Aubrey W. Williams [PDF]
Contact Information:
Department of Anthropology
University of Maryland
College Park, Maryland 20742
Office: (301) 405-1437
Email: awilliam@anth.umd.edu
Major Interests:
General: The general awareness that humans are the product of cultural and biological evolution.
Area: Western Hemisphere (especially contemporary United States), Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Russia (Siberia), Northern Finland
Topical: Culture Change, Diet and Nutrition, Irrigation Communities, Political Structure, Ethnographic Field Techniques
Degrees Awarded:
Ph.D. in Anthropology, University of Arizona, 1964, Dissertation: “The Function of the Chapter House in Navajo Political Structure”
M.A. in Anthropology, University of North Carolina, 1957
B.A. in Sociology, University of North Carolina, 1955
Professional Appointments:
1973-present Professor of Anthropology, University of Maryland, College Park
2002 Outstanding Faculty of the Year Award, University of Maryland Parents’ Assoc.
2000 Faculty Mentorship Award by BSOS College, University of Maryland
1994 Selected as Outstanding Teacher by the Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Studies, University of Maryland
1967-73 Associate Professor, Division of Anthropology, University of Maryland
1967-71 Director of the Division of Anthropology, University of Maryland
1962-67 Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Maryland
1990-91 USIA Exchange Professor, Finland
1983-84 Fulbright-Hays Research Professor, Oaxaca, Mexico
1982 Fulbright Professor, USSR, Kemerovo State University (Siberia), USSR
1974-75 Visiting Professor of Anthropology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee
1974-75 Director, Ethnological Field School in Oaxaca, Mexico, for Vanderbilt University
Research Awards and Grants:
2002 - Department of Justice (USA) grant to study the 5 Plains Tribes’ Tribal Justice
System.
1984-85 IREX, International Research & Exchanges, Board Nominee: Nominated for a research grant to do an ethno-historical study of the Teleute people of Siberia, USSR, to isolate cultural traits that are exclusively Teleute, such as retention of their native Siberian language, burial practices, and dress.
1983 Fulbright-Hays Faculty Research Recipient: Awarded a grant to do ethnographic research in a Zapotec community in Oaxaca, Mexico.
1982 Fulbright Professor: Lectured in the USSR for six months at Kemerovo State University on North American Indian cultures.
1981 Grant recipient: Fund for the Improvement of Post Secondary Education selected 14 University of Maryland faculty for an experimental education project. The focus was for the 14 faculty to innovate in general education courses. I chose Introductory Anthropology for this project.
8 Co-Director of "The Prehistoric Cultural Ecology of the Valley of Oaxaca" project under the auspices of the Department of Anthropology, University of Maryland. Funded by the National Science Foundation.
1964-65 Ethnographic research in Coxcatlan, Puebla, Mexico, on the relationship of land, water, and human resource utilization under auspices of Arid Lands Study Program, Smithsonian Institution.
Additional Ethnographic and Administrative Experience:
2000-01 Ethnographic research among the Mapuche of south Chile (1 and 6 -7, 2001)
Utilizing two (M & F) Undergraduate students as assistants.
1993 Ethnographer, Rancho Diablo in San Diego, in a migrant camp resident community. Study for Esperanza Incorporated.
1982, 1974, 1972, 1970 Summers Directed summer ethnographic field school in Mitla, Oaxaca, Mexico, for undergraduate college students from the University of Maryland.
1 Ethnographic research being done with the assistance of University of Maryland students among segments of the Piscataway Indian people of Maryland.
Directed a training program for University of Maryland students in Ethnographic field work in Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. The principal focus was the distinction between ways of living in inner city and suburban communities.
1969-76 Ethnographic research continued in the Oaxaca Valley, Oaxaca, Mexico, with special attention directed toward documentation of differences in community governance and water-control systems.
Field worker for Bureau of Ethnic Research, University of Arizona, collecting cultural data on Navajo Indian culture regarding the feasibility of a population registry for Navajo Indian people.
2 Employed by the Navajo Tribe as an Ethnographer to collect cultural data and life histories of elderly Navajos for possible use in their Land Claims case.
Ethnographer, Navajo Tribe, Window Rock, Arizona.
Collected ethnographic data on the Mayo Indian (Sonora, Mexico) Easter celebration. A study of a revitalized 16th century Easter pageant which was organized by Vasacequa, who was prompted by a vision to take the lead in the pageant.
0 Field worker for Bureau of Ethnic Research, University of Arizona, collecting cultural data on Mohave and Chemehuevi Indians of the Colorado River Indian Reservation. The focus of the project was farming practices of these Indian people, especially in regard to their irrigation farming techniques.
8 Directed American Friends Service Committee work camp located in San Salvador El Verde, Puebla, Mexico. Activities included grade school activities and teaching, establishing a lending library, getting a resident M.D., and establishing an experiential fruit tree farm.
Consultancies and Advisory Positions (Other Academic and Nonacademic Programs):
2001-02 Student Conduct Committee(Faculty Senate) member
2000 Student Honor Council, Faculty member
1999 Lecture on Native Americans(USA) Bancroft Elementary School, Washington,D. C.
1998-present Consultant to the Court of Appeals, Aberdeen, South Dakota, for a grant awarded by the Department of Justice for the design of a male batterers inter-tribal assistance program for male tribal members of the Lakota, Dakota, Spirit Lake Sioux, and Winnebago reservations.
1994 Edited "Family Violence on Four Indian Reservations in the USA" for Support Services International, Inc., Silver Spring, Maryland.
1989 Consultant, Sundance Foundation for the Ritual Arts, N.Y.C. Ethnographic Advisor on ancient rituals and myths being used in contemporary dance choreography.
1989 Consultant, Commission on Professionals in Science and Technology. National Science Foundation (NSF) Sponsored.
1980-81 Consultant, Eight Flags Museum of Nassau County, Fernandina Beach, Florida, N.E.H. Planning Proposal.
1971 Consultant, Colorado College's formation of Southwestern Ethnic Studies Program.
1967 American Association of University Professors (AAUP) Representative, Prince George's County Commission to rewrite the constitution of Maryland.
Memberships in Professional Organizations:
1964-present Member, American Anthropological Association (AAA)
1964-present Member, Washington Association for the Practice of Anthropology (WAPA)
1986-present Member, Society for Applied Anthropology (SfAA)
Selected Publications – Articles and Chapters in Books:
1996 “Medicinal and Food Plants: Zapotec criteria for selection” by John Brett. Reviewed for Ecology of Food and Nutrition (SIW 05/96).
1990 "We're at War With You." Sessio. Suomen Etnomusikologisen Seuran tiedote, Marraskuu 3: 1990, 3. vsk. pp. 1-2.
1988 “Professing in a Siberian University,” Human Organization. Vol. 47, No. 1, 80, 82-83.
1979 Social, Political and Economic Life in Contemporary Oaxaca. Editor and Contributor, Vanderbilt University Publications in Anthropology, Vol. 24, Nashville, Tennessee.
1975 "Cohesive Features of the Guelagetza System in Mitla." Anthropology and Linguistics, eds. Alain Y. Dessaint and Ernest C. Migliazza.
1973 "Diet in Three Mexican Communities," in Man and His Foods, ed. G. Earle Smith. University of Alabama Press.
1970 "A Canal Irrigating Community in the Tehuacan Valley," Anthropological Quarterly, Vol. 43, January 1970, No. 1, pp. 39-54.
1970 "Navajo Political Process," Smithsonian Contributions to Anthropology, Vol. 9, 1970 (entire volume).
1967 "Agricultural Systems and Political Growth in Ancient Oaxaca." Co-Authored with K.W. Flannery, A.V.T. Kirkby, Science, Vol. 158, No. 3880, pp. 445-454.
1964 "The Function of the Chapter House in the Navajo Political System." Ph.D. Dissertation, microfilm, University of Arizona.
1958 “Conceptions of Time in Eastern United State Archeology: Part III." Southern Indian Studies, Vol. 10, pp. 3-27.
1957 “Conceptions of Time in Eastern United States Archeology: Part II." Southern Indian Studies, Vol. 9, pp. 3-20.
1956 “Conceptions of Time in Eastern United States Archeology: Part I." Southern Indian Studies, Vol. 8, pp. 3-26.
Book Reviews:
1977 Zapotec Deviance, 1974. Henry Selby. Reviewed for American Anthropologist, Vol. 79, No. 3.
Mixtec Kings and Their People, 1960. Ronald Spores. Reviewed for American Antiquity, Vol. 36.
Papers Delivered:
2003 "The Functions of Navajo Chapter Houses in the 1960s." Paper presented at the 14th Navajo Studies Conference, Diné College Tsaile Arizona
2000 “Aspects of Native American Religion and Spirituality” Knight Center for Specialized Journalism, University of Maryland Campus
2000 “Uses of Qualitative Research” The Seven Northern Plains Tribes Gathering at Spirit Lake Casino, Fort Totten, N.D.
“Transnational Processes among Mextec Migrants in San Diego”. Paper given at the Welte Symposium, Oaxaca City, Oaxaca, Mexico.
“Professing in a Siberian University” Applied Anthropology Association Meeting, Oaxaca, Mexico.
“Tribal Identification: Piscataway." A paper presented at the National Symposium on American Indian Research, at the National Archives, Washington, D.C. July 27-31, 1981 (By invitation)
“Social Dimensions of Gift Exchanges in Oaxaca, Mexico." AAA Meeting in Mexico City, 1974.
1970 “Cherokee Urbanization as a Social Movement: 1780-1840." Paper delivered at the 922nd meeting of the Anthropological Society of Washington, May 1970, Washington, D.C.
“Dietary Patterns in Three Mexican Villages." Paper delivered at the XI International Botanical Congress in Seattle, Washington, August 1969, as part of the Symposium entitled "Ethnobotany of Nutrition."
"Navajo Political Acculturation." Paper delivered (with visual aids) at the 908th meeting of the Anthropological Society of Washington, D.C. October 1968.
"Navajo Nationalism." Paper delivered 31st American Anthropological Association Annual Meetings, Philadelphia, November 1961.
Symposia Organized and/or Chaired:
1974 Chairman, Symposium, "Recent Ethnology of Oaxaca," AAA Meeting in Mexico City.
1970 Chairman, Symposium, “Nutritional Studies in Anthropology,” AAA Meeting in San Diego.
Invited Panelist or Discussant:
1991 North Americas Ethnology panel. The Ends of America: New Perspectives and New Priorities Program, Tampere University American Studies Conference, Tampere, Finland.
1976 Discussant, "Exotic Food Resources Symposium," American Association for the Advancement of Science, Boston, Massachusetts.
Courses Taught, University of Maryland, College Park:
Introduction to Anthropology: Archaeology & Physical Anthropology*
Introduction to Anthropology: Cultural Anthropology & Linguistics*
Anthropological Theory*
Cultural Anthropology: Principles and Processes
Culture and Personality
Ethnographic Field Methods*
Ethnology of Middle American Native People*
Ethnology of North American Native People*
Ethnology of South American Native People*
Ethnology of Southeastern Indians, USA*
Film Images of Native Americans*
Peasant Communities in the Modern World*
Politics and Government in Primitive Society
Process of Culture Change*
The First Americans*
*Courses organized and introduced at the University of Maryland
Courses Taught in Finland University:
Tampere:
Cross Cultural Analysis
Native Societies of North America
Native Societies of Meso-America
General Anthropology
Ethnographic Field Work
Evolution of Humankind
Culture and Personality
Helsinki:
Native Societies of North America
Culture and Personality
Turku:
Culture and Personality
Jyväskyla:
Evolution of Humankind
Joensuu:
Native Societies of North America
Oulu:
Native Societies of North America