Gilbert Herdt

Gilbert Herdt, PhD, a cultural anthropologist, is Professor of
Sexuality Studies and Anthropology. Professor Herdt is also Director of
the National Sexuality Resource Center, a Ford Foundation funded
project. Dr. Herdt has written about sexual cultures, and sexual and
gender identity development cross-culturally and in the United States.
Dr. Herdt's studies of the Sambia people of Papua New Guinea, made
famous in a series of books and papers beginning with Guardians of the Flutes
(1981), is a key case study that analyzes how culture and society
create sexual meanings and practices. In the U.S. Dr. Herdt has studied
adolescents and their families, the emergence of HIV and gay culture,
and the role that social policy plays in people's sexual health. A
Fulbright, NIMH, and Guggenheim Fellowship recipient, Herdt has taught
at Stanford University, the University of Chicago, the University of
Amsterdam, and the University of Washington. His publications include
nearly 30 single and edited books, and more than 100 scientific papers.