Biographical / Historical
Carol Zane Jolles is a leading figure in Arctic ethnology who worked among the Yup'ik and Inupiaq communities in Alaska along the northern Bering Sea-Bering Strait region from 1982-2013.
Jolles was born on November 12, 1940 in Washington, D.C. and grew up in Falls Church, Virginia. She studied Literature at Earlham College (1958-1961) and received her Bachelor's degree and a teaching certificate from Roosevelt University (1964). From the 1964 to 1980 Jolles taught in Chicago, Minneapolis, and Philadelphia public schools, until deciding to continue her education.
Jolles attended the University of Washington from 1982-1990, where she received her Master's degree (1985) and Ph.D. (1990) in Cultural Anthropology. Her doctoral research involved documenting family histories, gender roles, family relations, and history and impact of acculturation and people's conversion to Christianity due to the activities of Presbyterian missionaries since the late 1800s, including changes in schooling and decreased knowledge of the Yup'ik languages. After becoming a faculty member at the University of Washington in the 1990s, Jolles' anthropological research expanded to include the documentation of the Inupiaq hunting communities of Wales and the Diomede Islands. Here, she focused on indigenous knowledge, perception of place and space, people's relation to their home territory as reflected in place names, oral histories, original art (drawings), and other cultural means. Other research interests included climate change and its impact on Alaska Native communities. This research culminated in a seminal book, Faith, Food, and Family in a Yupik Whaling Community, which Jolles published with her research partner, Elinor Mikaghak Oozeva, in 2002.
Jolles retired from the University of Washington in 2013. As Emerita Research Professor for the Department of Anthropology, she continues to maintain correspondence with various Inupiaq community members.
Chronology
1964
Receives Bachelor's Degree in English & Language Arts from Roosevelt University
Receives Teaching Certificate from Roosevelt University
1964-1980
Teaches in Chicago, Minneapolis, and Philadelphia public schools
1982-1990
Studies as a Graduate Student in Cultural Anthropology at the University of Washington
Conducts doctoral research in Alaska
1982-2013
Conducts research in St. Lawrence Island, Wales, and the Diomede Islands of Alaska
1985
Receives Master's Degree in Cultural Anthropology from the University of Washington
1990
Receives PhD in Cultural Anthropology from the University of Washington
1990s
Works as Research Assistant Professor for the Anthropology Department at the University of Washington
1992-1995
Works as Principal Investigator on the "Sivuqaghhmiit Traditions and Culture: Values for Survival in a Changing World" project
1995-1997
Works as Principal Investigator on the "Yupik Women: Narratives of Eskimo Women's Lives" project
1997-2000
Works as Principal Investigator on the "Yupik Women, Yupik Families: A Comparative Study of Siberian Yupik and St. Lawrence Island Yupik Eskimo Family Life"
1997-2001
Works as Research Associate, Visiting Assistant Professor for the Anthropology Department at Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis
2001-2002
Volunteers as mentor for the National Science Foundation's Teachers Experiencing Antarctica and the Arctic (TEA)
2001-2006
Works as Principal Investigator on the "Collaborative Research-Change and Its Impact on Culture, Economy and Identity in Three North Bering Strait Alaskan Inupiat Societies: Diomede, King Island, Wales" project
2002
Publishes Faith, food, and family in a Yupik whaling community with research partner Elinor Mikaghaq Oozeva
2006-2007
Works as Principal Investigator on the "Assessing Alaskan Yup'ik Community Interest in a Dental Health Initiative" project
2006-2009
Works as Principal Investigator on the "Ethnographic Approaches to Alaska Native Health Disparities Research" project
2008
Volunteers as Internal reviewer and copy editor for the Kinikmi Sigum Qanuq Ilitaavut, Wales-IInupiaq Sea-Ice Dictionary, compiled by Winton Weyapuk, Jr. and Igor Krupnik for the Smithsonian Institution's Arctic Studies Center
2008-2013
Works as Principal Investigator on the "Inupiaq Landscapes and Architecture: Preserving Alaska Native Community Histories" project
2010-2012
Serves as Co-Chair of Organization and Planning Committee for the Alaska Anthropology Association annual meetings
2013-2018
Works as Research Associate Professor for the Anthropology Department at the University of Washington
2019
Works as Research Associate Professor, faculty emerita for the Anthropology Department at the University of Washington
