Spring 2002 Anthropology Newsletter

Spring 2002 Anthropology Majors

Benjamin Bloom *  Sarah Burdett *  Rachel Clark *  Carl Drexler  Joseph Feinberg *  Emily Freeh *  Laura Frerichs *  Kristin Grote  Jenny Haggar *  Sarah Hilliard *  Evan Hourihan *  Matthew Kaler  Allison Levinsky *  Nadia Manning *  Dell McLaughlin *  Emily Mohl  Robert Nalewajk *  Jordan Serin *  Jennifer Thornton *  Laurie Tolman * Matthew Trager *  Nathan Weller *  Rachel Williams

Spring Break in Mexico!

Over the Spring Break, Kathy Kamp, Timothy Hare, and John Whittaker led a group of students from Kamp and Hare’s Spatial Analysis in Archaeology class (Byll Bryce, Carl Drexler, Dell McLaughlin, Rob Nalewajk, Travis Ormsby, Jennifer Thornton, Alex Woods) on a trip to Mexico to map at the site of Mayapan and visit other Maya ruins in the Yucatan. The trip was supported by a grant to Kathy, John, and David Campbell (Biology) from the Luce Foundation for a five year teaching and research project in the Maya forest. 

            We spent the first week in the town of Ticul, which was enlivened by a yearly festival in honor of the Virgin Mary and a local shoe exposition.  At Mayapan, we used EDM laser transits to collect data for a computerized map of the site, where Timothy worked last summer mapping residential areas. We also learned how to use newly acquired GPS satellite positioning systems which allowed us to set up precise datum points. Mayapan is a Post-Classic site with somewhat less spectacular architecture than earlier Maya sites, but still pretty impressive. Archaology students mapped and learned to make the many interpretive decisions needed to decide how to map structures – where does one wall end and the next begin, what details need to show to understand the building? 

The sun burned down, water bottles gurgled empty, and we panted precariously up the irregular steps, but the view from the instrument station on the top of the main pyramid was fine. We tried to be unobtrusive, but had to explain ourselves to local and foreign tourists, occasionally a linguistic challenge. At one point a couple of bogus shamans led some silly-looking tourists through the site, blowing horns, beating drums, and meditating at some of the pyramids.  Unfortunately for them, our high-tech equipment sometimes required low-tech communication in the form of bellowing commands across the plaza, which cannot have been conducive to soothing intercourse with the spirits.

            The second week was spent visiting a variety of other Maya sites, providing a wider context for the work at Mayapan and for Maya culture and ecology more generally. The students had a fine introduction to Mesoamerican archaeology – the hardships and satisfactions of actual field work and the panorama of life in the modern towns, including the culinary anthropology of local foods, guided by Timothy, expert in the lore of mole and taco al pastor.

Faculty News 

Vicki Bentley-Condit, studying baboons [see photos of her baboons on the photo page!] while on sabbatical in Texas reported: I had lunch in November with Graham Gelling ‘99 and Andrew Derksen ‘00.  Graham is currently living in Austin doing something involving artificial intelligence.  Andrew is currently in Houston and breeding mice for some big genetics lab.  Thad Bartlett ‘88 attended my talk here at SFBR and we had a nice chat.  He's happy in his position in the University of Texas-San Antonio anthro dept and adjusting to life in San Antonio.

Maria Tapias presented a paper at the 2001 AAA meetings in Washington DC entitled:  "The sociality of the physical and the physicality of the social:  emotions and illness in Bolivia".  In March 2002 she was invited to speak at a symposium in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Illinois (where she obtained her doctorate) on "Teaching Four-Field Anthropology".

Roper, J. Montgomery, 2001  Contested Forests and Miskito Development in Nicaragua’s Northern Atlantic Autonomous Region.  Presented at 2001 American Anthropological Association annual meeting, November 28-December 2, 2001, Washington D.C.  Session Title: The Power and Politics of Plants: Critical Approaches to Ethnobotanical Knowledge.

Roper, J. Montgomery, 2001 Bolivian Legal Reforms and Local Indigenous Organizations: Opportunities and Obstacles in a Lowland Municipality.  Manuscript Delivered at the 2001 Meeting of the Latin American Studies Association, Washington DC, September 6-8, 2001.  Session Title: Indigenous Movements in the Andes and Mexico: Organization, Identity, and Democracy.

Faculty Publications 

Whittaker, J.

Posted on the departmental web page at http://web.grinnell.edu/anthropology/Faculty/faculty/johnw.html

Atlatl Bibliography: annotated bibliography of some 300 entries, 69 pages.

Coaching the Atlatl: photographic analysis of atlatl motion with Chuck Hilton, and coaching tips for the atlatl team.

Whittaker, John and Ron Mertz 2002 Atlatls for Teaching and Sport. Anthropology News 43(4):26, April 2002.

Roper, J. Montgomery, (forthcoming) “Bolivian Legal Reforms and Local Indigenous Organizations: Opportunities and Obstacles in a Lowland Municipality”.  Latin American Perspectives.

Roper, J. Montgomery, Thomas Perreault, and Patrick Wilson (Forthcoming) “An Introduction to New Transformational Movements in Contemporary Latin America.”  Latin American Perspectives.

2002. Carol Trosset and Douglas Caulkins. Cultural Values and Social Organization in Wales: Is Ethnicity the Locus of Culture? In Nigel Rapport, (ed.) “British Subjects” The Anthropology of Britain. Oxford: Berg. (pages 239-256)

2002 D. Douglas Caulkins and Christina Peters,. Grid-Group Analysis, Social Capital, and Entrepreneurship Among North American Ethnic Groups.  Cross-Cultural Research, 26 (1) 48-72.

2002 Douglas Caulkins, Christina Hanson, Jane Cherry and Vickie Schlegel, “Comparing Organization Discourses in British Heritage Sites.”Society for Cross-Cultural Research Annual Meetings, Santa Fe, February 22, 2002.

2001 Douglas Caulkins. Globalization and the Local Hero: Becoming a Small-Scale Entrepreneur in Scotland. Panel on “Work is the Spine of History”: Papers in Honor of Herbert Applebaum. American Anthropological Association Annual Meetings, Washington, D.C. November 28-December 2.

Kamp, Kathryn A.

2001.  Prehistoric Children Working and Playing: A Southwestern Case Study in Learning Ceramics. Journal of Anthropological Research 57: 427-450.

2001.  Review of Archaeology of Ancient Mexico and Central America: An Encyclopedia (edited by

S. T. E vans and T. L. Webster).  Latin American Antiquity 12(3): 340-341.

2001.  Review of The Constructed Past: Experimental Archaeology, Education and the Public (edited by P.G. Stone and P.G. Planel).  American Antiquity 66: 537-538.

Student News  

Fall Senior Thesis talks were presented in December.

Nadia Manning:  "Adaptation of Prehistoric Peoples to the Caribbean: An Analysis of Subsistence Patterns over Time."
Carl Drexler:  "Hard Times in the Black Sands: The Trade Relations of the Sinagua at New Caves and Bench Pueblos, Arizona."
Nate Gingerich:  "Prehistoric Livelihoods on Paradise Ridge, North-Central Arizona: An Ecological Systems Perspective."

Carl Drexler '02 will be going to the University of Nebraska for grad school next fall.

Travis Ormsby, ’03 - As my Technology Studies internship, this summer I will be working on the Mayapan Mapping Project under the direction of Prof. Marilyn Masson from SUNY Albany and Prof. Timothy Hare from Grinnell.  I will be helping to create a new and more accurate map of this Post-Classic Maya site using EDM's, sophisticated GPS units, and advanced mapping and analysis software.  Prof. Hare and I will also travel down to Belize to help map a site for a fieldschool.

Emily Craig Zabor ’03 - I will be conducting a summer MAP this year with Professor Caulkins.  Five weeks will be spent in Inverness, Scotland, collecting data on ethnic and cultural identity and the politics of heritage sites in Highland Scotland.  This research will lead into a senior thesis in the fall.

Matt Watson ’03 spent the Fall semester on the ACM Costa Rica program: I spent a month in San José, Costa Rica before starting  work on my field project, which involved participating in an excavation of a cemetary and examining tomb structure to determine whether or not it is indicative of social status.

Jenny Haggar '02 will be attending graduate school in historical archaeology at the University of Nevada, Reno.

Sarah Hilliard '02 will join the Ph.D. program in English Linguistics at Duke University in Durham, NC in the fall.  The program, run jointly with the North Carolina State University linguistics department, focuses on field-based sociolinguistic research in several language communities throughout North Carolina.

Catherine Collett ‘02 graduated mid-year and moved to Austin, TX.  She is now studying Ju|'hoansi, a San (Bushman) language, and working for the Kalahari Peoples Fund, coordinating a project which will supplement a native-language literacy program and promote a broader literary tradition.  She is also pursuing linguistic training in order to provide technical assistance on this and related folktale grants.  She will spend this summer in Namibia working on these projects, the language, and her own research on the healing dance.

Dell McLaughlin '02 This summer, I will be an apprentice on an organic farm which distributes its produce through a Community Sustaining Agriculture program and a local food Co-op.  I plan to leave for an unknown destination next winter to spend two years in the Peace Corps.

Joe Feinberg ’02 I am still waiting to hear the results of my application for a Fulbright scholarship, to study next year in Eastern Slovakia.  Whatever happens, I plan to do something exciting.  As for the summer, I'll be trying to recover from college, in one way or another.

Summer 2001 MAP [Mentored Advanced Project] – Nadia Manning ‘02

ANTHROPOLOGY: “Prehistoric Caribbean Subsistence Strategies: Adaptive Changes Through Time”

[Professor Kathy Kamp; John Whittaker]

I spent the majority of the summer retrieving information from the Barbados Museum and Historical Society (collections and curators), libraries, and archives. I attended a field school in Jamaica run by Dr. William Keegan from the University of Florida. We excavated sites from two time periods (Saladoid and Ostionoid ), which reflect settlement over time, paying close attention to materials reflecting food sources exploited.

This research culminated in a senior thesis in which I analyse information on food-getting behaviour and how the choices made reflect a form of adaptation.

Iowa Academy of Science 2002

Papers presented at the annual Iowa Academy of Science 2002:

E. C. Zabor ‘03 – “From Boma to Big City: Transformation in the Social Structure of the Ngorongoro Maasai.”

Nadia L. Manning ’02 – “Adaptation of Prehistoric Peoples in the Caribbean: An Analysis of Subsistence Patterns Over Time.”

C. G. Drexler ’02 – “Hard Times in the Black Sands: Changing Trade Relations Among the Sinagua of New Caves and Bench Pueblos.”

Alumni News 

Nikki Tannenbaum  ’73 writes: I've been  teaching anthropology at Lehigh University since 1989; I was promoted to full professor this year. My research area is mainland Southeast Asia and I do research about Shan in Maehongson Province, Thailand.  I started with research into agricultural decision making -- what people know and how they organize their knowledge about varieties of rice, kinds of fields, labor, access to resources, and what they need.  After a minor ephiphany that man does not live by rice alone and that everything is indeed related as I learned in my intro to anthro class, I began studying religion and world view, gender, political and religious ritual, and ethnohistory.  More recently I have begun doing comparative research on assorted Thai groups. Bethlehem, PA,  nt01@lehigh.edu

Sally Graver ‘00, who has been working in at the Smithsonian in forensic anthropology under Douglas Ubelaker, plans to begin the graduate program at Ohio State U next fall, working with Clark Larsen, another noted biological anthropologist.

Rebecca Wallace Schuchert ’91:  Please keep sending me the anthropology newsletter!  I love hearing of all the fab places and projects that Grinnell professors and alums are part of.  Currently my household is under quarantine, as we have contracted pertussis (whooping cough), which is apparently highly contagious... Thanks for all the Grinnell news.  Coralville, IA  shoeheart@msn.com

From Jim Becker ’84: I spent last year working for the State of California as Deputy Director of a Project to reform California's Public Schools.  Thank goodness it was only one year because it was an unpleasant task but a great learning experience.  After that, I went back to my old job building community support and raising about $6 million each year for homeless services in the Bay Area.  I just completed a project building a 20 unit townhouse complex for transitional housing for homeless families with dependent children.  It turned out better than could be expected, and unfortunately had a waiting list the minute it opened. Thanks again for the newsletter.  Antioch, CA  jamesb@shelterincofccc.org.

Karie Wiltshire '99 has been around Grinnell for the last year, formally working as a Prairie Specialist with the Iowa NRCS offices of Mahaska and Marion Counties, and informally spearheading the Grinnell community Compass Plant CSA (Community Supported Agriculture co-op) and Grinnell Area Local Food System.  She will be pursuing her MS in Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University in the Fall of 2002. Knoxville, IA. karie_wiltshire@hotmail.com

Megan Bryant '91:  I’m still the Registrar at The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas -- going into my sixth year in the position. I love my job at the museum—though we've definitely taken a hit since September 11 because we're so dependent on tourist traffic and convention center business.  Our visitation was down 50% in September and the first part of October (leading to a round of layoffs last month).  It's climbed a bit since then and we had a couple of huge days over Thanksgiving weekend, but we're still down overall.  We're in the midst of a major expansion and renovation project which will double our exhibition space.  The seventh floor expansion is due to open this February with an exhibit on the Pulitzer Prize winning photographs.  And we just spent the last two months working on an exhibit organized in response to the terrorist attacks on September 11.  The exhibit - "Loss and Renewal: Transforming Tragic Sites" - provides an historical context for preserving and honoring the sites of tragic events.  It focuses on five significant tragic events in the United States and how the sites of those events have been memorialized.  The sites are Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor, Dealey Plaza here in Dallas, the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, and the site of the Murrah Building in Oklahoma City.  The exhibit concludes with an interactive component that invites visitors to contribute suggestions for ways to commemorate the sites of the September 11 attacks.  The exhibit will be open through October 2002, so if anyone is passing through Dallas they should stop by for a visit.  I'm always happy to give the "nickel tour"! Dallas, TX   meganb@jfk.org

Karl Koch “Cookie” '81:  I decided to "semi-retire" at 40 - 2 years ago. I still work as a lighting director and cameraman in film and video but sold most of the motion picture equipment that we used to rent and let the employees go. I'm learning how to be a clown now and I entertain at a local coffeeshop and farmer's market weekly to build up my material. Also some parties, parades, etc. It's rewarding to bring smiles to people's faces. I hope to work up some "edutainment" programs for larger groups of children but am still a "clown-in-training." I also built a small Karate school here at my home and teach classes 3 days/week. Being a husband and Dad to a 12 and 15 year-old is my main focus. I decided that there was more to life than making money and TV commercials and that I would never look back and wish I had spent "one more day at the office." I brought my son to Grinnell to visit for the Alumni Swim Meet. We had a chance to climb Goodnow tower and chat with Mr. Luebben and then go downstairs and see the diorama of an Anasazi site that I built as a student. He still uses it as a visual aid when speaking to grade school students in town. Carmel, IN godolite@aol.com

Hilary Mertaugh ‘01:  I'm working in Vermont as an Americorps volunteer in Community Economic Development.   I'm working for a microcredit program that provides matched savings and economic literacy training for low income families in central Vermont so that they can acquire assets and become more self sufficient.  The believers in this exciting asset-based poverty reduction strategy (called IDAs or Individual Development Accounts) hope that it may replace our current welfare system which is consumption-based.   It’s pretty hilarious how many of us anthropology majors that graduated in May ended up as Americorps volunteers.  I pretty much freaked out last summer at the idea of being off health care and without a job so I went for the quick, temporary, interesting but not totally appropriate fix.   My intention was to learn more about community-based development in a rural area in the States, so to that extent I am fulfilling my goals. hilarymertaugh@hotmail.com

Roy Richard Grinker ’83, who teaches Anthropology at  George Washington University , recently (2000) published two books. The Palgrave Publishers brochure describes them:

In the Arms of Africa: The Life of Colin Turnbull

What Margaret Mead did for Samoa, Colin Turnbull did for Africa. An upper class Oxford-educated Englishman, Turnbull’s life-long love affair with the African Pygmies made him one of the most famous intellectuals of the 1960s and ‘70s. In an intimate portrait of a remarkable man, Roy Richard Grinker describes how Turnbull fell in love with a beautiful but poor African American named Joe Towles who became as much Turnbull’s heroic creation as did the Mbuti. For 30 years they lived as an openly gay, interracial couple in New York City and rural Virginia until Joe’s death of AIDS in 1988. Devastated, Turnbull buried his own spirit in a second coffin laid next to Towles, gave away most of his money, and until his own death from AIDS in 1994, lived as a Buddhist monk tutored by the Dalai Lama’s eldest brother. This is a compelling story of a celebrity scholar, his sexuality, and his passion for a fiercely lived life. 

Korea and its Futures: Unification and the Unfinished War

Despite the passage of more than 40 years since the official end of the civil war in Korea, the north and the south sections of the country remain technically at war. Grinker suggests that a fundamental obstacle to peace on the peninsula is that South Korea has become a nation in which nearly all aspects of economic, political, and cultural identity are defined in opposition to North Korea. He further demonstrates that in spite of its status as a sacred goal for all Koreans, the idea of unification threatens the world in which almost every South Korean has been born and raised. 

Anneke Walker Nagao  '87: After graduating from Grinnell I left my native Iowa and moved to Japan. I've been living here for the past 13 yrs. I live the Ethnographic Research project. Currently, I am married to an Interior Decorator. I am shareholder and director of his company. I do a lot of charity and in my spare time I study Japanese Cooking. Last year I started taking violin lessons after not touching an instrument for 20 yrs. I guess it's the onset of a midlife crisis remembering things you regret doing such as quitting the violin.  I don't get a chance to use English very often but I did get a computer last year. One day I put my name into the search engine and found my picture (excavating in Arizona) on the Anthropology website. That was nostalgic but fun.
Anneke Nagao  nagaom-a@yhb.att.ne.jp

Matt Horstman ’99:  I am the new Program Associate at the Great Lakes Colleges Association working on the Global Partners Kenya project, organizing conferences for previous program participants at Denison U. in Ohio, a faculty enrichment seminar at the U. of Nairobi, and travel grants.  Ann Arbor, MI  horstman@glca.org.  http://www.glca.org

Adam D Burck ’85: After graduating from Grinnell, I went to work at the Terra Museum of American Art in Chicago.  I served as Coordinator of Special Events for a couple of years.  I then went on to graduate school at the University of Illinois, gaining my Masters in Urban Planning and Public Policy in 1991.  I then worked for one year at HNTB, an engineering, planning and architectural consulting firm.  In 1992, I began work in the Peace Corps' Urban Environmental Management Program in the Ivory Coast, West Africa.  I worked on improving municipalities’ abilities to deal with various urban environmental issues (potable water, green spaces, erosion, solid waste management, infrastructure management, etc.).  In 1995, I started working with a fledgling development agency established by the UN Development Program.  This agency was locally managed and operated. The goal of the project was to develop the capacity of this agency to implement development projects that were typically the domain of international aid agencies.  The work was fascinating and an amazing opportunity.  In 1996, I returned to the United States and have continued working in the Community Development field.  Today I am the Director of Community Planning and Development for the Albany Park Community Center, a non-profit corporation with a large variety of programs (see our web page www.albanyparkcommunitycenter.org). I am very busy with our rapidly expanding focus on community development projects, particularly in the area of housing and economic development.  If you're ever in the Chicago area, drop me a note.  I'm always happy to hear from fellow Grinnellians.  In fact, as part of my work, I recently crossed paths with Joe Neri ('84), who is now working for the Illinois Facilities Fund. Chicago, IL  aburck2001@yahoo.com  www.albanyparkcommunitycenter.org

Danielle Gardner ’95:  Since graduating from Grinnell I have held a number of different jobs. They include raft guide on the Rio Grande in West Texas and on the Arkansas River in Colorado, Botanical Horticulture Crew at the Morton Arboretum in Lisle Illinois, prescribed burn crew for the Nature Conservancy in Southern Missouri, Appalachian Trail Ridgerunner in New Jersey, and assistant Montessori teacher at Oak Brook Montessori Pre School and Kindergarten. My favorites were the Montessori School and the Morton Arboretum. Now I am in my second year of an Environmental Studies Masters program at the University of Montana. I am focusing on alternative agriculture and photojournalism and am writing my thesis on animal-powered farming in the industrialized north as apart of the sustainable agriculture movement. In all of my employment and academic pursuits I really appreciate my anthropology background as I find it always applies! Missoula, MT  dgardner1000@hotmail.com

Two Anthropology Department alumni have recently published books, and we'd like to report the news while sending kudos out to them.  Cameron Hay, '88, who earned a PhD in anthropology at Emory University, has published the results of her fieldwork on the island of Lombok, in Indonesia, as “Remembering To Live: Illness At The Intersection Of Anxiety And Knowledge In Rural Indonesia.” The study was published in 2001 by the University of Michigan Press as part of its series, "Southeast Asia: Politics, Meaning, Memory."  Though lying adjacent to Bali, one of the most studied islands in the anthropological literature, Lombok has never been the focus of a sustained ethnographic study.  About the book, the series co-editor, Rita Smith Kipp, writes, "This is a stunning ethnography.  Beautifully written and carefully argued, Remembering To Live explains how certain understandings about health and illness become so widespread as to be virtually unquestionable, while others are idiosyncratic or shared among relatively few people.  Significant here is the way anxiety shapes the communication of knowledge and how people act on their knowledge when acutely anxious."

Jutka Szilagyi Terris, '94, co-authored with F. Kaid Benfield and Nancy Vorsanger the book “Solving Sprawl: Models Of Smart Growth In Communities Across America,” published in 2001 by the Natural Resources Defense Council.  Sprawl across suburban and rural landscapes throughout the United States had led to congestion, strip malls, isolated workplaces, and loss of agricultural land and open space.  The book reports on three dozen examples of what the authors call "smart growth."  The book is divided into three main chapters dealing with "smart cities," smart suburbs," and "smart conservation," and reports on everything from the Pulaski Station project in Chicago to a different kind of Wal-Mart in Rutland, Vermont, from the Eastgate Town Center in Chattanooga, Tennessee, to Antietam Battlefield in Maryland.  Richard Moe, President, National Trust for Historic Preservation, wrote, "Solving Sprawl is one of the most important books to emerge from the Smart Growth movement. The authors have provided a valuable handbook for developers, public officials, and ordinary citizens."

Roger Sayre ’81:  I have a new job with the Center for Environmental Management of Military Lands, which is now a new department at Colorado State University.  My focus is on the National Environmental Policy Act.  For the time being I won't be needing anyone; however, the cultural division will be hiring some staff and field crews for archaeology work in Alaska, so there may be some opportunities for Grinnell students and grads.  In addition, my colleague Jim Ziedler has indicated that there will be need for field workers in Los Alamos, NM. [mailto:rsayre@CEMML.ColoState.EDU]

Cathy Dean ‘01 was coauthor with three others of   "Resolving Unclaimed Loans Using the Internet: Resources and Case Studies" in American Law Institute/American Bar Association, Legal Problems of Museum Administration Coursebook, March 20-23, 2002 Los Angeles, California. Graduate Students and Faculty of the Museum Studies Program, the George Washington University, Washington, D.C.  She contributed much of the resources section and one case study, based on research conducted as part of a course entitled Legal and Ethical Issues in Collections Management taken with Professor DeAngelis (a co-author) during the fall 2001 semester.

Jonathan Van Hoose '92 (with K. Schleher) presented a paper at the Society for American Archaeology Meetings in March: "Boundaries of Learning Networks Reflected in Technological Style in Nondecorated Ceramics at San Marcos Pueblo." Jon is in the graduate program at the University of New Mexico.

Alexandra Ravitz-Parson ‘96 is a high yield bond trader for Delaware Investments, Philadelphia.

Dr. William Dressler ‘73

Named 2002 Burnum Award Winner

(from an article by Susan Dowling in U. of Alabama Dialog Online):  Dr. William Dressler, U. of Alabama professor of social work and anthropology, received the UA’s Burnum Distinguished Faculty Award  presented annually to a professor who is judged by a faculty selection committee to have demonstrated superior scholarly or artistic achievements and profound dedication to the art of teaching. Dressler is considered a leading authority on social epidemiology. He has conducted community-based research in such diverse settings as urban Great Britain, the southeastern United States, the West Indies, Mexico, Brazil and Samoa. He is known internationally for his research on social and dietary factors in cardiovascular disease risk. Dressler recently received a three-year National Science Foundation grant to study cultural dimensions of cardiovascular disease risk in Brazil. Dressler has served as principal investigator on over $1 million in research grants from federal agencies that include the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Mental Health and the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. He has published 59 refereed journal articles, 14 book chapters, and three books and monographs. He also is a reviewer for the National Science Foundation, the National Institute for Mental Health, and 14 social sciences and medical journals.

APPLYING A LIBERAL ARTS EDUCATION TO AN APPLIED FIELD

Roger Sayre ‘81

rsayre@CEMML.ColoState.EDU

At times it has been a long and strange trip!  After graduating from Grinnell, I quickly learned that finding employment in an applied field like wildlife and natural resources management might prove difficult.  During job interviews, I was asked “Anthro-what?  Grin-where?”  I developed a thick skin when they would mention they “never heard of the place.”  Then they would say that they preferred students with a farm background and course work in techniques, not social science theory.

When I did find work as a research technician in Minnesota and Colorado, it seemed that even some well-educated people were not ready for the late 20^th century.  I heard more than one person say “There’s no place for women in [the field of] wildlife.”  Fortunately, the times and attitudes changed.  Natural resources professionals realized that they could not operate in a scientific or technological void—they needed to integrate social, economic, and cultural values into decision making.  The profession also became more accepting of diversity.

In the past 15 or 20 years, a sub-discipline often termed the “human dimensions,” has become an increasingly important component in natural resources conservation.  This relatively new area considers policy and economics, as well as quantitative or qualitative analysis of human attitudes and perceptions.  Gone are the days of unilateral decision-making.  For example, instead of managing deer populations based on biological data and harvest quotas alone, resource managers consider economic damage caused by deer to forests or ornamental plantings.  They also factor in the risks associated with deer-car collisions and spread of disease; in addition they consider people’s concerns and perceptions about hunting.   The result is a more inclusive management strategy. Incorporating human attitudes is widely accepted now, and the field continues to grow.   

Despite facing some recalcitrance from the old school, I think that anthropology was an appropriate major for a career in natural resources.  Learning about traditions from far away places or cultures long past has provided a strong analytical foundation, and the ability to think outside of the typical mold.  And get this.  During my first week with my new position, the natural resources program manager for our client asked where I studied as an undergraduate.  When I said Grinnell, he lighted up and said, “Hey, I hear that’s a good school!” 

Photos 

Scenes from a typical research day for Vicki Bentley-Condit in the SFBR corral in San Antonio.

From left to right:  Professor Douglas Caulkins, Assistant Professor Chuck Hilton, Matt Trager, Assistant Professor Maria Tapias, Professor Jon Andelson, Nadia Manning, Emily Mohl, Joe Feinberg, Carl Drexler, Professor Kathy Kamp, Dell McLaughlin, Travis Ormsby, Jenny Haggar, Associate Professor Vicki Bentley-Condit, Rob Nalewajk, Sarah Hilliard, Assistant Professor Timothy Hare, Matt Kaler, Kristin Grote, Nathan Weller, Laura Frerichs, Emily Freeh, Assistant Professor Monty Roper, (kneeling) Professor John Whittaker.