JSS Website CV
CURRICULUM VITA
Dr. Joel S. Savishinsky
Department of Anthropology
Ithaca College
Ithaca, New York 14850
HOME ADDRESS: COLLEGE ADDRESS:
3313 19th Avenue South Department of Anthropology
Seattle, WA 98144 Ithaca College
Telephone: 607-379-9075 Ithaca, New York 14850
savishin@gmail.com Telephone: 607-274-1331
CURRENT STATUS:
Charles A. Dana Professor Emeritus in the Social Sciences
Department of Anthropology & the Gerontology Institute,
Ithaca College
BIRTH AND CITIZENSHIP: MARITAL AND FAMILY STATUS:
April 3, 1944 Married; two children
United States Citizen Spouse: Susan Frimmer Savishinsky
EDUCATION:
1957-1960 Stuyvesant High School, New York City
1960-1964 City College of New York, New York City
1964-1969 Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
DEGREES:
B.A. 1964 in Sociology-Anthropology, taken cum laude and with
Honors in the Social Sciences, from City College of
New York, June 1964
Ph.D. 1970 in Anthropology, from Cornell University,
January 1970
ADDITIONAL TRAINING AND EDUCATION:
1974-1987 Ongoing training in crisis intervention and counseling, Suicide Prevention and Crisis Service of
Tompkins County, NY
1979-1980 Courses in family dynamics and therapy,
London School of Economics and
the Philadelphia Association, London, UK
ACADEMIC POSITIONS:
1964 Research Assistant, Research Institute for the Study of
Man, New York (summer)
1965-1966 Teaching Assistant, Department of Anthropology,
Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
1966 Physical Anthropologist, Harvard-Cornell Archaeological
Expedition to Sardis, Turkey
1969-1973 Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology,
Adelphi University, Garden City, New York
1973 Visiting Lecturer, American Museum of Natural
History, Evening School for Adults, Department of
Education
1973- 2008 Department of Anthropology, Ithaca College,
Ithaca, New York
1973-1975: Assistant Professor
1974-1978, 1981-1987, 1995-1996: Chairperson
1975-1984: Associate Professor with tenure
1984-2008: Professor with tenure
1997-2008: Charles A. Dana Professor in the
Social Sciences
1985 Professor, Northeast Senior Seminar, Ithaca,
New York
1987-1988 Visiting Professor, Centre for Environmental and
Social Studies on Ageing, Polytechnic of North
London, England
1993 Mentor, Empire State College, New York
1993-1995 Lecturer, New York Council for The Humanities,
Speakers Series
1994 Visiting Lecturer, University of Pittsburgh, Semester
at Sea Program, Institute for Shipboard Education
(Spring1994)
1997 Lecturer, Lady Doak College, and Bishop Appasamy
College, Tamil Nadu, South India
2000 Visiting Lecturer, University of Pittsburgh, Semester
at Sea Program, Institute for Shipboard Education
(Fall 2000)
2009 Visiting Professor, Department of Anthropology, Ithaca
College
2009 Scholar in Residence, Indiana University,
Susan Eklund Lectureship
2010 Professor, University of Virginia, Semester at Sea
Program, Institute for Shipboard Education (Fall 2010)
2010-2014 Staff Member, Bridges at Cornell Heights (an
enhanced assisted living facility): cultural enrichment
programs and liaison work with residents’ families
OTHER POSITIONS:
1974-1987 Counselor, Suicide Prevention and Crisis Service of
Tompkins County, New York
1976-1993 Co-editor, Ethnic Groups: An International Periodical
of Ethnic Studies, published by Gordon and Breach,
Inc.
1978-1979 Board of Directors, Suicide Prevention and Crisis
Service of Tompkins County, New York
1987-1990 Contributing Editor, Thanatology Abstracts, and
member, Joint Editorial Board, Foundation of
Thanatology
1989-1990 Co-chair, Elections Committee, Association for
Anthropology and Gerontology
1990-1991 Recording Secretary, Association for Anthropology
and Gerontology
1991-1994 Co-chair, Community Outreach Working Party,
Association for Anthropology and Gerontology
1992-1994 Board of Directors, The Reconstruction Home (a
non-profit skilled nursing facility), Ithaca, New York
1993-1998 Co-editor, The Library of Anthropology book series,
Gordon and Breach, Inc.
AWARDS:
1964 Phi Beta Kappa, City College of New York
1966 Bobbs-Merrill Award in Anthropology,
Cornell University
1968 Phi Kappa Phi, Cornell University
1976 Dean’s Award for Meritorious Performance,
School of Humanities and Sciences, Ithaca College
1981 Dana Foundation Teaching Fellow,
School of Humanities and Sciences, Ithaca College
1992 Richard Kalish Award for Innovative Publishing,
Gerontological Society of America, for the book
The Ends of Time: Life and Work In A Nursing
Home
1996-1997 Dean’s Award for Meritorious Faculty,
School of Humanities and Sciences, Ithaca College
1997 Charles A. Dana Professorship in The Social
Sciences, Ithaca College
2001 Richard Kalish Award for Innovative Publishing,
Gerontological Society of America, for the book
Breaking the Watch: The Meanings of
Retirement in America
GRANTS AND FELLOWSHIPS:
1964-1965 National Institute of Mental Health Traineeship
1965-1967 Cornell University Graduate Fellowships
1967-1968 National Science Foundation Doctoral Research
Fellowship for research in the Canadian Arctic
1968-1969 Cornell University Graduate Fellowship
1971 Research Fellowship Award, the Faculty Committee
on Research in the Arts and Humanities, Adelphi
University
1971 National Museum of Man, National Museums of
Canada, grant for research in the Canadian Arctic
1975-1976 Grant-in-Aid for Research, Provost’s Office, Ithaca
College
1977 Research grant, Ithaca College, for research in the
Bahamas
1979-1980 National Endowment for The Humanities,
Post-Doctoral Fellowship for Independent Study and
Research, for research in England
1985 Summer Grant for Faculty Research, Ithaca College
Faculty Development Fund
1987-1988 Gerontology Internship Grant, Ithaca College School
for Allied Health Professions, for study in
England
1990 Summer Grant for Faculty Research, Ithaca College
Faculty Development Fund; and Gerontology
Internship Grant, Ithaca College School of Health
Sciences and Human Performance, for study and
research in England
-
- Private foundation grant, through the Gerontology Institute at Ithaca College, for a multi-disciplinary study of “Retirement As A Life Passage”
1996-1997 National Endowment for The Humanities, Fellowship
for Independent Study and Research, for a project
on Retirement and Meaning in American and Indian
Cultures
1997-2000 Private foundation grant, through the Gerontology
Institute at Ithaca College, for a study of “Morality
and Meaning in Later Life,” as part of
the “Pathways to Life Quality” Project
2001-2007 Six research grants, Committee for Faculty Research
and Development, Ithaca College, Office of the
Provost.
PUBLICATIONS:
- “Man, Cycles and Culture, with Burt Aginsky, Cycles Vol. 18, No. 4: 102-107. Reprinted in Burt Aginsky and Ethel Aginsky, Anthropopotentialism and Language, pp. 216-220. Provo, Utah: Language and Intercultural Research
Center, Brigham Young University (1978).
1970 STRESS AND MOBILITY IN AN ARCTIC COMMUNITY:
THE HARE INDIANS OF COLVILLE LAKE, NORTHWEST
TERRITORIES. Doctoral Dissertation, Department of
Anthropology, Cornell University, January 1970.
- “Kinship and the Expression of Values in an Athabascan Bush Community,” Western Canadian Journal of Anthropology Vol. 2, No. 1: 31-59.
1971 “Mobility as an Aspect of Stress in an Arctic Community.”
American Anthropologist Vol. 73, No. 3: 604-618.
1971 “Commentary on M. Estellie Smith’s ‘Southwestern Studies:
A View to the Future’,” Human Organization Vol. 30, No. 4:
434.
1972 “Coping with Feuding: The Missionary, the Fur Trader, and
the Ethnographer,” Human Organization Vol. 31, No. 3:
281-290.
1972 “Commentary on George M. Foster’s ‘The Anatomy of Envy:
A Study of Symbolic Behavior’,” Current Anthropology
Vol.13, No. 2: 195.
1973 THE MIDDLE GROUND: SOCIAL CHANGE IN AN ARCTIC
COMMUNITY,1967-1971, with Susan B. Frimmer. Ethnology
Division, National Museum of Man. Mercury Publications,
Paper No. 7. Ottawa: National Museums of Canada.
1974 THE TRAIL OF THE HARE: LIFE AND STRESS IN AN
ARCTIC COMMUNITY. New York: Gordon and Breach, Inc.
second printing 1978; third printing 1986).
1974 “The Living and the Dead: A Cross-Cultural Perspective on
Jewish Memorial Observances,” with Howard Wimberley,
Jewish Social Studies Vol. 36, No. 4: 304-323.
1974 “Where Art and Life are Interchangeable: A Review of
Eskimo Realities by Edmund Carpenter,” The Ithaca New
Times, Issue No. 90, September 8, 1974, pp. 5-7.
1974 “The Child is Father to the Dog: Canines and Personality
Processes in an Arctic Community,” Human Development
Vol. 17, No. 6: 460-466.
1975 “Hare,” Family of Man Vol. 3, Part 40: 1102-1106.
1975 “Some Thoughts on Pipelines and Pipedreams,”
Dene Express, October 1975, No. 20.
1975 “The Dog and The Hare: Canine Culture in an Athapaskan
Band,” in Annette McFadyen Clark (ed.), Proceedings of the
Northern Athapaskan Conference, 1971, Volume II, pp. 462-
515. National Museum of Man, Canadian Ethnology Service,
Paper No. 27. Ottawa: National Museums of Canada.
1976 “On Getting Married and Staying Connected: Family, Kinship
and History in a Hare Indian Community,” in K. Ishwaran
(ed.), The Canadian Family, revised edition, pp. 437-459.
Toronto: Holt, Rinehart and Winston of Canada.
1976 “Ethnic Groups: An Editorial Statement,” with Anthony
LaRuffa, Ethnic Groups Vol. 1, No. 1: 1-2.
1976 “Ancestor Memorialism: A Comparison of Jews and
Japanese,” with Howard Wimberley. In William Newell (ed.),
Ancestors, pp. 241-259. The Hague: Mouton and Co.
Reprinted in Bhabagrahi Misra and James Preston (eds.),
Community, Self, and Identity, pp. 115-131. The Hague:
Mouton and Co. (1978).
1976 “Review of The Predicament of Homecoming: Cultural and
Social Life of North African Immigrants in Israel by Shlomo
Deshen and Moshe Shokeid.” American Anthropologist Vol.
78, No.3: 686-687.
1977 “A Thematic Analysis of Drinking Behavior in a Hare Indian
Community,” Papers in Anthropology Vol. 10, No. 2: 43-60.
Festschrift for Morris E. Opler. Norman: University of
Oklahoma.
1978 “Trapping, Survival Strategies, and Environmental
Involvement: A Case Study from the Canadian Arctic,”
Human Ecology Vol. 6, No. 1: 1-25.
1978 (Editor). STRANGERS NO MORE: ANTHROPOLOGICAL
STUDIES OF CAT ISLAND, THE BAHAMAS. Ithaca, New
York: Department of Anthropology, Ithaca College.
1978 “The Nature of Group Anthropology and The Cat Island
Research Project.” In Joel Savishinsky (ed.), Strangers No
More: Anthropological Studies of Cat Island, The
Bahamas, pp. 1-44. Ithaca, New York: Department of
Anthropology, Ithaca College.
1980 “The Cultural Context of Family Drinking in a Hare Indian
Community,” with Susan F. Savishinsky. In K. Ishwaran (ed.)
Canadian Families: Ethnic Variations, pp. 280-291. Toronto:
McGraw-Hill Ryerson.
1981 “Hare,” with Hiroko Sue Hara. In June Helm (ed.), The Sub-
Arctic, Vol. VI, The Handbook of North American Indians,
pp. 314-325. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution,
Center for The Study of Man.
1982 “The Quality of Mercy Is Indeed Strained by 180,000
Guests.” The New York Times, July 14, 182, p. A23 (Op-Ed
Page Essay).
[This essay was subsequently reprinted in a number of other
newspapers across the United States.]
1982 “Vicarious Emotions and Cultural Restraint,” Journal of
Psychoanalytic Anthropology Vol 5, No. 2: 115-135.
1983 The Life of The Hour: A Study of People and Pets in Three
Nursing Homes, with Rich Lathan, Mari Kobayakawa, and
Andrea Nevins. Ithaca, New York: Department of
Anthropology, Ithaca College.
1983 “Pet Ideas: The Domestication of Animals, Human Behavior,
and Human Emotions.” In Aaron Katcher and Alan Beck
(eds.), New Perspectives on Our Lives with Companion
Animals, pp. 112-131. Philadelphia, PA: University of
Pennsylvania Press. Reprinted in a Spanish edition: Los
Animales de Compania en Nuestra Vida:
Nuevas Perspectivas. Barcelona, Spain: Fondacion Purina
(1993).
1983-84 “In the Company of Animals: An Anthropological Study
of Pets and People in Three Nursing Homes,” The Latham
Letter Vol. 5, No. 1: 1, 9, 10, 21, 22.
1984 “Language From the Age Before Cities” (poem), The Third
Eye No. 14: 4.
1984 Staying In Touch: A Report on Pet Therapy Programs in
Four Geriatric Facilities. Ithaca, New York: Department of
Anthropology, Ithaca College.
1984 “What Cornell Has Discovered About Volunteer
Experiences,” People-Animals-Environment Vol. 2, No. 1:
14-16, 18.
1984 “Letter” on the ‘New Man’ Controversy, The New York
Times Magazine, June 24, 1985: 78.
1985 “Hare,” in The Canadian Encyclopedia, p. 793. Edmonton,
Alberta: Hurtig Publishers and the University of Alberta.
2nd edition, p. 961.
1985 “Pets and Family Relationships among Nursing Home
Residents,” Marriage and Family Review Vol. 8, Nos. 3/4:
109-134.
Reprinted in Marvin Sussman (ed.), Pets and The Family,
pp. 109-134. New York: The Haworth Press (1985).
1986 “Copper on Tin” (poem) Crosscurrents: A Quarterly Vol. 6,
No. 1: 17. Reprinted in Alan F. Pater (ed.), Anthology of
Magazine Verse and Yearbook of American Poetry 1986-
1988. Beverly Hills, CA: Monitor Book Company (1988).
1986 “The Human Impact of a Pet Therapy Program in Three
Geriatric Facilities,” Central Issues in Anthropology Vol. 6,
No. 2: 31-41.
1987 “Review of Rodeo: An Anthropologist Looks at The Wild and
The Tame by Elizabeth Lawrence.” Anthrozoos Vol. 1,
No. 1: 59-60.
1987 “Antideconstructionist” (poem), Anthropology and
Humanism Quarterly Vol. 12, No. 1: 28.
1988 “Common Fate, Difficult Decision: A Comparison of
Euthanasia in People and Animals.” In William Kay et. al.
(eds.), Euthanasia of The Companion Animal: The Impact
on Pet Owners, Veterinarians, and Society, pp. 3-8.
Philadelphia, PA: Charles Co.
1988 “The Meanings of Loss: Human and Pet Death in The Lives
of the Elderly.” In William Kay et al. (eds.), Euthanasia of the
Companion Animal: The Impact on Pet Owners,
Veterinarians, and Society, pp. 138-147. Philadelphia, PA:
The Charles Co.
1988 “Stigma, Silence, Contact: Responses to Patients with Alzheimer’s Disease in Two Nursing Homes.” In Richard Mayeux et al. (eds.), Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders: Psychosocial Issues for The Patient, Family, Staff, and Community, pp. 49-65. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas.
1989 “Families, Dementia Sufferers, and Community Services: An
Assessment of Programs in A London Borough.” Newsletter
of The Association for Anthropology and Gerontology Vol.
10, No. 1: 5-7.
1989 “Review of Trail to Heaven: Knowledge and Narrative in a
Northern Native Community by Robin Ridington,” American
Anthropologist Vol. 91, No. 2: 490.
1990 “The Hare and Their Dogs: Human-Animal Bonds in An
Arctic Community,” The World and I Vol. 5, No. 3: 642-653.
1990 “Aging and Culture.” In Doris Francis, Dena Shenk and Jay
Sokolovsky (eds.), Teaching About Aging:
Interdisciplinary and Cross-Cultural Perspectives, pp. 2- 25. Association for Anthropology and Gerontology.
1990 DEMENTIA SUFFERERS AND THEIR CARERS: A STUDY
OF FAMILY EXPERIENCES AND SUPPORTIVE SERVICES
IN THE LONDON BOROUGH OF ISLINGTON.
London: PNL Press.
1990 “Ambiguity, Animals, and Abuse.” Anthrozoos Vol. 3, No. 4:
222-223.
1990 “To Grow Old in a Foreign Land: Issues in Ethnicity and
Aging,” Ethnic Groups Vol. 8, No. 3: 143-146.
1990 “The Defiance of Hope: Dementia Sufferers and Their
Carers in A London Borough.” In Jaber Gurbium and
Andrea Sankar (eds.), The Home Care Experience:
Ethnography and Policy, pp. 75-97. Newbury Park, CA:
Sage Publications.
1991 DEVIANCE: ANTHROPOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES.
Co-edited and co-authored with Morris Freilich and Douglas
Raybeck. New York: Bergin and Garvey.
1991 “Free Shows and Cheap Thrills: Staged Deviance in the
Arctic and The Bahamas.” In Morris Freilich, Douglas
Raybeck, and Joel Savishinsky (eds.), Deviance:
Anthropological Perspectives, pp.73-88. New York:
Bergin and Garvey.
1991 “A New Life for The Old: The Role of The Elderly in The
Bahamas.” The World and I Vol. 6, No. 3: 617-629. Reprinted
in Harold Cox (ed.), Aging, 9th and 10th editions. Guilford,
CT: Dushkin Publishing (1994, 1995).
1991 THE ENDS OF TIME: LIFE AND WORK IN A NURSING
HOME. New York: Bergin and Garvey.
1991 “The Ambiguities of Alcohol: Deviance, Drinking, and
Meaning in A Canadian Native Community.”
Anthropologica Vol. 33, Nos. 1 and 2: 81-98.
1991 “Review of The Fourth World: The Heritage of The Arctic
and Its Destruction by Sam Hall.” American Indian Quarterly
Vol. 15, No. 4: 552-553.
1992 “Understanding Life Backwards,” The Bookpress Vol. 2, No. 1: 11, 15.
1992 “Intimacy, Domesticity, and Pet Therapy with the Elderly:
Expectation and Experience Among Nursing Home
Volunteers,” Social Science and Medicine Vol. 34, No. 12:
1325-1334.
1992 “Review of Animal Rights, Human Rights: Ecology, Economy
and Ideology in The Canadian Arctic by George Wenzel.”
American Anthropologist Vol. 94, No. 4: 943.
1993 “In and Out of The Home.” Newsletter of the Association
for Anthropology and Gerontology Vol. 14, No.1: 11.
1993 “Review of Aboriginal Resource Use in Canada: Historical
and Legal Aspects by Kerry Abel and Jean Friesen.”
American Indian Quarterly Vol. 17, No. 3: 425-426.
1993 “The Institutionalized Anthropologist: How Ethnography
Can Contribute to an Understanding of Nursing Home
Culture,” Loss, Grief and Care Vol. 7, Nos., 1 and 2: 45-66.
Reprinted in Leslie M. Thompson et. al. (eds.), Perspectives
in Life-Threatening Illness for Allied Health Professions,
pp. 45-66. New York: Haworth Press (1993).
1994 THE TRAIL OF THE HARE: ENVIRONMENT AND STRESS
IN A SUB-ARCTIC COMMUNITY. Revised, second edition.
New York: Gordon and Breach [revision of 1974 book].
1994 “A New Generation Gap: The Hearts and Minds of Parents
and Children,” The Gerontologist Vol. 34, No. 3: 419-420.
1995 “Review of The Caregiving Dilemma: Work in an American
Nursing Home by Nancy Foner.” Contemporary
Gerontology Vol. 2, No. 1: 18-19.
1995 “The Unbearable Lightness of Retirement: Ritual and
Support in a Modern Life Passage,” Research on Aging
Vol. 17, No. 3: 243-259.
1995 “In and Out of Bounds: The Ethics of Respect in Studying
Nursing Homes.” In J. Neil Henderson and Maria Vesperi
(eds.), The Culture of Long Term Care: Nursing Home
Ethnography, pp. 93-109. New York: Bergin and Garvey.
1995 “Janet M. Fitchen,” (obituary, with Garry Thomas).
Anthropology Newsletter Vol. 36, No. 6: 8.
1995 “Obituary: Janet M. Fitchen, 1936-1995,” (with Garry
Thomas). Society for Applied Anthropology Newsletter
Vol. 5, No. 4: 14-15.
1995 “Hearing Voices: Listening to The Elderly and Their
Caregivers. The Gerontologist Vol. 35, No. 5: 710-713.
1996 “She Made Us Into Syllables” (poem), The Berkshire
Review Vol. 4: 56.
1997 “Understanding Life Backwards,” in Jay Sokolovsky (ed.),
The Cultural Context of Aging: Worldwide Perspectives,
2nd edition, pp. 492-495. Westport, CT: Bergin and Garvey.
1997 “Getting To The Right ‘Rite of Passage’,” Workforce Vol 76,
No. 12: 4 pages. Special issue on “Baby Boomers are
Redefining Retirement.”
wwww.workforceonlione.com/boomer. Linked on
page 8 of “Millions May Retire.”
1997 “Shape” (poem), Xanadu Vol. 18/19: 33-34.
1998 “The Nacirema and The Tsiruot,” The International
Journal of Intercultural Relations Vol. 22, No. 3: 369-374.
1998 “At A Time,” (poem) HEY! Spring 1998 Issue: 1.
1998 “Needed,” (poem) HEY! Spring 1998 Issue: 4.
1998 haiku on the autumnal equinox. Equinox
(poetry broadside). Durland Alternatives Library,
Cornell University.
1998 “Mastering The Art of Retirement.” Anthropology
Newsletter Vol. 39, No. 7: 15.
1998 “At Work, At Home, At Large: The Sense of Person and
Place in Retirement.” North American Dialogue Vol. 3, No.
1: 16-18.
1999 haiku, Starfish: A Journal of Contemporary Haiku No. 1
(Fall): 10.
1999 “The Whineries of The Finger Lakes,” (editorial page
cartoon) The Ithaca Journal September 9, 1999: 11A.
1999 “Click Language,” (poem) Anthropology and Humanism
Quarterly Vol. 24, No. 1: 72.
1999 “Fossil,” (poem) Anthropology and Humanism Quarterly
Vol. 24, No. 1: 72-73.
2000 “Mastering The Art of Retirement.” In Margaret Overbey
and Kathryn Marie Dudley (eds.), Anthropology and Middle
Class Working Families: A Research Agenda, pp. 92-94.
Arlington, VA: American Anthropological Association.
2000 haiku, Starfish: A Journal of Contemporary Haiku No. 2
(Spring): 11.
2000 “Rethinking Retirement in America.” Anthropology News
Vol. 47, No. 7: 66-67.
2000 haiku, Starfish: A Journal of Contemporary Haiku No. 3
(Summer): 11.
2000 BREAKING THE WATCH: THE MEANINGS OF
RETIREMENT IN AMERICA. Ithaca: Cornell University
Press.
2000 “Morality Makes Sense: Lessons From The Moral
Biographies of Older Americans.” Contemporary
Gerontology Vol. 7, No. 1: 12-14.
2000 haiku, Starfish: A Journal of Contemporary Haiku No. 4
(Fall): 11.
2000 haiku, The New York Times, November 29, 2001: Section
G, “Circuits,” page G5.
2001 “Images of Retirement: Finding the Purpose and The
Passion,” Generations: The Journal of the American
Society on Aging Vol. 25, No. 3: 52-56.
2001 “Lonesome in The Saddle, or How to Feel at Home in
Later Life." Journal of Housing for The Elderly Vol. 14,
Nos. 1 & 2: 85-96. Also published in Leon Pastalan and
Benyamin Schwarz (eds.), Housing Choices and
Well-Being of Older Adults: Proper Fit, Chapter 5.
New York: Haworth Press.
2001 haiku, Starfish: A Journal of Contemporary Haiku No. 6
(Summer): 12.
2001 “Zen Masters and Master Planners.” The Bookpress Vol. 11,
No. 6: 4.
2001 “The Passions of Maturity: Morality and Creativity in Later
Life.” Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology Vol. 16,
No. 1: 41-55.
2001 “Redefining The Meaning of Retirement.” The Ithaca
Journal, September 11, 2001: 9A.
2002 “Creating the Right Rite of Passage,” Generations: The
Journal of The American Society on Aging Vol. 26, No. 2:
80-82.
2002 haiku, Starfish: A Journal of Contemporary Haiku
No. 7 (Winter): 11.
2002 “Second Acts,” Knowledges Vol. 3, No. 1: 12.
2002 haiku, (on colonoscopies) American Journal of
Gastroenterology Vol. 97, No. 4: 1070.
2002 “New Generation of Retirees Redefine Meaning,” The Ithaca Journal, February 1, 2002, Section E: 8E.
2003 “ ‘Bread and Butter’ Issues: Food, Conflict and Control In
A Nursing Home,” in Philip Stafford (ed.), Gray Areas:
The Anthropology of The Nursing Home. Santa Fe, NM:
SAR Press.
2003 “Aging and Poetry: An Invitation,” Newsletter of the
Association for Anthropology and Gerontology Vol. 24,
No. 1: 1-2.
2003 “Sandwich Generation Gerontologists,” Newsletter of the
Association for Anthropology and Gerontology Vol. 24,
No. 3: 9-10.
2004 “The Volunteer and the Sannyasin: Archetypes of
Retirement in America and India,” International Journal of
Aging and Human Development Vol. 59, No. 1: 25-41.
2005 “Silence” (prose poem), Blue Moon, Number 4: 11.
2005 “Learning the Lessons of A Holocaust,” Newsletter of the
Association for Anthropology and Gerontology Vol. 26,
No. 1: 9-10.
2006 “Feeling the Disenchantment of the War,” The Ithaca
Journal, March 23, 2006: 8A.
2006 “How To Retire,” The Wilson Quarterly Vol. 30, No. 3: 6.
2006 “First Impressions and Last Words: Condensing Elderly Lives into Three Line Haiku,” Anthropology and Aging
Quarterly Vol. 27, No. 4: 5-8.
2006 “The Quest for Legacy in Later Life,” Journal of
Intergenerational Relationships Vol. 4, No. 4: 75-90.
2007 “ Growing Up with Growing Old,” Gerontology Institute
Newsletter (Ithaca College) Vol. 12, No. 4: 4-5.
2007 “Ithaca, Forever…Whatever” (poem), IC Point of View
No. 4: 8-9.
2007 “Lighting The Match: Using Haiku to Teach About Aging,”
Gerontology and Geriatrics Education Vol. 27, No. 4:
55-68.
2008 “How Not to Trash Your Retirement with Stuff,”
The Ithaca Journal April 26, 2008: 7A.
2011 “Education and Moral Reciprocity: Teaching About Aging
on An Intergenerational Voyage,” Journal of
Intergenerational Relationships Vol. 9, No. 3: 307-313.
2017 “Ranger,” (poem) The Avocet: Journal of Nature Poetry,
Summer 2017: Page 61.
2017 “Black Flies,” (poem) The Weekly Avocet #231 (May 14,
2017): Page 5.
2017 “Hoodoos,” (poem) Windfall: A Journal of Poetry and
Place Vol. 16, No. 1: Pages 20- 21.
2017 “Fallen Metaphor,” (poem) The Weekly Avocet #257
(November 12, 2017): Page 9.
2017 “autumn haiku,” The Weekly Avocet #257 (November 12,
2017): Page 9.
2018 “Long Day, Short Life,” (poem) The Avocet: Journal of
Nature Poetry, Winter 2018: Page 42.
2018 “Boomers, Millennials and Generation Z,” The New York
Times (Letters to the Editor) March 8, 2018: Page A 26
(online, digital version: March 7, 2018).
2018 “Does The Mountain Rise?,” (poem) The Avocet: Journal
of Nature Poetry, Summer 2018: Page 55.
2018 “Schubert in Winter,” (poem) The Weekly Avocet #276
(March 18, 2018): Page 4.
2018 “Art Lesson from S-21,” (poem) Right Hand Pointing,
Issue 121, Part 2: Page 13.
2018 “At Night,” (poem) The Weekly Avocet #300 (September
2, 2018): Page 2.
2018 “Fertility,” (poem) The Weekly Avocet #300 (September
2, 2018): Page 3.
2018 “Painted Sky,” (poem) The Weekly Avocet #300
(September 2, 2018): Page 4.
2018 “Question,” (poem) PageBoy Issue X 19: Page 44.
2018 “Pep Talk,” (poem) PageBoy Issue X 19: Page 44.
2019 “In Kyoto: Nine Winter Scenes,” (poem) The Avocet:
Journal of Nature Poetry, Winter 2019: Page 39.
2019 “Exiled,” (poem) Passager Winter 2019: 35-36.
2019 “The Death of Rhetoric,” (poem) Muddy River Poetry
Review, Issue #20, Spring 2019.
2019 “Inches and Far Away,” (poem) Shot Glass Journal
Issue Number 28, May 2019.
2019 “Frostbite,” (poem) The Pharos, Spring 2019, Volume 82,
Number 2: 41.
2019 “Sales,” (poem), Cirque: A Journal for the North Pacific
Rim Vol. 10, Number 1: 87.
2019 “We Are Not Welcome Everywhere.” (poem), Cirque: A
Journal for the North Pacific Rim Vol. 10, Number 1: 87.
2019 “Mosses in Mid-Summer,” (poem), The Weekly Avocet
#350, August 18, 2019: Page 2.
2019 “Marry Me A River,” (poem) Awake in The World,
Volume 2: 225-227. Edited by Tyler Dunning and Daniel
J. Rice. Livingston, MT: Riverfeet Press.
2019 “Climate Action Rally,” The Weekly Avocet #356,
September 29th, 2019: Page 4.
2019 “The American War,” (poem) As You Were: The Military
Experience Volume 11, Autumn 2019:
http://militaryexperience.org/as-you-were-the-military-review-vol-11
2019 “Bar Code,” (poem), Blood and Thunder: Musings on The
Art of Medicine Fall 2019: 77-78.
2019 “Dance,” (poem), Blood and Thunder: Musings on The
Art of Medicine Fall 2019: 78.
2019 “Epilepsy,” (poem), Blood and Thunder: Musings on
The Art of Medicine Fall 2019: 78.
2019 “Reading in Bed,” (poem) From Whispers to Roars
Volume 2, Number 2: 27-28.
2019 “Crust,” (poem) The Avocet: A Journal ofNature Poetry,
Fall Issue: Page 10.
2019 “Afternoons at the Food Bank,” The Raw Art Review,
Fall 2019: 146-147.
2019 “Herding Before There Were Shepherds,” (poem)
Brushfire Literature and Arts Journal Edition 72,
Volume 1: 14-15.
2020 “An Old Song,” (poem) Pomme Journal, Special Issue:
Put Into Words, My Love, Pages 16-17.
2020 “Creation,” (poem) Metafore, Issue 4, Spring 2020:
19-20.
2020 “game time,” (poem) Devour: Art and Lit in Canada,
Issue 6: 21.
2020 “no fear,” (poem) Devour: Art and Lit in Canada, Issue 6:
79.
2020 “un-doing,” (poem) Devour: Art and Lit in Canada,
Issue 6: 121.
2020 “ The Zen Master knows…,” (poem) Three Line Poetry,
Issue #52: 21.
2020 “Paying Attention,” (poem) Rue Scribe, May 21, 2020
Issue.
https://underwoodpress.com/ruescribe/category/poetry/
2020 “Maybe the Traffic Cop Calling Never Left Me,” (poem)
Free State Review, Issue 12, Winter/Spring 2020: 50-51.
2020 “How Things End,” (poem) Clackamas Literary Review,
Volume XXIV: 2-3.
2020 “Imagine So,” (poem) DASH Literary Journal,
Volume 13: 14.
2020 “Ritual,” (poem) DASH Literary Journal, Volume 13: 15.
2020 “The Carpenter Bee,” (poem) California Quarterly,
Volume 46, Number 2 (Summer 2020): 26-27.
2020 “Discharge,” (poem) Down in the Dirt, Volume 173
(July 2020): 11.
Reprinted in Outside the Box. Gurnee, IL: Scars
Publications (2020): 223.
2020 “Double Negative,” (poem) Down in the Dirt, Volume 173
July 2020): 12.
Reprinted in Outside the Box. Gurnee, IL: Scars
Publications (2020): 224.
2020 “Invitations,” (poem) Down in the Dirt, Volume 173
(July 2020): 13.
Reprinted in Outside the Box. Gurnee, IL: Scars
Publications (2020): 225.
2020 “Pandemic in the Park,” (poem) American Writers
Review: Art in the Time of COVID-19: 243-244.
2020 “Misanthropology,” (poem) Down in the Dirt, Volume 174
August 2020): 6.
Reprinted in Outside the Box. Gurnee, IL: Scars
Publications (2020): 320.
2020 “Some Where,” (poem) Down in the Dirt, Volume 174
(August 2020): 7.
Reprinted in Outside the Box. Gurnee, IL: Scars
Publications (2020): 321.
2020 “Ambush,” (poem) The Avocet: A Journal of Nature
Poetry, Summer 2020: 3.
2020 “Veils, shawls, burqas, shrouds…” (poem) Three Line
Poetry, Issue #53: 30.
2020 “The Lost Self-Portrait of Rogier van der Weyden,”
The Decadent Review May 2020: pages 1-5.
https://thedecadentreview.com/corpus/the-lost-self-portrait-of-rogier-van-der-weyden/
2020 “Fathers and Sons,” (poem) The Penwood Review,
Volume 24, Number 1: 21.
2020 “Membrane: At Mount Baker Beach, Lake Washington,”
(poem) Poetry Quarterly Spring 2020: 39.
2020 “Catherine Near the End,” (poem) Blood and Thunder:
Musings on the Art of Medicine (Fall 2020): 57.
2020 “Charlie 1. Charlie 2,” (poem) Blood and Thunder:
Musings on the Art of Medicine (October 2020): 58-59.
2020 “A Gift or A Debt,” (poem) The Avocet: A Journal of
Nature Poetry (Fall 2020): 64.
2020 “Small Steps, Big Rewards,” The Weekly Avocet, #407
(September 20, 2020): Pages 8-9.
2020 “She Loved Him the Way He Used to Be,” (poem)
Iris Literary Journal, Volume 1, Number 2: (Fall 2020):
56.
2020 “Adoption: Four Eight, Twelve,” (poem) Iris Literary
Journal, Volume 1, Number 2: (Fall 2020): 57-58.
2020 “If This Ride Never Ends: Seattle Bus Route #36,” (poem)
Iris Literary Journal, Volume 1, Number 2: (Fall 2020):
59.
2020 “Nursing the Books,” (poem) Atlanta Review,
Volume XXVII, Number 1: 50-51.
2021 “Temples,” (poem) Soul-Lit: A Journal of Spiritual
Poetry: Winter 2021, Volume 26.
http://www.soul-lit.com/poems/V26/Savinsky/index.html
2021 “How to Make Love to The Dead,” (poem) Soul-Lit A
Journal of Spiritual Poetry: Winter 2021, Volume 26.
http://www.soul-lit.com/poems/V26/Savinsky/index.html
2021 “On The Hoh River,” (poem) Soul-Lit A Journal of
Spiritual Poetry: Winter 2021, Volume 26.
http://www.soul-lit.com/poems/V26/Savinsky/index.html
2021 “Summertime Blues,” (poem) Evening Street Review,
Issue #28: 167-168.
2021 “Colonialisms,” (poem) The American Journal of Poetry,
Volume X, January 1, 2021.
https://theamericanjournalofpoetry.com/v10-savishinsky.html
2021 “Pandemic in the Park,” (poem) The Avocet: A Journal of
Nature Poetry, Spring 2021: 16
(reprint).
2021 “A Street Name,” (poem) Ginosko Literary Journal: Spring
2021, Issue #26:165.
2021 “Other Versions,” (poem) Ginosko Literary Journal:
Spring 2021, Issue #26: 166.
2021 “Pianissimo,” (poem) Ginosko Literary Journal: Spring
2021, Issue #26: 166.
2021 “Temple of Artemis: Sardis, Turkey 1966,” (poem) Ginosko
Literary Journal: Spring 2021, Issue #26: 167.
2021 “Seeing Red,” (poem) Ginosko Literary Journal: Spring
2021, Issue #26: 168.
2021 “States of Being: A Triptych,” (poem) Ginosko Literary
Journal: Spring 2021, Issue #26: 169.
2021 “Disbelief: 2016,” (poem) Ginosko Literary Journal: Spring
2021, Issue #26: 170.
2021 “My Father Was Here,” (poem) Ginosko Literary Journal:
Spring 2021, Issue #26: 171.
2021 “Divinity,” (poem) Ginosko Literary Journal: Spring 2021,
Issue #26: 171.
2021 “Clio’s Questions,” (poem) Ginosko Literary Journal:
Spring 2021, Issue #26: 172.
2021 “Running Rings Around My Sons,” Beyond Words, August
2021, Issue #1: 5-6.
2021 “Remotely Yours,” (poem) The Poeming Pigeon: A Literary
Journal of Poetry, Issue #11: From Pandemic to Protest: 1
35.
2021 “Season of Sleep,” (poem) The Avocet: Journal of
Nature Poetry, Summer 2021: 62.
2021 “Exclusion Zone: The Bainbridge Island Japanese American
Exclusion Memorial,” Toho Journal: Issue on Resilience,
Volume 3, Number 1: 95-96.
2021 “References,” (poem) SLANT, Volume XXXV,
Summer Issue 2021: 79-80.
2021 “Toilet Paper Panic,” American Writers Review 2021:
Turmoil and Recovery: 149-150.
2021 “Signs,” (poem) American Writers Review 2021: Turmoil
and Recovery: 228-229.
2021 “Binge Watching,” (poem) American Writers Review 2021:
Turmoil and Recovery: 230.
2021 “Bronx Botany,” Back in The Bronx, Volume XXX,
Issue CXIII: 28-29.
2021 “Uncle Robert’s Bar: When the Beer Sounds Better in
Hawai’i” (poem) Caesura 2021: Issue on Unmasking: 13.
http://www.poetrycentersanjose.org/caesura.html
2021 “What Were They Thinking?” (poem) Caesura 2021: Issue
on Unmasking: 51.
2021 “General Relativity, or Upstairs, Downstairs,” Crosswinds
Poetry Journal Volume VII: 80.
In Press “Antideconstructionist,” (poem) Pontoon Poetry,
Floating Bridge Press (reprint).
In Press “The Carpenter Bee,” (poem) Pontoon Poetry,
Floating Bridge Press (reprint).
In Press “The Raker’s Progress,” (poem) Pontoon Poetry,
Floating Bridge Press.
In Press “Sleeping Bags,” (poem) Poetry Quarterly
In Press “In Darkness: Making More Sense of the Senses,” Blood
and Thunder: Musings on the Art of Medicine
In Press “Breathing Lesson,” The Examined Life Journal
In Press “Viral Load,” The Examined Life Journal
In Press “Dogs Outnumbered the People: Colville Lake,
Northwest Territories,” Cirque: A Literary Journal of the
North Pacific Rim
CONFERENCE PAPERS AND PRESENTATIONS:
1965 “Periodicities in Species and Their Manifestations in Levels of Culture, “ presented at the 5th Annual Meeting of the Northeastern Anthropological Association, Vassar College, March 26-28, 1965.
1965 “Cycles and Their Manifestations in Levels of Culture,” presented at the 64th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Denver, Colorado, November 18-21, 1965.
1970 “Anthropology’s Eternal Triangle: The Missionary, The Fur Trader, and The Ethnographer,” presented at the 69th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, San Diego, California, November 19-21, 1970.
1971 “The Dog and The Hare: Canine Culture in an Athapaskan Band,” read at the Northern Athapaskan Conference, National Museum of Man, National Museums of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, March 18-21, 1971.
1972 “Ancestral Memorialism: A Comparative Study of Jews and Japanese,” with Howard Wimberley, presented at the Symposium on “Ancestor Worship” at the IXth International Congress of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences,
Chicago, Illinois, August 28 - September 8, 1973. Revised version presented at the 72nd Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association New Orleans, Louisiana, November 28-December 2,1973.
1973 “The Child Is Father to The Dog: The Socialization of Children and Dogs in an Arctic Community,” presented at the 13th Annual Meeting of the Northeastern Anthropological Association, Burlington, Vermont, April 27-29, 1973.
1975 “Trapping, Survival Strategies, and Ecological Involvement: A Case Study from the Canadian Sub-Arctic,” presented at the 74th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, San Francisco, California, December 2-6, 1975.
1976 “Vicarious Emotions as an Adaptation to Cultural Restraint: Affective Experience in a Sub-Arctic Indian Community,” presented at the 75th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Washington, DC, November 17-21, 1976.
1976 Discussant at the Symposium on “Why is Street Corner Society Still a Classic in the 1970s?” at the “Critic Meets Author” program, Annual Meeting of the New York State Sociological Association, Cortland, New York, October 22, 1976.
1978 “Group Anthropology with Undergraduates: Experiential and Ethnographic Dimensions of a Caribbean Project,” presented at the symposium on
“Undergraduate Fieldwork in Anthropology,” organized by Joel Savishinsky. 18th Annual Meeting of the Northeastern Anthropological Association, Universite Laval, Quebec City, Quebec, March 17-19, 1978.
1977 “Anthropology as a Collective Experience: Group Dynamics of a Caribbean Research Project,” presented at the 77th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Los Angeles, California, November 15-18, 1978.
1981 “Pet Ideas: The Domestication of Animals, Human Behavior, and Human Emotions,” read at the 21st Annual Meeting of the Northeastern Anthropological Association, Saratoga Springs, New York, March 27, 1981. Revised versions presented at the First International Conference on the Human-Companion Animal Bond, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, October 2-5, 1981; and at the 80th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Los Angeles, California, December 2-5, 1981.
1982 “Domestic Sensibilities: Western Images of Human-Animal Relations,” presented at the 5th Annual Meeting of the International Psychohistory Association, Hunter College, New York City, June 10-12, 1982.
- “Vicarious Emotions and Cultural Restraint,” presented at the 81st Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Washington, DC, December 4-7, 1982.
- “Free Shows and Cheap Thrills: Staging Deviance in The Arctic and The Bahamas,” presented at the 23rd Annual Meeting of the Northeastern Anthropological Association, Syracuse, New York, March 13, 1983. Revised version presented at the 82nd Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Chicago, Illinois, November 18, 1983.
- “Talking About Thinking About Feelings: Anthropological Theories About Culture and Repression,” presented at the 24th Annual Meeting of the Northeastern Anthropological Association, Hartford, Connecticut, March 22-25, 1984.
- “Tourists, Actors, Drinkers, and Dogs: Staged Deviance in The Arctic and The Bahamas,” presented at the Conference on Deviance in Cross-Cultural Context, held at the University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, June 2-5, 1984.
1984 “The Human Impact of a Pet Therapy Program in Three Nursing Homes,” presented at the Rochester Academy of Sciences, September 15, 1984. Revised version read at the 83rd Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological
Association, Denver, Colorado, November 19, 1984.
1984 “The Meanings of Loss: Human and Pet Death in The Lives of The Elderly,” presented at the Symposium on “Euthanasia Veterinary Medicine: Anticipatory Grief, the Euthanasia Process, Acute Grief, and Bereavement; Including Implications for All Medical Disciplines,” The Foundation of Thanatology, Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, New York, December 14-16, 1984.
1985 “Stigma, Silence, Contact: Responses to Alzheimer’s Victims in Two Nursing Homes,” presented at the Symposium on “Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders: Psychosocial Issues for the Patient, Family, Staff, and Community.” The Foundation of Thanatology, Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, New
York, June 6-8, 1985.
1985 “Losses and Gains: Pets, Memories and Domesticity Among the Institutionalized Elderly,” presented at the 84th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Washington, DC, December 4-8, 1985.
1986 “Selfish Altruism: The Values and Experiences of Nursing Home Volunteers,” presented at the 26th Annual Meeting of the Northeastern Anthropological Association, Buffalo, New York, March 20-23, 1986. Revised versions read at the Symposium on “Psychiatry and the Challenge of the Life-Threatened Patient,”
The Foundation of Thanatology, Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, New York City, April 17-19, 1986; and at the 85th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, December 4-7, 1986.
- “What Anthropology Can Teach Us About Working with the Elderly,” presented at the Annual SAGE Conference (New York State Association for Gerontological Educators), Ellenville, New York, October 24-25, 1986.
- “The Institutionalized Anthropologist: How Ethnography Can Help Us Understand Nursing Home Culture,” presented at the Symposium on “Allied Health Sciences and Life-Threatening Illness,” The Foundation of Thanatology, Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, New York City, April 2-4, 1987.
1989 “The Defiance of Hope: Dementia Sufferers and Their Carers in A London Borough” presented at the 29th Annual Meeting of the Northeastern Anthropological Association, Montreal, Quebec, March 17-20, 1989; and at the 88th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Washington, DC, November 15-19, 1989.
1990 “Invisible in The Most Obvious Way: The Realities of Nursing Home Staff,” presented at the 30th Annual Meeting of the Northeastern Anthropological Association, Burlington, Vermont, March 28-31,1990; and at the 89th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, New Orleans, Louisiana, November 28-December 2, 1990.
1990 “Remarks on Caregiving in the Community,” presented at the Public Hearing held by the New York State Office for the Aging, on the issue of community caregiving. Ithaca, New York, June 27, 1990.
1991 “Train-Wrecks and Time-Out Rooms: The Roles of Nursing Home Staff,” presented at the 50th Annual Meeting of the Society for Applied Anthropology, Charleston, South Carolina, March 14-17, 1991; and at the Symposium on “Respite Care in Chronic, Life-Threatening and Terminal Illness,” The Foundation of Thanatology, Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, New York City, September 26-28, 1991.
1991 “ ‘Bread and Butter’ Issues: Food, Conflict and Control in a Nursing Home,” presented at the 90th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Chicago, Illinois, November 20-24, 1991.
1992 “Memory, Intimacy, and Support: Making Sense of Nursing Home Culture,” presented at the 51st Annual Meeting of the Society for Applied Anthropology, Memphis, Tennessee, March 25-29, 1992.
- “In and Out of Bounds: The Ethics of Respect in Nursing Homes, presented at the 45th Annual Meeting of the Gerontological Society of America, Washington, DC, November 18-22, 1992.
1992 “Publicity and Privacy: Boundaries and Ethical Issues in Nursing Home Research,” presented at the 91st Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, San Francisco, California. December 2-6, 1992.
1992 “Death and Dogs: Dealing with Loss in American and Arctic Cultures,” presented at the 33rd Annual Meeting of the Northeastern Anthropological Association, Danbury, Connecticut, March 24-28, 1993.
1993 “Morality and Meaning in a Nursing Home,” presented at the “Topics in Gerontology” Seminar Series, Rochester Area Pepper Center, Neurogerontology Unit, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY, February 23, 1993.
1993-1995 “Moral Issues in Late Life: A Look at Aging in Three Cultures.” A lecture delivered as part of the New York Council for the Humanities Speakers Series. Delivered at State University of New York at Geneseo, March 18, 1993; at the Senior Awareness Conference, Rockland Community College, May 25,1993; at the State University of New York at Albany, April 7, 1995; and at the Senior Citizens Council Meeting of Clinton County, May 15, 1995.
1994 “The Unbearable Lightness of Retirement: Ritual and Support in A Modern Life Passage,” presented at the 93rd Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Atlanta, Georgia, November 30-December 4, 1994.
1995 “ ‘Bread and Butter’ Issues: Food, Conflict and Control in A Nursing Home,” presented at the Annual Meeting of the New York State Society on Aging, Albany, NY, October 18-20, 1995. Revised version presented at the School for American Research, Advanced Seminar on “Nursing Home Ethnography,” Santa Fe, NM, October 28 - November 2, 1995.
- “Zen Masters and Master Planners: How People Prepare for Retirement,” presented at the 36th Annual Meeting of the Northeastern Anthropological Association, Plymouth, NH, March 27-30, 1996. Revised version presented at the
95th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological
Association, San Francisco, CA, November 20- 24, 1996.
1997 Lectures on “The Anthropology of Aging” at Lady Doak College (Madurai) and Appasamy College of Arts and Science (Coimbatore), Tamil Nadu, South India, January and February 1997, under a grant from the National Endowment for The Humanities.
1998 “At Work, At Home, At Large: The Sense of Person and Place in Retirement,” presented at the 14th International Congress of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences. College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA, July 26 - August 1, 1998.
1999 “Lonesome in The Saddle: Or, How to Feel at Home in Later Life.” Keynote address at a Conference on “The Places We Call Home: Community Environments for Older People.” Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY, May 20, 1999.
- “Looking For The Light: Morality and Creativity in Later Life,” presented at the 27th Annual Conference of the New York State Society on Aging. Albany, NY, October 27-29, 1999.
1999 “The Moral Lives of Older Americans,” presented at the 98th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association. Chicago, IL, November 17-21, 1999.
2001 “How People Create Meaning in Retirement,” presented at the “Aging 2001” series, State University of New York at Cortland, March 1, 2000; and at the Virginia Festival of The Book, March 22, 2001 and the Senior Citizens Council, Ithaca, NY, April 12, 2001.
2001 “Service or Spirituality: Models of Retirement from America and India,” presented the 29th Annual Conference of the State Society on Aging of New York, Albany, New York, October 12, 2001.
2001 “Thee Volunteer and The Sannyasin: Archetypes of Retirement in America and India,” presented at the 100th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Washington, DC, November 28-December 2, 2001.
2001 “Retirement in Modern America,” presented at the Knight Center for Specialized Journalism, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD, September 11, 2001.
2001 “Breaking The Watch: The Meanings of Retirement in America,” a reading presented in the “Off-Campus at The Bookery” Series, Tompkins County Public Library, September 16, 2001.
2002 Live television and radio interviews. WCNY-TV, Syracuse NY, “Hour CNY” Program, February 5, 2002; WSKG-NPR Radio, “Off The Page,” Program, April 23, 2002.
2002 “Zen and The Art of Retirement: How People Face Change in Later Life,” Gerontology Institute Distinguished Speakers Series, Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY, February 7, 2002.
2002 “Legacy and Succession in Modern Retirement,” presented at the 30th Annual Meeting of the State Society on Aging of New York, Albany, NY, October 30-November 1, 2002.
2002 “Messages from The Body: How Different Generations look at Aging,” Keynote Address, Ithaca Memorial Society Annual Meeting, Ithaca, NY, May 5, 2002.
- “Totem Animals and American Taboos,” presented as the Annual Schalman Lecture, University of South Florida at St. Petersburg, November 25, 2003.
2004 “Paying Our Debts: How People Leave Legacies in Later Life,” presented at the 32nd Annual meeting of the State Society on Aging of New York, Albany, NY, October 13-15, 2004.
2005 “Learning the Lessons of A Holocaust: Using Haiku to Teach About Aging,” presented at the 33rd Annual Meeting of the State Society on Aging of New York, Vernon, NY, October 19-21, 2005.
2006 “The Poetry of Before and After: Condensing Elderly Lives into Three-Line Haiku,” presented at the 34th Annual Meeting of the State Society on Aging of New York, Saratoga Springs, NY, October 25-27, 2006.
2006 “Legacy and Succession in The Life Course,” presented at the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, San Jose, CA, November 15-19, 2006.
2009 “The Art and The Craft of Retirement,” Susan Eklund Lectureship, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, October 15, 2009.
2010 “Gandhi and The Legacy of Non-violence” and “A Passage to America,” Semester at Sea, Institute for Shipboard Education, Fall Voyage (November 3 and December 11, 2010).
2017-Present Poetry readings in the Seattle area and online for PageBoy, Poetry Quarterly, Cirque: A Journal of the Pacific Northwest, Prolific Press, and The Poetry Box.
MAJOR RESEARCH AND APPLIED INTERESTS:
I have conducted anthropological research in six different cultural settings. In Turkey (1966), I was the physical anthropologist at the archaeological site of Sardis, the capitol of the Lydian Empire. My work with the First Nations People, the Hare Indians of the Canadian Arctic (1967, 1968, 1971) focused on the nature of cultural adaptations to environmental and psychological stresses in a semi-nomadic society. In 1972-1973, I carried out an ethnographic study of Ashkenazic Jews in New York City, with special attention to family and individual patterns for handling grief and mourning. During 1976-1977, I was engaged in anthropological research on Cat Island, in the Bahamas, where I conducted an undergraduate field school that studied family life and social relations in rural communities.
Subsequently, I became involved in a project (1979-1982) examining the role of domesticated animals in human ecology and symbolism. This eventually led me to a study of the use of domestic animals in ‘pet therapy’ programs in American nursing homes. Begun in 1983, this work evolved into a seven-year ethnographic research project (1983-1990) on the culture of geriatric facilities and the lives of older people, their families, and their caregivers. I also pursued this set of concerns in England (1987, 1988, 1990), where I did applied anthropological research on the way families in one London borough cared for elderly, demented relatives at home.
Since 1992, I have continued my work in the field of gerontology and family life through studies of ‘retirement as a life passage’ and ‘morality and meaning in later life.’ In these projects, I have been following cohorts of older men and women from upstate New York as they move into and experience the years of retirement, and deal with its emotional and moral ramifications. I have also studied and lectured on the cross-cultural aspects of aging at a number of colleges in Tamil Nadu, South India (1997), and as a faculty member on four voyages with the Semester at Sea Program (1994, 2000, 2010, 2012). My research on the pedagogy of anthropology and gerontology has focused on the use of poetry and haiku in teaching about aging in a cross-cultural context.
TEACHING AND RELATED ACADEMIC INTERESTS:
I have taught anthropology, sociology, gerontology and American studies full time since 1969 at the undergraduate and graduate levels, and have held positions in the United States and Great Britain, as well as teaching in 14 overseas countries through the Semester at Sea Program. In 1997, I lectured on the anthropology of aging at several colleges in Tamil Nadu, South India. Besides chairing an anthropology department for over a decade, I have also helped to develop curricula and programs in the field of gerontology. Among the courses I have taught are the following:
*Introduction to Cultural Anthropology * Peoples of The North
*Family, Community and Utopia
* Culture and Personality
*Anthropological Research Methods
*Aging and Culture
*The Beastly Mirror (human-animal
*Fieldwork and Research
*Culture of the Contemporary United States
*Native Peoples of North America
Summary of Research and Expressive Activities
• Turkey, 1966: member of the Harvard-Cornell Archaeological Expedition to Sardis, eastern Turkey (capital of the Lydian Empire). I was the ‘bone man’ on that season’s excavations, responsible for identifying and analyzing all human and non-human animals remains.
• Canadian Arctic, 1967, 1968, 1971: ethnographic fieldwork in the Northwest Territories, focused on small communities still leading a traditional, semi-nomadic life of hunting, fishing, gathering, dog-sled travel, and trapping.
• Cat Island, the Bahamas, 1976, 1977: I led an anthropological field school for undergraduates, based in small subsistence communities with economies centered on slash-and-burn farming, goat-herding, and fishing.
• US/Upstate New York, 1980s-1990s: ethnographic fieldwork in geriatric facilities, examining the social, emotional and medical dynamics of residents, staff, volunteers and families.
• London, England, 1987, 1988, 1991: did applied anthropological work in a working-class borough of North London, studying the experiences and support systems for families caring for demented relatives at home; and developing recommendations for service providers and policy-makers to enhance support systems for families and those assisting them.
• Southern India, 1997: I spent a semester, mostly in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala, lecturing about aging and developmental issues in the US, the Caribbean & England, and learning about the traditional and modern roles of Indian elders, and their place in a rapidly changing society.
• US/Upstate New York, 1990s-early 2000s: longitudinal project in a rural community on retirement as a life passage, highlighting people’s expectations and experiences during this major life transition.
• US/Upstate New York: 2005-2014: research on the way older people have dealt with and reflect on the moral dilemmas they have faced in life, including five years as a staff member doing cultural enrichment and outreach with families among residents of an enhanced assisted living facility.
• Washington State: 2017- Present: writing, publication and participation in public readings of my poetry, essays and short fiction in a variety of literary journals, anthologies and venues.