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Re: Anthro Honor Society/Club?
Thomas Love (tlove@CALVIN.LINFIELD.EDU)
Fri, 12 May 1995 16:24:05 -0700
On accepting a post at this small, four-year liberal arts college in the
wilds of Oregon (where I'm from originally!), I was handed
the job of being faculty sponsor for Linfield's chapter of Pi Gamma Mu.
We're the Beta chapter of Oregon, founded in 1929. Not to sound elitist
(really), but the fact that the headquarters is in Winfield, Kansas,
seems very fitting. PGM has the feel of a chapter of the Future Farmers
of America or a grange hall, full of earnest
conviction and past effort, but now somewhat anachronistic and easy prey
for cynics and doubters. But what I've discovered is that it can be a
platform on which to build some very interesting and critical discussion,
inviting speakers, etc. At any rate, most of the other social science
disciplines have developed their own discipline-specific honor
societies. Pi Gamma Mu, being interdisciplinary and international, has
always struck me as an especially fitting honorary for anthropology
students. But since it doesn't have a disciplinary home, it tends to
suffer from competition with the focus and structure of the discipline-bound
honoraries.
Tom Love 45N, 123W
Dept. Soc/Anth
Linfield College
McMinnville, OR 97128
tlove@linfield.edu
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