BLOOMSBURG STATE COLLEGE Bloomsburg Pennsylvania Anthropology Newsletter Vol. 2, No. 2 October, 1977 Department of Philosophy / Anthropology Graduate Programs in Anthropology by Marj Witmer. Now is the time for seniors to be writing to graduate schools for information about their programs. (Apply in December & January, expecially if you are looking for financial aid). We thought we could acquaint everyone with the graduate programs in anthropology offered by universities in Pennsylvania. SUNY at Binghamton was also included as it does have a worthwhile program and is close by for those living in northern Pennsylvania. Penn State offers an MA and the Ph.D. Requirements for the MA are as follows: written exams on the general field of anthropology, a research paper and 30 credits of course work. Special programs include field studies in archaeology, physical anthropology, and cultural anthropology in Mexico, Guatemala, Peru, French Caribbean, South Asia and Pennsylvania. For the Ph.D.: oral and written examinations on a specialized area of interest, thesis, oral thesis defense exam and language requirements adapted to the student's needs. No specific course credit limit. A core program of courses is offered for MA & Ph.D. candidates. For information and a catalog write to the Graduate School, 308 Graduate Building and for further information write to -Graduate Program in Anthropology, 409 Social Science Building, Penn State University, University Park, Pa. 16802. Temple University offers an MA and Ph.D. Requirements for the MA degree are 24 units of course work & thesis. Ph.D. requirements: 24 credits beyond MA, 1 language and 1 technical skill (determined by department), fieldwork, 3 written or oral exams, dissertation & oral defense of dissertation. Special programs include research training in biocultural adaptation, communal studies & New World ethnology. For a catalog, write to the Registrar, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pa. 19122 or for more information, write to the Chairperson, Department of Anthropology. Bryn Mawr College offers both an MA and the Ph.D. Their requirements for an MA are 6 semester units minimum depending on preparation, thesis, reading knowledge of 2 modern foreign languages, and a 4 hour written examination. Ph.D.: 12 semester units minimum, reading knowledge of 2 languages, oral preliminary exams, written exams, fieldwork, dissertation and defense. Bryn Mawr students may take courses at the University of Pennsylvania at no extra charge. For a catalog and further information write to the Dean of the Graduate School, Arts & Sciences, Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, Pa. 19010. The University of Pittsburgh offers an MA and a Ph.D. The requirements for the MA are: 30 course credit hours, reading proficiency in 1 foreign language, written exam in one area of specialization, thesis or long paper. Ph.D.: 72 course credits, 1 foreign language, 2 courses in statistics or formal methods, 1 preliminary exam, 2 written exams in areas of specialization, fieldwork, dissertation. Area programs include East Asia, Southeast Asia, Oceania, Europe & North America with 2 subject interests in cultural & social anthropology, ethnography, cross-cultural studies, urban studies, behavioral anthropology, physical anthropology, archaeology, psychological & medical anthropology. For catalog & further information contact: Secretary for Student Affairs in Anthropology, Department of Anthropology, 234 Atwood Street, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburg, Pa. 15260. The University of Pennsylvania offers MA & MS degrees as well as the Ph.D. Requirements for the MA are 10 semester courses, thesis, 1 foreign language, and a written exam. The MS degree requires: 10 semester courses, a specific course of study arranged according to student interest and a written exam. Ph.D.: 20 semester courses, 1 language, oral exams, written exams, fieldwork, dissertation. Special programs include the student ability to take part in museum excavations & ethnographic expeditions. Archaeological research is being conducted in Alaska, Guatemala, Ireland, Iran, Afghanistan and Oceania. Ethnographic research centers on Oceania, Latin America, Africa, Middle East, and Southeast Asia. Physical Anthropology research in South Africa, East Africa, Guatemala. And a primate behavior field station in Kenya! For a catalog write to the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, Bennett Hall or for further information write to chairperson, Department of Anthropology, University Museum, 33rd & Spruce Sts., Philadelphia, Pa •. 19174. SUNY at Binghamton offers MA and Ph.D. degre~s. The requirements for the MA degree are: 30 course hours exclusive of thesis or two acceptable seminar papers, 1 foreign language and a written exam. Ph.D.: 56 hours of course work, 1 foreign language, 1 demonstrable research skill, oral and written exams, fieldiJork-dissertation on special programs include summer archaeology field schools in Arizona and New York State. Also programs in mathematical culture theory, cultural ecology, complex societies, & studies in prehistoric technology. Also an international studies program in Malta, Morocco, and Southwest Asia. For a catalog and application write to the Direator, Graduate Studies, Department of Anthropology, SUNY, Binghamton, NY 13901. If you are interested in graduate programs at other universities, you should consult the Guide to Departments of Anthropology published by the AAA. The faculty has copies. For a personal view, you should know that Mr. Solenberger attended Penn, Mr. Reeder went to PSU and Dr. Minderhout taught at Temple. (NOTE: Don't be put off by the appearance of the graduate requirements; once you're in a program they become simply goals to achieve. You're capable of handling these programs! - DJM). We get letters ••• Dean Drake sent the anthropologists the following note; 'Congratulations to each of you and to the Student Editors for another fine edition of the Anthropology Newsletter. Keep up the good work!" Thank you, Dean Drake - we will do our best. Mr. Solenberger has informed the editorship that we have m~ssed some of his areas of interest. We quote: ·•During the past year my academic activity has included library research in Washington, Philadelphia and New York on an annotated bibliography of ethnic groups in Pennsylvania, in 3 cooperation with Dr. David Washburn of the BSC Multicultural Studies Center. This is in line with a long-time avocational interest in ethnic organizations, restaurants, churches, newspaper, etc, especially of Arabic-speaking groups and American Indians." Book Review Carl Sagan is perhaps best known for his controversial views on extraterrestrial life. However, in his most recent book, The Dragons of Etlen: Speculations on the Evolution of Human Intelligence, (1977), he strikes out into a new field: human evolution. Using current research on such diverse topics as brain physiology and linguistics, evolution and psychology, dreaming and DNA, he describes the evolution of the brain, noting in particular the relationship between the "old'' brain, the limbic regions and other deeper structures shared by humans and other vertebrates, and the "new" brain, the cortex, the complexity of which is as recent in earth history as hominids. Human emotions, he suggests, are rooted in experiences of 5 million years ago. He also suggests that we can "get in touch" with earlier modes of life through our old brains - perhaps through dreams. As Sagan notes, his ~ccount is speculative and decidedly controversial, but even his critics call it a real contribution to the study of evolution, which so often centers on morphology to the exclusion of human intelligence, emotions, and creativity. Students interested in sociobiology will find this book especially interesting. The library has a copy. Magazine Review OK, so you don't want to shell out $20 for the AAA. How about $10 for Natural History? This magazine is published 10 times a year by the American Museum of Natural History. Membership also brings 2 free gifts, usually a book and a handsome calendar (this year's has pictures of Eastern Woodland Indian culture) as well as discpunts on items in the museum shop. While the magazine caters to all aspects of natural history, e~ch issue has several articles dealing with anthropology (and Margaret Mead \s an editor). October's issue has an article in~ Ecuadorian Indians, especially their weaving. Steven Jay Gould has a monthly column on modern evolutionary theory. Raymond Sokolov has another column on foods - and cultural attitudes toward them - with a non-Western recipe included (this month-dates). Another article deals with some of the unexpected benefits of parasites for human health. Regular articles appear on topics in archaeology, sociobiology, art and ethnography as well as ethology and other biological sciences, astronomy, geology and history. There are also book reviews and an annual photography contest. If you would like to see a copy, Minderhout & Styers subscribe to it as does the library. Get to Know Your Fellow Majors: How about some kind of regular informal gatherings among anthro majors? The faculty has noted how much many of you have in common - including talent, of course - you'd like to each other. An important part of the college experience is the camaraderie that develops among your peers. Here's a list of the people who have 4 formally declared the major: Damian Butz Bi 11 Creveling Cathy Davis Jan Dunleavy David Hess Steve James Brent Lees Sue Lilly Jeff Long Stu Marvin Bruce McQuiston Dave Pacchioli Mary Ann Rubbo George Santos Linda Shively Debbie Steadle Steve Styers Jim Thompson Cliff Tillman Tom Trocki Mike Williams Marj Witmer Walt Yuslum Teresa Zoba Many of these students have double majors, a practice the faculty is happy to encourage. Many other students are following the major but have not declared their intentions to the registrar. We'd be happy to list their names on their request. You don't have to be an anthro major to enter in the fellowship--or to receive the newsletter. Ethnographic Facts Why did American movies dealing with love have to be censored before being shown in Japan? Wrong! It is because of the scenes of men and women kissing. Kissing is an extremely private act among the Japanese and for it to be displayed so publicly is the ultimate in cultural bad taste. In fact it seems that prior to Western contact, most of the world's cultures did not kiss at all, often viewing the Westerner's practice as deplorable, unnatural, unhygienic, bordering on the nasty and even definitely repulsive. For many cultures kissing suggested cannibalism. Witness the account of the young English explorer who in 1863 chose to kiss a pretty African girl. What happened? We quote: "She gave a shriek and bounded from the house like a frightened fawn . . . Ananga knew that the serpent moistens its victims with its lips before it begins its repast. All the tales of white cannibals which she had heard from infancy had returned to her. The poor child had thought that I was going to dine off her, and she had run for her life." You'll be relieved to know that like Westernization in general, kissing is spreading among the world's peoples (often under the influence of American movies.) But there is nothing "natural" about kissing as a display of affection; kissing is learned and culturally defined. New Course A new course, Independent Study in Anthropology, (46.466) has just been approved by the college. This course fills an obvious gap in the anthropology program. The course will be available for scheduling this summer. There will be restrictions placed on the use of the course by the college, so see ore of the faculty or Dr. Carlough if you think you'd like to use independent study credit. Would you be interested in a course on SubSaharan Africa? Dr. Minderhout is considering making a course proposal. Would you take such a course? Would you be interested in the South American Indians course (46.450)? The 0cea~ia course (46.430) will be offered next fall. Read & Discuss Group Tom Trocki has suggested that interested majors and others get together informally for 1 a discussion of books or topics of interest to anthropologists. He suggests as a starting point : the Carlos CastaAeda books (Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge; A Separate 5 Reality, etc.) which are about an anthropologist who apprentices himself to a Yaqui shaman. If interested see Tom or any of the faculty. Miscellany You might be interested in the review article in September's AA on introductory texts for cultural anthropology. Also reviewed are texts like Frantz's The Student Anthropologist's Handbood: A Guide to Research, Training & Career. Interview of the Month by Steve Styers Linda Shively is a 27 year old senior with a double major in Psychology and Anthropology. She has been married for 8 years and has a 4 year old daughter. Originally from Catawissa, she is now temporarily residing somewhere in the wilderness beyond her hometown. SS: LS: SS: LS: SS: LS: SS: LS: SS: LS: SS: LS: SS: LS: Which was your first major? Sociology was actually the first, but then I switched to Psychology. Later I discovered that most of my Sociology courses were in Anthropology, so that became my second major . . . live always been interested in Anthropology. Why? I read those sorts of books--mostly primatology . . . Robert Ardrey, Jane Goodall. It was a curiosity. The reason for my majors is that I am curious about why people behave as they do. Anthropology gives the viewpoint from the past, with cross-cultural study, and Psychology gives the contemporary American view. The problem is that each field looks at the facts from different viewpoints, but, taken all together, I can make up my own mind about what I think . . . studying the different fiel<ls together gives a more rounded outlook. Any other favorite books? I've compiled a fantastically long booklist for after I graduate in December, since I've done little outside reading in college. Some memorable books have been a biography of Freud, and Mary, Queen of Scots. I rarely read bestsellers, but usually the classics. You graduate in December? Oh God, yes! . . What will you do after that? Grad school, for sure. I'm looking into many fields; realistically, I want to get into clinical psychology; idealistically, I'd love to get into a good anthro grad school that concentrated in primatology. Aren't you going to ask me what my outside interests are? What are your outside interests? We raise and exhibit show dogs, West Highland Whie Terriers. We have a kennel. This takes up all our weekends, and occasionally time ·in the middle of the night, too, since they whelp in the bedroom. But we love raising them; it would be nuts otherwise. We also collect antiques. And what are your long-term goals, for the year 2000? We'll probably still be raising white terriers . . . I hope by then to have either contributed something in the mental health field, or in research. And I hope to have grandchildren by that time! 6 The Anthropology of Star Wars by Steve Styers. First, my bias: I've been reading science fiction since about the age of nine and maintained a special love for it until I lost my '' sense of wonder" about nine years later. Now my love of Science Fiction is no longer special in the sense of being a calm ecstasy of adolescense, but I tend to thing it has ascended to another level where I can be objective, critical, even damning, yet still have a particular passion for this kind of literature. And, I am new to anthropology in the sense that only this year did I decide to learn what it has to tell me, and yet I have long held ''anthropological'' ideas though I didn't know such concepts were· incoporated into a science called anthropology. So my foundations are informal but ingrained into my present viewpoint. This discussion will lack preciseness in any of the formal aspects of anthropological science, but, after all, this is just a commentary on a movie, and now that a few of my ~ajar biases are out of the way, one can take this artice seriously (I do) or as the manifestation of a particular passion (I do, too). Anthropology is the study of man. Star Wars also studies man, because, despite the op~ning preface, it is not a film about "long, long ago in a galaxy far away." If it was such an undertaking, I'm afraid such a film would necessarily be totally :incomprehensible. Luke Skywalker is a human creature, not an estraterrestrial. And most of the extraterrestrials we do see in the movie are not at all far removed from the basic human form of a head with 2 eyes, 2 arms, 2 legs. But we must still pretend Star Wars does occur in the past and in a distant galaxy. It's the framework of the film, and it gave George Lucas the opportunity to extrapolate and recreate an alternate "human"-oriented universe. Of course, the film is ethnocentr le; even worse, depend i_,1g on what one feels, it is bound up in some typically American attitudes--except for one certain aspect with which I will end this review. Star Wars focuses on a particular area of study in its anthropology-the crisis of social revolution. The galactic culture is in upheaval between the realms of good and evil (a common concept to the human race if there ever was one.) The Good is never defined explicitly and only contained in personalities (Luke, Princess Leia, Obi-wan, R2D2, and C3PO) or vague concepts of the "Rebellion." The Evil, too, is indicated by a casual reference to the "Empire" and its power and is embodied in the black form of Darth Vader. Here I feel some racism creeps in, unintentional though I am sure it is. American culture (Western culture?) has long identified the good with the color white and the anti-good with black. An example of extremism if you ask me. So Darth is a blackenshrouded thing when he could have been in deep red, and our heroes are white. The Imperial storm troopers have white armor, but all humanity is removed from them since we never see their faces. This may all seem trivial, but to me it indicates quite ~learly the kinds of psychomyths that run through earth cultures. Usually unexamined, these fears and inclinations are threads of continuity in the social psychology which may have had a basis in fact (e.g. fear of the night since predators were out there hungry for Homo sapiens), but which now have no survival value. (Well, we need not fear our old predators; our new ones are fellow humans.) To be continued . . .