Bloomsburg State College
Bloomsburg
Pennsylvania
Anthropology Newsletter
Vol. 2, No. 3
November 1977
Department of Philosophy and Anthropology
More on Graduate Schools The faculty has just published a two page sheet entitled "Should I
go to graduate school in anthropology?" This handout attempts to answer questions raised by
anthro majors such as "Where should I go?" "Can I get financial aid?" etc. Every anthro major and other interested students - should have a copy. In general, for those inunediately interested,
you should be consulting the Guide to Departments of Anthropology and the catalogs in the
library to find out about schools. Write to the graduate schools and anthropology programs for
information. Also arrange to take your Graduate Record Exams as soon as possible (Write to the
Educational Testing Service, Box 955, Princeton, NJ 08546.) Similarly, apply to the schools
as early as possible (January is a good time.) If you would like to prepare yourself further
for graduate school, the faculty will be happy to help you put together a reading program.
Note: Any large university can provide you with a good, comprehensive, graduate program in
anthropology. You need not feel restricted to going to school in Pennsylvania or the East for
anthropology.
Anthropology Film Festival Fifteen interested persons attended the first anthropology film
festival November 2 in the Bakeless Faculty Lounge. The film shown was "Dead Birds." In
addition to the movie, there was a spirited discussion both before and after the movie. All
who attended found the experience worthwhile--and so, the second festival will be November 30
in 302 Bakeless at 6:30 PM. The films to be shown are "The Dayaks of North Borneo" and
"4-Butte-1," an archaeology film. Try to attend.
Ethnographic Facts A behavior found among many of the world's peoples is dirt eating. Usually
dirt eaters are said to be motivated by an uncontrollable urge. For instance, among the Bora
and Witoto of Amazonia, the desire to eat clay, which is viewed with disfavor by the culture,
is said to be an unconquerable craving. A Witoto will scrape clay.from under the fireplace and
eat it in secret. In Morocco, schoolboys eat potter's earth before breakfast in the belief
that they will learn their lessons better as a result. Earth-eating is also found among
Southern blacks - and some Southern whites. Two researchers found that 25% of 207 randomly
selected Southern school children had eaten dirt at least twice within a 16 day period. Reasons
given for eating dirt were: it's good for you; tastes good, rather sour, like a lemon; helps
women who are pregnant; and tastes good if put in the chimney and smoked first. Laundry starch
was an acceptable substitute if good, clean, reddish-brown clay was not available. This is
probably a learned behavior rather than a nutritional deficiency. Witness this account: "I
learned to eat dirt when I was very small. My mother eats it, but not my father. His family
does not eat dirt, but my mother's family does." Substitute smoking or drinking for eating
dirt, and you will discover a culturally defined, learned trait.
Anthropology Bulletin Board Have you seen the anthropology bulletin board outside of 106
Bakeless? Information about our program, graduate schools, or anthropological associations
will be made available there. If you have any ideas about displays for the board, see any of
the faculty. (Thanks to Judy Reitmeyer for making the arrangements for the board!)
Hey, Mr. Solenberger! How about displaying some of the artifacts students are finding (or have
found) at the Northumberland site? The display cases in the library of the Bakeless entrance
area could be used.

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page 2
Magazine Review Two professional journals with which students should be acquainted (and to
which they might wish to subscribe) are Ethnology and Anthropological Quarterly. Each journal
is published four times a year; each costs $10 annually; and each deals primarily with ethnography. Ethnology is published by the anthropology department at the University of Pittsburgh.
The magazine was founded by George P. Murdoch and has many articles using or relevant to his
Human Relations Area Files. Each issue contains 6-8 articles by prominent anthropologists,
each describing some aspect of a usually non-Western culture. Anthropological Quarterly is
published by the anthropology department of Catholic University in Washington, D.C. Each issue
contains 4-5 ethnographic articles and 2-3 book reviews. ~ tends to include more articles
dealing with American culture. The library receives both journals if you would like to look
at copies.
Anthropology News The anthropology department at Lock Haven State College is sponsoring a two
day conference on Extra-Terrestrial Communication November 18-19. Planetarium shows, films,
and lectures by NASA personnel will be included. Student registration fees for the two days
are $5.
Book Review Marvin Harris is well known in anthropology as the author of interesting, but
controversial books. Among his past works are the respected The Rise of Anthropological Theory
and Cows, Pigs, Wars & Witches: The Riddles of Culture. His latest book, Cannibals & Kings:
The Origins of Cultures, (Random House 1977), will be no less controversial. Harris argues that
the human race has been going downhill ever since the Neolithnic, when man was forced from an
animal to a plant protein-based diet. The invention of agriculture allowed for more efficient
production and population growth - leading in turn to overpopulation and resource depletion.
This sorry state of affairs led to competition between neighboring cultures - thus, war - and
to such behaviors as sexism, racism, infanticide, the Oedipus complex, nationalism - you name it!
What's interesting is that Harris makes it all sound plausible. Whether he's talking about the
.I11cl1tlc pip; t11h11 or 1· '10 lnv0nt-fo11 or t·hp wh<>PlC'cl c11r1· , lw is cflroi1illy nmAARinp; dRtA townrds his
ultimate goals. As John Leonard says in the New York Times (October 20, 1977): "Mr. Harris is

a roving band, not a settled village. He ransacks the anthropological literature." The usual
criticism leveled against Harris is that he oversimplifies complex data. But read the book and
decide for yourself,
Interview of the Month by Steve Styers, Bill Creveling is a second semester junior with a double
major in Psychology and Anthropology, He is 21 years old and comes from Upper Dublin, PA, in
the suburbs of Philadelphia,
SS: You were in Psychology first?
BC: Yes, because I wanted to go into comparative psychology, for graduate school.
SS: And Anthropology came later?
BC: I picked it up when I had the Pri1nates class; that was comparative, the closest course to
what I want to do. Anthropology gives the cross-cultural aspect on human behavior, which I want
to learn before I can compare animals to humans in general.
SS: Where do you want to go for graduate school?
BC: Any place that will take me.
SS: How do you intend to fit into the establishment?
BC: Hopefully, perhaps teach college at a major university where I would be able to work on
research from ethological observations.
SS: Any particular books that drew you to Psychology or Anthropology?
BC: The major one is Sociobiology and Behavior by David Barash. ,
SS: Are you more interested in animals or humans?
BC: Humans, but I want to take a different perspective on studying their behavior - by finding
relationships between animal and human behavior.

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SS: Do you think sociobiology is a fad or the wave of the future?
BC: I think it will have more impact and become more accepted. It'll probably run into
problems similar to those that arose when evolution first came around ••• People may not be
ready to accept it right now.
SS: Outside interests?
BC: Having a good time whenever I have a chance. I play a little bit of guitar, but I don't
have enough time to develop it as much as I want.
SS: Is there one thing more important in your life than anything else?
BC: Being able to think back on my life from my death-bed and feel that I have accomplished
something worthwhile.
The Anthropology of Star Wars by Steve Styers (continued from October's issue)
Some critics have said that Star Wars is a glorification of Nazism! This is too extreme to
accept, I think, for those with the vague Nazi tendencies are the Imperial group in control
of the Death Star which is blown apart by those with the vague humanist tendencies of the
rebellion.
From racism, let me touch upon sexism for a moment. Yes, the man is the prime achiever
(and prime no-gooder) in Star Wars. The principle male is young Luke; the principal help
comes from Obi-wan and Han Solo; Chewbacca is obviously male; even C3PO and R2D2 (though
the latter says nary a masculine word) are male machines. However, and this is where the
flaw of the Star Wars sexist patterns are redeemed, the Prime Motivation of all the action
in the film (and of its depiction of this certain moment of social crisis) is a woman,
Princess Leia, without whom the film would lack beginning (to set events in motion), middle
(to show she is not a helpless beauty but is a beauty with remarkable practical intelligence)
and end (as it is she who presents official recognition and symbolic reward to the actions
of the menJ Luke never could have saved the day without the data tapes obtained by the
princess. So the film is sexist on the surface, but underneath it reveals an attitude of
mutual cooperation and mutual necessity.
I hope I am giving some idea of the context of the components of this film. For Star
Wars is an in-context study; it is holistic in its approach to the presentation of the
crisis of a star war; it is bioculturally oriented; it depicts culture clash; it shows
that one's culture is learned and is an interdependent system. To briefly discuss these
anthropological aspects:
Holism - the star war is seen from many viewpoints. We have the impression that many
planetary systems are involved, and many planetary systems are shown in detail. There
are many details of the everyday life of Luke on Tatooine before he is swept up into the
rebellion. The star ships are detailed; the city (spaceport) of Mos Eiseley is detailed;
the Death Star is detailed; all the material aspects are given a certain degree of scrutiny.
All of these make up for the apparent lack of scrutiny on the philosophical foundations
of the star war in the first place. (Another bias of the film here, reflecting American
thought, is this intense delight in materialism. Once again, though, this is balanced by
the Force. So, the film is materialistic on the surface, as it is sexist, possibly even
racist, but beneath is a throbbing undercurrent of the vital importance of something
totally different from materialism.)
The film is holistic since it takes in a little bit if everything. It is another world
in the sense of an alternate human world, but it gives the i111pression of a Whole Domain.

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Nothing utterly essential is missing. The film is cross-cultural in its context, for the
Princess' culture is not Luke's, is not Obi-wan's, is not Darth Vader's, is not Han Solo's,
is not the Jawas', nor the Sandpeople's, nor Chewbacca's, etc. They are all from different
cultures, and these cultures get the cultural-relativism treatment. Of course, the culture
which produced the Death Star is judged as evil, but it certainly can't be ignored. So
it too has a definite place in the study of the Star Wars culture context.
Bio-cultural approach - The situation is seen as a consequence of the interaction of
biological and cultural facets of a Star Wars reality. The Sandpeopl~ without doubt, are
a principle physical representation of this. They are part inorganic, part organic creatures
who have a cultural orientation to raiding and general aggressiveness. This probably arose
from their harsh desert environment, their strange biological-artificial makeup, and the
historical development of their culture. On a larger scale, natural worlds (Tatooine, and
the lush jungle of the Rebels' base) are given equal exposure with the artifical worlds of
the Death Star and Han Solo's starship, the Millenium Falcon. The war itself is a star war
and could only have arisen out of biocultural differences between star systems. On the
individual level, Darth Vader is a walking symbol of the bio-cultural influence. It is not
just his culture that promotes his evil; it is also his physical form. Imagine the kind of
hideous, mutilated face hiding behind his breath-mask. To me, that is the frightening
thing about him, that he has a face, but we do not see it. (To be continued)
Office Hours:
Dr. Minderhout (219 BCH) MWF at 8 and 2
Mr. Reeder (219 BCH) MW at 2, TuTh at 12:30
Mr. Solenberger (Boyer Garage) MW at 11:15; Wat 2 and 3; Th at 11
If you would like to be on the Newsletter mailing list or if you have news to include or
ideas to share, please contact any of the anthropologists or one of the student editors.
Steve Styers can be reached at 784-7421; Marj Witmer at 784-4566.