northwestern University
- 1964-1965
- Grant: NIMH, Pilot Study for Family Conflict in Borno
- 1966-1968
- Grant: National Science Foundation, Family Conflict in Borno
- 1966-1970
- Editor in charge of anthropology, African Abstracts
- 1967
- Publication of book, The Kanuri of Bornu
- Publication of book, Comparative Political Systems (edited with John Middleton)
- 1967-1971
- Board member, Central States Anthropological Association
- 1968
- Lecture tour of six African countries for Northwestern University
- Herskovits Memorial Lecture, University of Edinburgh
- 1968-1972
- Review Panel, NIMH (Behavioral Sciences)
- 1968-1973
- Grant (with others): Ford Foundation, National Unity in Africa
- 1968-1982
- Professor of Anthropology and Political Science, Northwestern University
- 1970-1972
- Chair, Department of Anthropology, Northwestern University
- Assistant Editor, American Anthropologist
- 1971
- Publication of book, Dominance and Defiance: A Study of Marital Instability in an Islamic African Society
- Publication of book, From Tribe to Nation in Africa (edited with John Middleton)
- Publication of book, Handbook of Method in Cultural Anthropology (edited with R. Narroll)
- 1972-1974
- Grant: NSF, NEH and Rockefeller, Origins of the State in Borno and Gongola, Nigeria (Field Work in the Biu Division while at the University of Maiduguri)
- Chair, Department of Anthropology and Sociology, Ahmadu Bello University (on leave from Northwestern)
- 1972-1982
- Co-Editor (with John Paden) of the series, Studies in Political Culture, Northwestern University Press
- 1973-1974
- Consultant to Udoji Commission on Nigeria's Federal Public Services
- 1974-1975
- Associate Editor, Political Anthropology
- 1975-1977
- Consultant, National Academy of Sciences, evaluation of ETIP division of the Department of Commerce
- 1976-1977
- Fellow, Center for Advanced Studies in Behavioral Sciences, Palo Alto (Stanford)
- 1977-1979
- Consultant, IPA, for the Master Plan, New Federal Capital of Nigeria
- 1978
- Publication of book: Origins of the State (edited with E.R. Service)
- 1979-1982
- Grant (with others): Ford Foundation, Drought in East Africa
- 1980
- Publication of book: Hierarchy and Society (edited with G. Britan)
- 1980-1981
- Co-Director, Northwestern University Program in Ethnography and Public Policy
- 1980-1982
- Review Panel, National Science Foundation
- 1980-1984
- Grant (with others): NIMH, Training Program in Anthropology for Policy Analysis and Research
- 1981-1983
- Executive Board, Central States Anthropological Association
- 1982-1995
- Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of Florida
- 1983-1984
- Grant: National Science Foundation, African Studies (UF), Production and Organization in Nigerian Agriculture (Field Work in Borno)
- 1983-1988
- Board member, Association of Political and Legal Anthropology (APLA)
- 1984-1985
- Fulbright-Hays Research Grant, Production and Organization in Nigerian Agriculture
- 1984-1986
- Appointed to joint USA-USSR working group of scholars to develop cooperative research on ethnicity and state formation
- 1985-1988
- Appointed by International Union of Ethnological and Anthropological Sciences to plan Symposia on peace at Zagreb meeting
- 1985-1990
- Carter Lectures on Africa (Ronald Cohen, Chair): Ford Foundation, African Studies Center Grant, Ford Foundation for Human Rights
- 1987
- Publication of book: The Kanuri of Borno (revised edition)
- Distinguished Lecture: Annual Meeting, Society for Cross-Cultural Research
- Keynote Address: Annual Meeting, Society for Economic Anthropology
- 1988
- Publication of book: State Formation and Political Legitimacy (edited with J. Toland)
- Publication of book: Satisfying Africa's Food Needs: Food Production and Commercialization in African Agriculture
- Consultant to AID on Research Methods: USAID training and its effects on bureaucratic agency developmental results (Nepal and Kenya)
- Symposium in Honor of Ronald Cohen, African Studies Association Meetings, Chicago
- 1988-1989
- President elect, APLA
- Appointed to the Staley Prize Committee to choose best book in Anthropology
- 1988-1990
- Review Panel, IIE, Fulbright Grants for doctoral research in Africa
- 1989-1990
- President, APLA
- 1990
- Keynote Address: Conference on Rural Transformation in Africa, Ohio State University
- Grant (with others): Ford Foundation, Human Rights and Governance in Africa
- 1991-1992
- Board Member, APLA
- 1992-[1994]
- Co-Chair of the Board of Directors with Dele Olowu of "Transition to Democracy in Nigeria" Project, UF and Obafemi Awolowo University
- 1992-1995
- Grant: USIA, Democratization in Nigeria
- 1993
- Publication of book: Human Rights and Governance in Africa (with G. Hyden)
- One of two North American scholars (from Yale and UF) invited to the second international symposium on evolutionary epistemology, Vienna
- 1995
- Retirement from the University of Florida
- 2018
- Passed away in Micanopy, Florida
Extent
10.25 Linear feet (33 Boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Includes field notes, published and unpublished writings, correspondence, and professional papers created by anthropologist, Ronald Cohen. The majority of the collection pertains to Nigerians in the state of Borno (Bornu), particularly the Kanuri and Bura-Pabir speaking peoples.
Arrangement
The Ronald Cohen Papers are divided into seven records series.
Physical Location
University of Florida Smathers Library Building
Acquisition Information
The Ronald Cohen Papers were donated by Ronald and Diana Cohen of Micanopy, Florida, in 1996. The collection was acquired through the assistance of Dan Reboussin. In 2012 Northwestern University transferred a small amount of materials that had been discovered in storage. These materials, which primarily relate to his field work in Nigeria, have been interfiled with existing materials in the collection.
Alternate Form of Material
Digital reproductions of items in the Cohen collection are available online via the University of Florida Digital Collections (UFDC). Please read the Permissions for Use statement for information on copyright, fair use, and use of UFDC digital objects.
Other Descriptive Data
Throughout the collection, Cohen uses African words, abbreviations, and words with variant spellings. For example, Borno is the current spelling of what was originally spelled Bornu. Cohen refers to the founder of the village or his descendant as the Village Head (VH) or the Lawan. There are wards or hamlets that are run by a Bulama, usually the head of the largest household in the area. There are several districts in Borno, each with a District Head (DH). The Shehu, or king, is a political/religious leader. A person who has studied the Koran is called a Malam. The Kanuri are a large ethnic group in Borno in northeastern Nigeria. Biu is in the southern portion of the Borno state. The peoples of Borno speak Bura-Pabir. Speakers of Bura are predominately non-Islamic, while speakers of Pabir (also known as Babur or Babir) are predominately Islamic.
- Title
- A Guide to the Ronald Cohen Papers
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Finding aid prepared by John R. Nemmers and Dan Reboussin
- Date
- August 2004
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Description is written in English.
Repository Details
Part of the Special and Area Studies Collections, George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida Repository
George A. Smathers Libraries
PO Box 117005
Gainesville Florida 32611-7005 United States of America
352-273-2755
special@uflib.ufl.edu