I'm an anthropologist, educator, and writer with eclectic interests.  Although my major geographical interest is Europe and particularly Scotland, I've done some research on Japan, Central Asia, Mexican-Americans, and the American South.  My theoretical interests range from the history of anthropology to the anthropology of islands and the biocultural study of salt and dreams.  I also publish poetry, short stories, and other forms of fiction.  Through all these forms, I attempt to practice a humanistic science, the main purpose of which is to understand, reflect on, and honor the human enterprise.

Science and Humanism:  Unifying Anthropology

Study Anthropology In London - Spring 2008 (January 11, 2008-April 25, 2008)

I received a B.A. in Psychology from Antioch College and a Ph.D. in Anthropology from Rice University.  I was born in Connecticut and raised in Iowa and New Mexico.  I have been teaching in California since 1972, at CSU Fullerton since 1988. Because I will be participating full-time in CSUF's web project, I will not have an office on campus. I may be contacted at sparman@fullerton.edu, or by phone at (714) 278-2844; or contact the Anthropology office at (714) 278-3626 or 278-4209 and leave a phone number where you may be reached.

Research on Scotland, Europe, and the Western Intellectual Tradition:

My deep respect and affection for Scotland began with a year abroad as an undergraduate at the University of Edinburgh, where I studied Moral Philosophy, Psychology, and Gaelic.  Five years later I returned to spend fourteen months on the island of Lewis and Harris in the Outer Hebrides to gather material for a doctoral dissertation in anthropology, and have continued to return to Scotland since then.  I am honored to have been elected Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries (Scotland).  Examples of publications from this work are given below, such as 

General Properties of Naming, and a Specific Case of Nicknaming in the Scottish Outer Hebrides. Ethnos 41(1976): 99-115.  Click here for the PDF of sample page.

 

 

 

 

Curing Beliefs and Practices in the Outer Hebrides. Folklore 88(1977): 107-109.  Click here for the PDF of sample page.

 

 

 

 

 

The Future of European Boundaries: a Case Study. In Cultural Change and the New Europe: Perspectives on the European Community. Thomas M. Wilson and M. Estellie Smith (Eds.). Boulder: West view Press, 1993. Pp. 189-202. Click here for the PDF of sample page.

 

 

 

Common Ground and Common Good: Four-Field Anthropology along the Margins of Europe. In Aegean Strategies: Studies of Culture and Environment on the European Fringe. P. Nick Kardulias and Mark T. Shutes (Eds.). Lanham, Md: Rowman and Littlefield, 1997. Pp.  295-300. Click here for the PDF of sample page.

 

 

"Gargoyles to Go" performed as part of the New Short Fiction Series on April 13, 2007:

http://www.newshortfictionseries.com/page2.html

http://www.newshortfictionseries.com/page6.html

 

The Bogey's Walking Stick. Spectacle 4(2001): 33-44. Click here for the PDF of sample page.

"Listen to the Trees." Songs of Innocence (and Experience) V (2000):79-91.

I have been a member of the Society for the Anthropology of Europe since 1989, and its President for 2000-2002. 

Other publications on Europe and the Western intellectual tradition include:

Other Publications and Areas of Interest:

Other interests include

The Paradoxical Museum at California State University, Fullerton. Museum Anthropology: Journal of the Council for Museum Anthropology 2(2003): 54-62. Click here for the PDF of sample page.

William Robertson Smith and American Anthropology: Science, Religion, and Interpretation. In William Robertson Smith: Essays in Reassessment. William Smith Johnson, Editor. Sheffield, England: Sheffield Academic Press, 1995. Pp. 264-271. Click here for the PDF of sample page.

 

Making the Familiar Strange: The Anthropological Dialogue of George and Louise Spindler (1998). In Fifty Years of Anthropology and Education 1950-2000: A Spindler Anthropology. George Spindler (Ed.). Mahwah, N.J. L.Erlbaum Associates, 2000. Pp.  393-415. Click here for the PDF of sample page.

 

 

 

George and Louise Spindler and the Issue of Homogeneity and Heterogeneity in American Cultural Anthropology. In The Psychoanalytic Study of Society. L. Bryce Boyer and Ruth M. Boyer (Eds.). Hilldale, NJ: The Analytic Press, 1992. Pp. 29-43. Click here for the PDF of sample page.

 

 

Lot's Wife and the Old Salt: Cross-Cultural Comparisons of Attitudes Toward Salt in Relation to Diet. Cross-Cultural Research: The Journal of Comparative Social Science 36 (2002): 123-150. Click here for the PDF of sample page.

 

 

A Harrowing True Mysterious Pilgrimage Travel Adventure on the Road Less Travelled (by Bike/Camel/Motorcycle/Ultralight) into the Heart of a Dark Lost Island as Told by the Sole Survivor of a Zen Odyssey among Jaguars, Serpents, and Savages: Travel as Western Cultural Practice Revealed by the Titles of Travel Books. The International Journal of Travel and Travel Writing 2(2002): 50-59. Click here for the PDF of sample page.

Cycles. The Elephant-ear 6(1988): 71-72. Click here for the PDF of sample page.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sweets for the Dead. The Hiram Poetry Review 53/54(1992-1993): 65-66. Click here for the PDF of sample page.

In addition,  I serve as a consultant for several textbook publishers and on a number of review boards. I've written articles concerned with the teaching of anthropology, and with university teaching in general, such as the following:

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