Reminiscences: Anthropology at the University of Michigan in the Late 1950s

Document Type

Article

Authors

Theodore Steegmann Jr., Department of Anthropology, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY 14261.

Abstract

By 1958, the Anthropology Department at the University of Michigan had emerged as a major center in the discipline. Its excellence derived from a strong faculty, commitment to an integrated view of the field, and broader support from a rising national tide of scholarship. While many new intellectual currents developed, among the strongest was biological-behavioral theory—somewhat ironically flourishing in a biological anthropology program that viewed itself as a nexus of population genetics. The biological anthropology faculty thought like anthropologists. From this environment, Frank Livingstone not only drew intellectual support, but also became a key player in demonstrating the importance of historical and cultural factors to shaping biological patterns. A biocultural perspective is evident in Michigan research to this day.

Recommended Citation

Steegmann, Theodore Jr. (2003) "Reminiscences: Anthropology at the University of Michigan in the Late 1950s," Human Biology: Vol. 75: Iss. 4, Article 13.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/humbiol/vol75/iss4/13