Mary Catherine Bateson

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Mary Catherine Bateson
At a conference on climate disruption in 2004
Born	(1939-12-08)December 8, 1939 New York City, New York
Died	January 2, 2021(2021-01-02) (aged 81) Dartmouth, New Hampshire
Education	Brearley School (1957) Radcliffe College, B.A. (1960) Harvard University, Ph.D. (1963)
Occupation	Cultural anthropologist
Spouse(s)	J. Barkev Kassarjian ​ ​ (m. 1960)​
Children	1
Parent(s)	Gregory Bateson Margaret Mead
Relatives	Jeremy Steig (cousin) William Steig (uncle) Leo Rosten (uncle)

Mary Catherine Bateson (December 8, 1939 – January 2, 2021) was an American writer and cultural anthropologist.

The daughter of Margaret Mead and Gregory Bateson,^[1] Bateson was a noted author in her field with many published monographs. Among her books was With a Daughter's Eye: A Memoir of Margaret Mead and Gregory Bateson, a recounting of her upbringing by two famous parents. She taught at Harvard, Amherst, and George Mason University, among others. Bateson was a fellow of the International Leadership Forum and was president of the Institute for Intercultural Studies in New York until 2010.^[2]

Early life and education[]

Bateson was a graduate of the Brearley School and received her B.A. from Radcliffe in 1960 and her Ph.D. in linguistics and Middle Eastern Studies from Harvard in 1963. Her dissertation examined linguistic patterns in pre-Islamic Arabic poetry.^[3]

Personal life[]

Bateson was married to Barkev Kassarjian, a professor of management at Babson College, from 1960 until her death. They had one daughter, Sevanne Margaret (born 1969), an actress who works professionally under the name Sevanne Martin,^[4] and two grandsons. Through her mother's side of the family, Bateson was also the cousin of Jeremy Steig^[1] as well as a niece of William Steig and Leo Rosten.^[5]

Bateson died on January 2, 2021 in hospice near her home in Lebanon, New Hampshire, age 81.^[6] She had suffered from brain damage caused by a fall a few months earlier.^[6]

Bibliography[]

• Thinking Race: Social Myths and Biological Realities (2019) with Richard Goldsby
• Composing a Further Life: The Age of Active Wisdom (2010)
• Willing to Learn: Passages of Personal Discovery (2004)
• Full Circles, Overlapping Lives: Culture and Generation in Transition (2000)
• Peripheral Visions - Learning Along the Way (1994)
• Composing a Life (1991)
• Thinking AIDS (1988) with Richard Goldsby
• Angels Fear: Towards an Epistemology of the Sacred (1987) written with Gregory Bateson
• With a Daughter's Eye: A Memoir of Margaret Mead and Gregory Bateson (1984)
• At Home in Iran (1974)
• Our Own Metaphor: A Personal Account of a Conference on the Effects of Conscious Purpose on Human Adaptation (1972)
• Arabic Language Handbook (1967)

References[]

External links[]

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mary Catherine Bateson.

• http://www.marycatherinebateson.com/
• International Leadership Forum
• A film clip "The Open Mind - AIDS - The Social Response (1988)" is available at the Internet Archive
• A film clip "The Open Mind - AIDS - A Metaphor for American Society (1988)" is available at the Internet Archive
• MCB's Introduction to the 2000 republication of Gregory Bateson's "Steps to an Ecology of Mind."
• MCB's Keynote address, Fielding Graduate University's fifth annual International Conference on Positive Aging, Los Angeles, CA, December 7, 2011.
• MCB’s contributions to the Legacy of Wisdom project.
• MCB’s 2011 TEDx Women talk on the themes of rebirth, "Adulthood II," and the critical role of older adults, especially women, in advocating for the future.
• MCB's talk “Live Longer, Think Longer," part of the Long Now Foundation's seminars on long-term thinking.
• LineZine interviews MCB.
• “Crossing Cultures: A Talk with Mary Catherine Bateson” (The Edge Foundation)
• “Learning Is Key to Bridging the Intergenerational Gap,” an interview with MCB.
• ”Seizing your Future,” MCB interviewed by AARP.
• Healthy Choices Media's podcast interview with MCB.^{[permanent dead link]}
• Wild River Review talks with MCB.
• “Creativity, Life and Improv,” an interview with MCB.
• “Connecting Love and Work,” first part of MCB's Lumunos blog essay.
• “Connecting Love and Work,” second part of MCB's Lumunos blog essay.
• “Resonance,” MCB's essay for Lumunos.
• “An Anthropologist’s Take on Homemaking," The New York Times interviews MCB.
• A Time for Active Wisdom: A Conversation with Mary Catherine Bateson with the Ikeda Center for Peace, Learning and Dialogue.
• “Comparison is key: New learning is a victory for the human spirit. So is empathy”, Whole Earth Review, 1998.
• The first three chapters of “Angels Fear: Toward an Epistemology of the Sacred” by MCB and Gregory Bateson.
• Metalogue with Gregory Bateson and MCB.
• “Six Days of Dying,” MCB’s personal reflection on the final days of her father, Gregory Bateson.
• “Trust & security: Can the commons exist without common decency & common sense?”
• “The Changing Role of Women,” Bill Moyers interviews MCB.
• Papers of Mary Catherine Bateson, 1954–2004 (inclusive), 1975–2001 (bulk): A Finding Aid. Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University.
• "Living as an Improvisational Art." Radio interview with Krista Tippett, On Being, broadcast October 1, 2015.