A genuine seeker of knowledge, Kathleen Overin Slobin has incorporated a wide variety of interests into her career. After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Pomona College during the turbulent 1960s, she felt called to become a painter. Her mother was a practicing artist. As she grew older, however, her focus shifted to sociology and public administration. Today, Dr. Slobin holds numerous degrees across those fields. She is presently leading a seminar for family caregivers at California Pacific Medical Center. Additionally, she has been a storyteller at the Asian Art Museum since 2010, a docent at the California Academy of Sciences since 2009, and a professor emeritus at North Dakota State University since 2007. Dr. Slobin has also been an active member of prominent organizations like the American Sociological Association, The Society for Women in Sociology, the African Studies Association, and the Society for Symbolic Interaction. She was a researcher and consultant at West River Regional Medical Center in North Dakota from 1995 to 1996.
Dr. Slobin prepared for her endeavors by earning a PhD in medical sociology at the University of California, San Francisco in 1991; a Masters of Public Administration at California State University, Hayward, in 1984; a Masters of Fine Arts in painting at the California College of the Arts & Crafts in 1980; and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology at Pomona College in 1964. She garnered experience as an instructor in fine arts at Indian Valley Community College, the education coordinator at the National Energy Foundation, the associate director of Continuing Education in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco, and as assistant, associate, and full professor of sociology and director of Women’s Studies at North Dakota State University between 1991 and 2007.
To share the knowledge she acquired over the years, Dr. Slobin has an active publication record. Beginning with her 1991 dissertation, entitled “Family Mediation of Health Care in an African Community (Mali),” her authored works include “Fieldwork and Subjectivity: On the Ritualization of Seeing a Burned Child” in Symbolic Interaction; “Repairing Broken Rules: Care Seeking Narratives for Menstrual Problems in Mali” for Medical Anthropology Quarterly; and “Healing through the Use of Symbolic Technologies Among the Dogon of Mali” for High Pains Applied Anthropology. She also edited the S.W.S. Network News for the Society for Women Sociologists.
As a testament to her achievements, Dr. Slobin was inducted into the North Dakota State University “Tapestry of Diverse Talents” in 2006. Other notable accolades include the President’s Development Award from the American Sociological Association, the President’s Professional Development Award from Women’s World in Uganda, and The Bison Ambassador’s Teaching Award. As a graduate student at the University of California San Francisco, she was awarded the Anthony Fellowship and the Graduate Student Research Day First Place Award in the Social Science Division. Additionally, she was featured in Who’s Who in American Education and Who’s Who of American Women.
During her free time, Dr. Slobin enjoys painting, music, and theater, as well as attending symphonies, museums, and art galleries. he is also involved with wildlife photography; she travels twice a year to take pictures in places like Brazil and Africa. She travels at least twice a year to photograph wildlife in South America and Africa. Looking toward the future, Dr. Slobin intends to work on a book project that would incorporate her personal experience of caring for her recently deceased spouse.