BLOOMSBURG STATE COLLEGE
Bloomsburg
Pennsylvania
Anthropology Newsletter
Vol. 3, No. 2
October 1978
Department of Philosophy and Anthropology

Independent Study. We have been informed by Dr. Carlough that independent study hours
for next semester are exhausted. Proposals for independent study for summer and first
semester 1979 must be submitted to the Dean by the last day of pre-registration in the
spring. This means that the proposal must be prepared b~ the student at an earlier
date in order to secure departmental support.
Scheduling for Spring 1979.
this coming spring:
46.100
46.200
46.320
46.330
46.340
46.440
46.480

The anthropologists will be offering the following courses
General Anthropology
Principles of Cultural Anthropology
Contemporary World Cultures
Peoples of SubSaharan Africa
North American Indians
Language & Culture
Religion & Magic

Please note that the Africa course, 46.330, is bein g offered in the spring for the
first time. Minderhout will be teaching this course; see him for details. Also it
is highly recommended that anyone who is taking the Southwest trip this summer sign up
for the North American Indians course with Reeder. You may schedule with any of the
faculty.
For those of you lookin g ahead to next fall, the following upper level courses will
be offered:
46.301
46.332
46.470
46.490

Field Archaeology
Personality & Culture (by Reeder)
Anthropology Thought & Theory
Socialization of the Child

Note: Majors sometimes fail to take courses in anthropology because sections are
filled. If this should happen to you, please tell the faculty. Majors are always
allowed to pink slip into anthropology courses.
Library Information. The Andruss Library has an extensive collection of anthropological materials. In general, books dealing with anthropology, ethnology, ethnography and prehistoric archaeology can be found under the Library of Congress call
letters GN; books on folklore, manners and customs are to be found under GR and GT.
Keep your eyes open for new books displayed in the new readings section as you enter
the library. There are usually several books concerning anthropology in each new
display.
Don't forget to make use of periodicals for research topics. Material in magazines
tends to be more contemporary than material in books. At present there are 19
anthropology periodicals and 7 archaeology magazines available in the library. Take
a look at Magazines for Libraries by Bill Katt to get an idea of what a particular
magazine deals with. This guide gives a brief synopsis of a magazine's subject
matter, readership, quality, and release periods. You'll find general anthropology

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topics in a magazine like American Anthropolmgist and more esoteric topics in specialized magazines like Masterkey for Indian Lore, which deals with Indian cultures of
the Southwest. Numerous reference materials such as Abstracts in Anthropology and
the Handbook of Method in Cultural Anthropology are also available.
Anthropology Briefs. GET PAID & GET CREDIT! Ever think of combining learnin g with
pay and credit? If any major is interested in the possibility of an anthropology
internship, see Bob Reeder.
Update: Southwest Archaeology Tours by Bob Reeder. Anthropology majors should be
seriously considering the archaeology tour of the American Southwest this coming spring.
The tour date, from May 21, 1979, to June 8, is designed to (a) enable . students to
find summer work since the tour will be over before most summer employment begins,
(b) enable students to have time for summer school if so inclined, and (c) see the
Southwest during the cooler weeks of late spring and before the main summer tourist
season begins.
Between now and Christmas recess a fundamentally firm commitment to the trip by anthropology majors is necessary because of the innnense appeal of this tour to the BSC student
body. In effect, Minderhout and Reeder are reserving slots for anthropology majors
before offering this important opportunity to other students.
It is difficult to convey the highly positive nature of this experience. It is
personally a rich and even dramatic encounter with U. S. prehistory and natural
environments as well as perhaps a necessary academic and professional experience, contact with American Indian cultures as well as with the Old West and Mexican-American
culture. In addition the tour will visit several natural wonders such as the Florissant
Fossil Beds, the Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, the Petrified Forest, etc.
The logistical arrangements is to travel by private auto and to camp en route. Evening
discussions will illuminate daily events as the tour progresses. We are attempting
to strike a sensible balance between study and recreation so that the tour becomes
neither an orgy nor a pilgrimage.
The tour will be worth three academic credits as 46.320, Contemporary World Cultures.
Tuition is $117; travel and camping costs are $115 per person. These fees cover everything except food costs and occasional visitors' fees. Our experience has been that
students will be tempted to buy Navajo jewelry, etc., on the reservations where high
quality craftsmanship in silver and turquoise arts exist. There are many other attractions for money, but beyond the basic fees, it is up to the individual to decide
what to spend.
The itinerary includes these highlights:
1.

Santa Fe, New Mexico - 2 days - museums, Spanish heritage, Indian
crafts, local pueblo Indian villages.
2. Chaco Canyon, New Mexico - 1½ days - remote abandoned ruins of
ancient Anasazi civilization.
3. Petrified Forest, Painted Desert, Meteor Crater, Walnut Creek Canyon
sights.
4. Museum of Northern Arizona at Flagstaff
5. The Grand Canyon
6. Navajo reservation and Hopi Mesas in Northeast Arizona
7. Canyon de Chelly - cliff dwelling ruins of Anasazi
8. Monument Valley, Utah
9. Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado - the zenith of cliff dwelling
development
10. Florissant Fossil Beds - prehistoric animal life - Colorado
We are accepting applications at this time for the trip.

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Interview Time. by Jan Dunlevy & Bill Creveling. Last month we promised you a
cross-disciplinary opinion poll of various BSC faculty members' views of sociobiology.
We did this with a specific point in mind, that of reinforcing the old adage of "don't
believe everything you read." Instead we have an interview with Steve James, an outstanding academician and co-editor of this illustrious periodical.
Steve James, a senior, is the new co-editor of the Anthropology Newsletter. Steve
will be working with Dave Minderhout organizing, contributing, and putting together
the Newsletter monthly. Regarding the direction the Newsletter should take, Steve
would like to see more people contributing articles (a hint to all you non-participating
Newsletter readers). He would also like the Newsletter to be less general and more
instructive to anthropology majors.
Steve came to BSC as a liberal arts major. Realizing that liberal arts would be too
broad once he got into the job market, Steve decided on anthropology. Steve enjoys
anthropology because it allows him to deal in generalities rather than restric~ing him
to specific aspects of human behavior. Steve's main area of concern is cultural
anthropology although he does have interests in sociobiology.
Steve hails from Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, but he spent last summer in Louisiana doing
field research on transient laborers. He hopes to continue his work this coming
sunnner and is presently working on a paper for possible publication on his experiences,
excerpts of which can be found in this Newsletter.
Steve feels that the anthropology department at BSC has given him a good background
for graduate school, something he wishes to do while in Louisiana.

Q.

Is there any anthropologist in particular whose theories conform to your ideas?

A.

I don't believe it is wise to limit yourself to one person because all the
different fields are important, and you should integrate them.

Steve does admire the works of Richard Brautigan, a novelist/poet of the 60's. Steve
explains that Brautigan doesn't concern himself with developing himself through prolonged themes, but was able to express himself in a few sentences. Steve's outside
interests other than reading include camping and relaxing.
Stay tuned next month when your roving reporters will conduct a cross-disciplinary
survey on your favorite professors' viewpoints on sociobiology.
Magazine Review. The magazine Natural History has become one of the major outlets for
anthropological writing in recent years. Published by the American Museum of Natural
History, the magazine features well-written articles on all the sciences; students will
find related articles on biology, genetics, and ecology, as well as anthropology. The
October, 1978 issue contains a look at Upper Paleolithic art and an article about the
ceramics of Peruvian Indians. John Baugh has an article on the politics of black
power handshakes; "these greetings have a grammar, leading to some uncomfortable mistakes."
As monthly features there are articles by Stephen Jay Gould on evolution and the history
of science and by Raymond Sokolov on food; the latter discusses the cross-cultural uses
of a particular food item and ends with a recipe. There are other articles on astronomy,
history, and zooology, as well as book reviews. All articles are accompanied by beautiful
photography. Subscriptions are $10 a year for 10 issues, a free gift (calenuar or book)
and a 10% discount on items for sale by the Museum.

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Summer Anthropology by Steve James. This past sunnner I had the opportunity to carry
on participant observation in the oil fields of south Louisiana. When formulating my
summer plans I wasn't even sure if there was anything in that region that would be of
interest to study. The only thing I was sure of was whatever I did I would keep a
journal. With that idea in mind I left for New Orleans.
While driving to New Orleans visions of the cowboy spirit, long weeks on an oil rig
200 miles out in the Gulf and helicopter rides crossed my mind. Arriving in New
Orleans my dreaming soon stopped. I was to realize I knew nothing about work in the
oil fields and that work would be hard. After two weeks of spending nights in third
rate motels and long days getting rejected at personnel offices I found a job. It
was a little odd to be hired over the telephone but I was out of funds and in need of
employment. I soon realized my being down on luck and out of money was the story of
a thousand drifters and transients in the oil 11 patch."
I had no idea of what type of company hired me or what kind of work I would be doing.
All I knew was I was to wait on the corner of Third and Barrow till someone picked
me up. A carryall came and I found out I was working for a roustabout outfit. The
campany was a contract labor camp supplying extra labores to larger oil field operations.
As the carryall carried me and other new workers into the company yard I knew 1 had
stumbled into some anthropology. The yard was full of men waiting to be called to
go out to a work site. All had hard hats, steel-toed boots, dirty clothes, and heavy
gloves. The men coming back from a day's work were even more dirty and tired looking.
They filtered out of the yard and into the plywood and cardboard shacks which the
company supplied for the men and inappropriately dubbed bunkhouses. The workers were
unskilled laborers, some drifters moving from one oil patch town to another, some
winos and drunks; all could be called unemployable in a status job. The work they
did was manual labor; working in pipeyards, unloading 100 lbs. chemical sacks used
in the drilling process, and as extra hands on production and drilling rigs. The
majority of them came from lower social and economic backgrounds. Not many of the
men had completed high school or had any employable skills.
Listening to their life histories was like reading endless pages out of the book of
hard luck and bad-breaks stories. Many of the men were wanted by the law for misdemeanors in other states, running from the IRS, escaping the mental abuse of a
recent divorce, or a "Vietnam war." Some had bodily stigmas or speech problems; some
couldn't even speak English. It was truly a collection of social misfits who had
found a place where their lives could be meaningful. There was enough around the
bunkhouses and yard to keep the men's free time occupied. A few bars lined the street;
there was a cafe to buy meals on credit. No one worried about dressing nicely; clothes
would only get dirty. There was little pressure to impress anybody; everybody was a
~isfit anyway. The men knew their conditions, but didn't seem to worry about being looked
tlown upon or scoffed at. They identified with the importance and adventure of the oil
patch, long rides on boats going out to billion dollar rigs to lend a hand on their
tonstruction. Helping stop a rig from blowing up, or just being associated with an
industry ' SO important to mainstream America.

At

first I was not accepted by the people I worked with. I was the "college Yankee."
and dressed differently which sometimes offended them. One night in a local
bar a girl just up and kicked me off my stool. Picking myself off the floor I asked
her why she did that. She just said, "You dress too proper." As an anthropologist
1 was a nosey questioning intruder. Since attending honky-tonks was a favorite pasttime of the workers many of my interviews were carried out in small honkey-tonks.

± talked

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Many nights as my informants drank more and my questions seemed more personal and
threatening, I was blatantly ostrasized. It never felt good, but those behaviors have
underlying value statements behind them and as an anthropologist I was interested.
As time passed my presence and questions were accepted. Interviews were carried
out in a more relaxed and friendly manner. Jokes instead of tension filled the air.
My informants became my fellow workers and friends. I had to chuckle inside when my
informants would tell me to make sure their names got mentioned in my article.
Participant observation requires living and doing what your study group does. I hoped
to gain a true understanding of the lives of the transient workers so I had to live
and work as they did. Many nights as I slept in that hot box of a room, I came to
hate the words participant observation. After long days working in the hot sun, often
doing hard degrading work, I questioned whether it was all worthwhile. But, I guess
training to be an anthropologist requires learning to look beyond one's immediate feelings into the content behind those feelings. I learned more about the negativeness of
the transients' life from examining my own feelings at a particular time than I could
have from simple observation. Participant observation gives one the opportunity to
submerse himself into a way of life. Ideally, by becoming that close to? group of
people, you should understand what is happening on a social scene. No matter how tied
to a particular role or lifestyle you are, while doing anthropology y~u are for a small
segment of time, a member of the culture, society, group, or role you are studying.
There is no way of not getting personally involved in the events of a day, There were
times during the summer I felt more like a transient laborer than a student doing a
research project.
In looking back at the summer retrospectively, the most rewarding aspect seems to be
that while doing the project, I had the opportunity to use the things learned from
taking anthro courses. All the stories I had read about the trials and tribulations of
doing participant observations were no longer just stories. In the area I worked there
were wide language variations, ranging from Black English to the French-English used by
the Cajuns. It was interesting to see speech being used as a social phenomenon, by
marking those off who were granted status from those who were not. All in all, the
summer gave me the chance to gain insight into what an anthropologist does and what
Cultural Anthropology really entails.
Review of Animal House by David Greenwald. The Dogan, Mary Douglas (1975: 127-128)
tells us, divide the world of experience in two. On the one hand there is the realm of
right, clarity, order and reason -- I suppose we could call it structure -- under the
jurisdiction of the god Nommo. On the other hand, there is the realm of disorder,
confusion, dreams and stuttering -- non-structure -- under the jurisdiction of Nommo's
brother, the Pale Fox. What is surprising, Douglas notes, is that truth in all its
forms belongs not to Nommo, but to the Fox, as if to suggest that under the world of
order and structure there lies something more chaotic and more real.
I mention this because a similar division appears in Animal House, The Omegas and the
college administration represent order and structure, and the Deltas represent disorder
in the form of an exuberant release from structure. But here Animal House departs from
the world of the Dagon. For its order is not "right order" but "wrong order": sadomasochism (the Omega initiation scene), i~potence (Marmalard with Amanda) and Nixonian dirty tricks (the switching of the exam mimeos).
Animal House is essentially a morality play, a cowboy movie, in which the fo rces of
light and freedo~ struggle with and ultimately prevail over the forces of darkness
and repression, This is quite clear to anyone who has witnessed the cheering and
booing by audiences, many of whose members have obviously already seen the movie at
least once.

6

Animal House is not, and does not claim to be, an accurate portrayal of fraternity life
in 1962. It is the acting out of a myth, of a set of aspirations shared by large
numbers of people. It is a ritual rebellion against a society in which most people
wind up as little cogs in big machines, obedient, orderly, and unfree. It represents
the yearnirgto escape the subjection of pet~y rules and the bondage to hypocrites,
contemptuous of the "right order" they impose on everyone else (Vide the plotting
between Dean Wormser and Marmalard, and the rigged trial of the Deltas.)
These aspirations are most clearly embodied in one character - Blutarsky, played by
John Belushi. As drunk, glutton and voyeur, Blutarsky more than anyone else represents
the spirit of release and its ultimate vindication: he marries the gorgeous Amanda
and becomes a senator, while Niedermeyer is killed in Vietnam by his own troops and
Marmalard, sentenced for his activities as a Nixon aide, is raped in jail.
The climax in the movie is the sabotaging of the homecoming parade. In all societies
parades (or their e~uivalents) are a means for rendering visible and reinforcing the
social structure. All of its idols, all of its collective representations, pass
solemnly (and mindlessly) in review. What better way to attack social structure than
to profane its symbols publicly?
Reference:

Mary Douglas, Implicit Meanings, London:

Routledge & Kegan Paul 1975 _.

Faculty Office Hours:
Dr. Minderhout (219 BCH) 10 & 1 TuTh; 9 & 1 W
Mr. Reeder (219 BCH) 1 & 2 W; 12:15 TuTh; 5:30 W evenings
Mr. Solenberger (Boyer Building) 3M; 2 - 4 W; 11 Th; 2 F