Part of the dissatisfaction with the standard Boasian paradigm came from the recognition by anthropologists of the phenomenon of change among the peoples they were studying. By the 1930s a vigorous debate had broken out concerning whether or not this was a legitimate topic for research. Publication of the "Memorandum for the Study of Acculturation" in 1936 marked not only legitimation of the study of change, but also brought together Boasians (Herskovits) and non-Boasians (Linton, Redfield) in collaboration on their research.
The "High" Period of the Study of Culture Change--From the Mid-Thirties to
the Late Fifties, pp. 181-186, 199-237, 255-286 in Beyond the Frontier, ed. by
Paul Bohannon & Fred Plog. American Museum Sourcebooks in Anthropology Q8. Garden
City, NY: Natural History Press (papers by Redfield, Linton & Herskovits; Mandelbaum;
Colson; Hallowell; SSRC) (CFAL: GF51 B57 - 2 copies on reserve)
Baron, Robert. 1994. 'Primitive" Cultures, Disciplinary Boundaries and Acculturation
Studies in the American Anthropologist, c. 1935; Melville Herskovits, Leslie
Spier and 'The Schapera Affair.' History of Anthropology Newsletter 21(2):3-7 (3
copies on reserve)
Gillin, John. 1948. The Ways of Men. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, Chaps. 25
& 26 (pp. 532-569) (2 copies on reserve)
Schwerin, Karl H. 1966. The Conformation of Cultural Change, pp. 223-250 in Oil and Steel.
Processes of Karinya culture change in resposne to industrial development. Latin
American Studies 4. Los Angeles, CA: Univ. of California
Parsons, Elsie Clews. 1936. Indian or Spanish?, pp. 479-544 in Mitla: Town of the
Souls, by Elsie Clews Parsons. Chicago, IL: Univ. of Chicago Press
Beals, Ralph L. 1953. Acculturation, pp. 621-641 in Anthropology Today, ed. by
Alfred L. Kroeber. Chicago, IL: Univ. of Chicago Press
Spicer, Edward H. 1961. Types of Contact and Processes of Change, pp. 517-543 in Perspectives
in American Indian Culture Change, ed. by Edward H. Spicer. Chicago, IL: Univ. of
Chicago Press
Once you are finished here, please feel free to return to the Anthropology 546 syllabus, the UNM Homepage, or the UNM Fall 1998 course listing.