Liberty Walther Barnes is an American sociologist,

ethnographer Ethnography is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. It explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject of the study. Ethnography is also a type of social research that involves examining ...

, and writer. She holds affiliations at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

in the United Kingdom and the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

in the United States. Trained in

medical sociology Medical sociology is the sociological analysis of health, Illness, differential access to medical resources, the social organization of medicine, Health Care Delivery, the production of medical knowledge, selection of methods, the study of action ...

and

gender studies Gender studies is an interdisciplinary academic field devoted to analysing gender identity and gendered representation. Gender studies originated in the field of women's studies, concerning women, feminism, gender, and politics. The field n ...

, Barnes's research examines how medical authorities serve as cultural authorities on family building,

fatherhood A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. A biological fathe ...

motherhood A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given childbirth, birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case ...

, and

childhood A child () is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking ...

Personal life and education

Barnes was born in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and raised in

Federal Way Federal Way is a city in King County, Washington, United States and part of the Seattle metropolitan area. One of the most recently incorporated cities in the county, its population was 101,030 at the 2020 census. Federal Way is the 10th most p ...

, Washington. She is the daughter of Larry Walther and Kathryn Walther (née Hiersche) and the oldest of five children. Barnes graduated from Federal Way High School in 1993 and earned a B.A. in

media arts New media art includes artworks designed and produced by means of electronic media technologies. It comprises virtual art, computer graphics, computer animation, digital art, interactive art, sound art, Internet art, video games, robotics, 3D ...

from

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...

(1999). She completed MA and PhD degrees in sociology from the

University of California at San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Sc ...

(2005, 2011).

Career

Barnes is the author of ''Conceiving Masculinity: Male Infertility, Medicine, and Identity'' (Temple University Press 2014), based on ethnographic observations in infertility clinics, laboratories, and medical conferences and interviews with medical practitioners and patients. In 2015, Barnes was awarded the Book of the Year Prize by the Foundation for the Sociology of Health and Illness for "making the most significant contribution to the sub-discipline of medical sociology." Previous winners of the prize include Nelly Oudshoorn, Annemarie Mol, and Margaret Lock. Barnes's research has been featured by several media websites, including TheAtlantic.com, NBCNews.com, ABCNews.com, Slate.com, TheGuardian.com, and TheTelegraph.com. She has been interviewed by Texas Public Radio, WHYY Philadelphia, and Voice of Russia UK. In 2014 a

TEDx TED Conferences, LLC (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an American-Canadian non-profit media organization that posts international talks online for free distribution under the slogan "Ideas Change Everything" (previously "Ideas Worth Sprea ...

talk given by Barnes was featured as an "Editor's Pick" on the TEDx homepage. The same year Barnes received a Future Research Leaders Award from the

Economic and Social Research Council The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), formerly the Social Science Research Council (SSRC), is part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). UKRI is a non-departmental public body (NDPB) funded by the UK government. ESRC provides fundi ...

in the UK. In 2016, Barnes received a grant from the

National Science Foundation The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is an Independent agencies of the United States government#Examples of independent agencies, independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that su ...

's Division of Social and Economic Sciences to write an

ethnography Ethnography is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. It explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject of the study. Ethnography is also a type of social research that involves examining ...

of children's medicine. Barnes has taught sociology courses at the University of Cambridge,

Pacific University Pacific University is a private university in Forest Grove, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1849 as the Tualatin Academy, the original Forest Grove campus is west of Portland. Affiliated with the United Church of Christ, the school mainta ...

, Brigham Young University, University of California at San Diego, and

Portland Community College Portland Community College (PCC) is a public community college in Portland, Oregon. It is the largest post-secondary institution in the state and serves residents in the five-county area of Multnomah, Washington, Yamhill, Clackamas, and Colu ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barnes, Liberty American sociologists American women sociologists American ethnographers Medical sociologists Family sociologists Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Brigham Young University alumni University of California, San Diego alumni Portland Community College faculty