Dr. Ann Baker Cottrell

Dr. Ann Baker Cottrell grew up in Glencoe, Illinois. She received a BA in sociology and anthropology from Miami University in 1960, an MA in sociology/anthropology from Michigan State University in 1964 and Ph.D. in sociology from Michigan State in 1970. At Michigan State she studied with Drs. John and Ruth Hill Useem. She was a professor of sociology at San Diego State University where she taught since 1967, and retired in 2000. She is currently continuing a research project on adult third culture kids begun by Ruth and John Useem. She is also working with MSU alumni Kiki McCarthy (Ph.D. in 1972) and Sal Restivo (Ph.D. in 1974) on a festschrift in honor of the Useems.

Dr. Cottrell’s academic interests have focused on globally mobile families and comparative research on women. Her interest in international activities and issues was sparked by a junior year abroad at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. During graduate school she spent summers as a participant and leader on Experiment in International Living Programs in India and Switzerland and in Ivory Coast with Crossroads Africa. A Fulbright grant to India (1964-6) provided the opportunity to collect data for her dissertation on Indian-Western marriages. This was the first phase of a three-nation study of South Asian-Western families. The second study of South Asian-British couples was conducted in the Britain (1975-6) and the third on American-South Asian couples was conducted in the US the following year. Her interest in globally mobile families has continued with the study of Adult American Third Culture Kids she and Ruth Hill Useem are doing with the help of Dr. John Useem and Dr. Kathleen Jordan. In Italy (1982-3) she did research on Female re-entry students at the University of Trieste, comparing them with female re-entry students in the US.

At San Diego State University her international activity has included serving as the Assistant Director of the Office for International Programs. She was an early member of San Diego State University’s chapter of Phi Beta Delta, International Scholars Honor Society, serving as its president, treasurer and board member. She was also a founding member of the Institute for International Security and Conflict Resolution (IISCOR) and regularly tought in the interdisciplinary ISCOR major. She has also chaired the Liberal Studies major for students planning to become elementary school teachers and she continues to be involved with that program.

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Email: acottrell@eternal.net

For additional information, visit her page of Research Interests, Publications & Presentations.