By John Whittaker
During the Spring Break last year, the department made the long-awaited move to Goodnow. Built in 1884-5 as the college library and first observatory, Goodnow is the oldest building on campus and the now the finest. Contrary to campus legend, it did not survive the hurricane of 1882, but was built with $10,000 dollars donated by philanthropist Edward Goodnow as the first of the new buildings. Recent grads will remember the pink quartzite tower, but may never have seen the inside. This is now the office of retired department member Ralph Luebben, who now has the highest office on campus--he claims to be nearer to heaven, but those of you who are his friends and ex-students can judge for yourselves.
Goodnow was allowed to degrade until, when Psychology moved out in 1987, it was mostly closed off as unsafe. The downstairs was used as temporary quarters for the Education Department and several other faculty during the renovation of other buildings. After years of agitation and planning we convinced the trustees and administration to save it from demolition and remodel it for Anthropology.
The front part of the building, with oak stair, stained glass windows, and a fireplace in the seminar room have been restored to their former glory, and the back part divided into 12 faculty offices on three floors, with a small classroom, new audiovisual facilities, and a secretarial office on the first floor, an archaeology lab on the second floor, and a computer room and a student project room on the third. The first floor also houses the college's Sesquicentennial headquarters.
A hard-hatted Doug Caulkins clung like a bulldog to the collective necks of the architects, engineers, and builders seeing that all was done right, and the quality of design and workmanship is unique on campus. The department was very lucky to have him undertake this time-consuming and frequently thankless job. John Whittaker and students Morgan Robertson (`93) and Nat Ward (`93) documented the historic features of the building before and during renovation.
When the move was complete, the SEPC and Anthropology Department faculty united for a ceremonial move, carrying symbolic objects in procession from the old to the new, and celebrating with speeches, African drum music (courtesy of ethnomusicologist Roger Vetter and the students in his drum troupe), and a picnic. Irma McClaurin poured a libation and said appropriate blessings, while Ralph Luebben in his usual humorous style reminisced about the history of the department. The official rededication in September was more formal but less memorable.
Meanwhile, as I write, 1217 Park St where the department spent the last 10 years is being gutted and remodeled for student housing; my former office in the kitchen has been demolished completely. However, Goodnow is so nice, that even the most sentimental of us does not miss 1217 Park St; we are now in what is far and away the nicest building on campus.
If you are in the vicinity of the college, be sure to drop by and see your department's new quarters!
*This fall George Brandon, Director of Socio-Medical Sciences at Sophie Davis School of Bio-Medical Education, City University of New York, spent three weeks at Grinnell as a Minority Scholar in Residence, teaching a course on African and African-American Religion.
*Last spring Carol Trosset, who some alums may remember since she taught at Grinnell in 1989-90, conducted research for the Grinnell administration on perceptions of the student-faculty relationship and on student attitudes about ways of interacting in a diverse community. This fall, after continuing her study while teaching Language and Culture, Carol was hired as Director of Institutional Research.
*Doug Caulkins has recently published three articles, "Stumbling into Applied Anthropology" in Practicing Anthropology, "Are Norwegian Voluntary Organizations Homogeneous Moralnets? Reflections on Naroll's Selection of Norway as a Model Society" in Cross Cultural Research, and "High Technology Entrepreneurs in the Peripheral Regions of the United Kingdom" in an edited volume, Economic Futures in the North Atlantic Margin.
*Katya Azoulay, who recently received a Ph.D. in Anthropology from Duke University for a dissertation entitled "Black, Jewish, Interracial: Its Not the Color of Your Skin, But the Color of Your Kin", will be a Minority Scholar in Residence for the entire spring semester. She will teach Anthropology of American Culture and Introduction to African American New World Studies.
*Michael Bell has published "`The Only True Folk Songs in English': James Russell Lowell and the Politics of the Nation" in Journal of American Folklore. His article deals with the relationship between the American study of the ballad and the development of a theory of American character/national identity at the end of the nineteenth century.
*Katie Munley (`96), Tina Popson (`97), and Vicky Schlegel (`96), under the guidance of Doug Caulkins presented papers at the Iowa Academy of Science on their work with Welsh immigrants to Iowa. These were a follow-up of projects done as independent studies while working as research assistants for Professor Caulkins the previous summer.
*John Whittaker published an article entitled " The Bronze Age in Grinnell: Experiments in Teaching Prehistoric Technology and Observations on Primitive Axes" Bulletin of Primitive Technology. His book, "Flintknapping: Making and Understanding Stone Tools," was published last year by University of Texas Press.
*Irma McClaurin (`73), has left the Anthropology Department to accept a position at the University of Florida. A specialist in the Carribean, she taught at Grinnell for four years.
*Alex Ravitz (`96) worked for Bill Green (`74), the Iowa State Archaeologist, doing human osteology and as an archaeological field school assistant teaching elementary school teachers about archaeological field methods.
*Joy Fishel (`96) did an internship in Costa Rica through the ICADS program. She interviewed single mothers about how they are perceived in the community, domestic violence, sexual education, and family planning. An institute in the area is planning to use the information to develop programs of support for these women.
*Emily Shaver (`96) worked as a research assistant, entering data for Doug Caulkins project on Iowa Ethnic Heritage into the computer.
*Aimee Bebeau (`95) spent the summer excavating at two prehistoric sites along the Hudson River in New York State as well as helping to teach local high school students about archaeology.
*Lisa Stuehringer (`96) worked for the Tucson Parks and Recreation department leading programs in arts, crafts, and sports.
*Ian Natowsky (`96) spent the summer in Santiago, Chile at La Catolica University studying Mapuche culture and native South American art and culture and climbing in the Andes.
Three Anthropology majors were among the six students who went to Cyprus this summer sponsored by a Hewlett grant. The purpose of the Hewletts is to expose students to international situations where they can see the effects of government programs on local populations.
This summer the college sponsored Hewlett projects in Berlin, England, and Cyprus. The focus of the Hewlett to Cyprus, which was led by Kathryn Kamp of the Anthropology Department, was a study of the effects of recent government emphases on tourist development. Participating students combined an internship experience with independent research.
Peer Dudda (`95) worked with Herpetologist Hans Joerg Weidl (also known as Snake George) who is setting up a nature park emphasizing the reptiles of Cyprus, and did research on ecotourism. Dacey Waldron (`96) excavated at both Alassa, a bronze age site, and Marion, which spans the bronze age to classical periods, while researching the impact of tourism on archaeological resources. Tammy McAlpine (`96) studied Cypriot handicrafts by interning at a pottery and interviewing traditional basket makers.
While in Cyprus, Kathy Kamp, with the aid of Maria and Aphrodite Karaolis, Grinnell students who are natives of Cyprus, interviewed weavers. John Whittaker studied threshing sledges, which had been made with stone blades as recently as the 1950s. In addition to many people who had used the sledges, he even found one old flintknapper to watch and talk with.
Stuart C. Gilman (`80), an M.D. in Long Beach, has just published "Cross-cultural Medicine a Decade Later: Use of Traditional and Modern Health Services by Laotian Refugees" in The Western Journal of Medicine. Jessica Roff (`93) is specializing in Native American law at American University. Having completed his studies of the relationship between foraging vs. farming in the Ituri Forest in Zaire, Richard R. Grinker, III (`83) is now teaching at George Washington. Adina Sales (`93) is an assistant producer for an advertising agency in New York City. Amy Jo Reinhart (`93) is teaching French in the Minneapolis Public Schools. Elizabeth Leonard (`93) is on the staff of the Princeton Review. Thad Bartlett (`88), a graduate student at the University of Washington, has just published (with R. Sussman and J. Cheverud) an article entitled "Infant Killing as an Evolutionary Strategy: Reality or Myth?" in the Journal of Evolutionary Anthropology. Steve Nash (`86) and Frank Bechter (`88) are both graduate students in the Anthropology Department at the University of Arizona. The University of New Mexico harbors Tom Berger (`91) and Jon Van Hoose (`92) who are both studying archaeology. The University of Florida has also attracted two Grinnell anthropology graduates, Vicky Michener (`91) and Elaine Weiner (`90). Judit Szilagyi (`94) is an interpreter in Washington, D.C. Beth Richards (`95), also in D.C. is working in the primate section of the zoo. Leslie Morlock (`95) is investigating the archaeology of Hawaii. Kurt Dorschel (`94) is at New York University in Performance Studies. Mike Galaty (`91) is beginning his dissertation work at the University of Wisconsin on Bronze Age Greek archeology.
To improve communication with alums and current majors, the Anthropology Department has decided to establish a newsletter. Twice annually, once in the fall and once in the spring, we will provide information on the current activities of faculty, students, and alums. We need your help. Let us know what you are doing or have done recently, so that you can be included. Marriages, careers, babies, hobbies, gossip--all these are welcome. Short articles on topics likely to be of interest to current or past students are also welcome. I would like especially to solicit some articles from alums, showing what kinds of career paths they have pursued after their Grinnell training. Please send submissions to the current editor, Kathy Kamp either by mail or by e-mail (Kamp@ac.grin.edu).
As the most recent member to join this "community", I've been asked by KK, the "alpha female", to "present" myself to the Anthro majors and alums. Since KK does have considerable influence over some of the more valued resources in this community, I naturally acquiesced while making the appropriate signs of submission, i.e., fear-grinning, head-bobbing, etc. After all, as a lower-ranking female, my most effective strategy at this time is to attempt to befriend those members of the community who are higher ranking than myself and, by doing so, endeavor to obtain some of the benefits of high rank through these associations. Of course, since in this particular community my status does not depend on my matriline, there is a possibility that I will someday reach alpha status -- or maybe a lion will get KK and hasten the process.
If you haven't figured it out by now -- I'm a primatologist. These are the types of interpretations I might be able to make from a series of interactions between two females. I am the newest member of the Anthro Dept., having moved here this summer after completing my Ph.D. at Emory University, Atlanta. I did my field work at the Tana River National Primate Reserve, Kenya. I spent approximately one year there studying the social behaviors of yellow baboons. In particular, I was interested in how adult females affected the interactions of their infants with adult males. I went to the Tana expecting to find that mothers would be very particular about with whom their infants interacted. I discovered that they were particular-- but not at all in the way I had expected. (If you want more details, watch future issues of the American Journal of Primatology!)
Next semester, I'll be offering an "Introduction to Primates" course here at Grinnell. While there are very few nonhuman primates in this particular area, I do hope to at least work in a field trip to the zoo near the end of the semester. My current research goal is to establish a new field site where I can investigate social behaviors in a different species for comparative purposes. I'd like to determine if the behavioral patterns I observed are common to other multi-male multi-female, group-living species of Old World monkeys. Once established, I hope to be able to offer some sort of summer field school in primatological methods, perhaps within a couple of years. So -- that's me and my work in a nutshell. If you want to "talk primates", stop by my office sometime.
This year's SEPC members are: Deborah Kain (`96) and Heather McCaslin (`96) (co-chairs), Aksel Casson (`96), Peer Dudda (`95), Susannah Flicker (`96), Jules Graybill (`96), Tammy McAlpine (`96), Tina Popson (`97), Jennifer Prusak (`97), Alex Ravitz (`96), and Emily Shavers (`96).
Early in the fall the SEPC organized a potluck dinner to welcome new department members, Vicki Bentley- Condit and George Brandon.
A booksale, featuring Anthropology books, many of them donated by retired department member Ron Kurtz and by Jon Andelson netted over $35.
An ethnic potluck is planned for the beginning of December to celebrate the end of the semester get majors together, and congratulate mid-year graduates Aimee Bebeau, Peer Dudda and Danielle Gardner.
Anyone with ideas of events that they would like the Anthropology Department to sponsor should tell their SEPC members (or even consider joining the SEPC themselves).
Led by Barry Brenton, Kathy Kamp, and John Whittaker, students in Kamp and Whittaker's Experimental Archaeology and Ethnoarchaeology (ANT 395) are conducting an experiment in the efficacy of pit storage of corn. They dug four pits, two 1 meter deep and two 1.5 meters deep (using wooden digging sticks for part of the excavation to allow estimates of the amount of labor that might go into digging such a pit), lined the pits with grass, filled two with shelled and two with unshelled corn, and sealed them with a plug of grass and dirt. Thermocouples were installed in the pits and over the winter temperature and oxygen-carbon dioxide readings will monitor the atmosphere within the pits. The theory is that an anaerobic environment within the sealed pits will reduce toxic fungal action. Corn moisture content and germination rates before storage were measured. In the spring when the pits are excavated, moisture content and germination rates will be re-tested. In addition, corn samples will be evaluated for the presence of mycotoxins.
Carol Trosset's Language Culture and Society course is doing a research project. Class members have been interviewing other Grinnell students about their experiences of talking at Grinnell, focusing on four topics: feeling silenced on particular issues, how and why people openly disagree with each other, what kinds of common ground people claim with others, and silence and disagreement in the classroom. Students are working together in groups to figure out how to gather appropriate data and interpret their results to increase our understanding of the discourse of diversity at Grinnell.
To gain some ideas of what it might have been like to live in a Midwestern archaic culture, students in John Whittaker's North American Archaeology class spent part of one Saturday grinding acorns and learning how to make fire with a bowdrill. The following class period, after the acorns had been leached to remove tannins and boiled into a mush, the results were tasted. While most of the class did not feel that acorn mush should receive accolades as high cuisine, a survey of paper cups in the garbage (good archaeological technique) revealed several who ate the entire helping. I am not sure whether the inference is that acorn mush is yummy or that by 11 a.m. students are hungry.
By Jonathan Andelson
The Lord God labored mightily for six days to create the world, and on the seventh day He rested, which is why we observe a Sabbath -- the word is derived from Hebrew for "to rest." It is also why, every seven years, faculty members at many institutions of higher education, including Grinnell, can take a sabbatical leave from teaching. The idea is to use the time away from the classroom to conduct research, read new scholarship in your field (and maybe some of the old scholarship, too), plan new courses, revise syllabi, or do anything else that will recharge your batteries and make you a better teacher-scholar. I spent the 1994-95 academic year on leave in Costa Rica, Central America.
The choice of Costa Rica was not a difficult one. It has some of the finest beaches in the Western Hemisphere (beaches are wonderful places to recharge your batteries), a perennially mild climate, a dazzling variety of fresh fruit, friendly and hospitable natives, and a fine symphony orchestra. Furthermore, my wife told me that if I did not go to Costa Rica she was going anyway and taking our children. Costa Rica was her choice because her parents and brother and sister live there and she wanted to reconnect with her family and with her cultural roots. Since my major plan was to write a book, which I could do anywhere, I tagged along.
For a variety of reasons we found it practical to establish ourselves in the capital, San Jose. Our three room apartment was situated only a few blocks away from the ACM Program offices and right around the corner from the ICADS offices, where I took some intensive Spanish lessons. I had extensive contact with both programs and recommend both enthusiastically. We were two blocks away from a Mas X Menos (read: Mas por Menos, "more for less"), a Costa Rican grocery store, where all those fruits could be found at bargain prices (bananas, for example, cost about a penny apiece) and where I could pay top dollar, if I felt the urge, for Skippys peanut butter. Since the beaches were three hours in either direction, I plugged in my computer, gazed out at the mountains, and tried to think profound thoughts. Despite what many people expect, it was not difficult to write about the Amana Colonies, my research specialty, in San Jose, Costa Rica. To the contrary, the contrast in environment afforded me a fresh perspective.
I had planned to finish my book and have a few months left to begin a new research project in Costa Rica. Unfortunately, my mother's health declined dramatically while I was there, and I had to return to Iowa three times after January to care for her. Although I was unable to finish the book, I did investigate possible sites for future research on ecology, religion, or tourism. A good deal of research is done in Costa Rica by Americans, especially biologists, but a number of anthropologists are working there as well. It is a beautiful and delightful country with a growing number of problems related to tourism, development, and immigration (from both ends of the socio-economic scale). If you aren't yet entitled to a sabbatical, you can get there just as well on a study abroad program. If you plan on going, come and talk to me and I will tell you how to handle the poisonous frogs.