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BEFORE THE
POSTAL RATE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20268-0001
POSTAL RATE AND FEE CHANGES,
2000
i
DIRECT TESTIMONY OF
KEN C. ERICKSON
ON BEHALF OF
GREETING CARD ASSOCIATION
Docket No. R2000-1
Table of Contents
. ..
.. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. .. . .. . .. . .. . .. .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . III
Executive
Summary
Statement
Of Qualifications
Of Ken C. Erickson
. .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .1
...................................................................
.2
View Culture.. ..................................................................
.3
And Scope Of Testimony..
I.
Purpose
II.
How Anthropologists
Ill.
Anthropological
IV.
Greeting
V.
Anthropology
VI.
Exploring The Itinerary Of A Greeting Card To Discover
Its Cultural Value ...............................................................................................
VII.
Greeting
VIII.
The Salience
IX.
The Value Of Greeting
X.
Culture
XI.
Conclusions
On Value And Economics
Perspectives
...............................
.4
Cards And The Post.. ...........................................................................
.5
Value.. ....................................................................
.8
And Cultural
Roles.. ...........................
Cards In Use: Their Social And Symbolic
Of Greeting
Change
Cards For Americans..
Cards To Extending
And Greeting
...........................................
Women’s
Social Roles..............1
Cards ...............................................................
.......................................................................................................
I
.I0
.I3
.I6
9
.20
.21
Appendix
Exh. GSA-l
Ken Cleland Erickson’s Curriculum
ii
Vitae
Executive
My testimony
2
Summary
is an anthropological
analysis of the value of greeting cards
3
that are sent through
the mail in the United States.
4
review the anthropological
5
part of American
6
economics
7
cultures that are not part of cash economies.
8
relevant to the value of greeting cards to recipients who receive them in the mail
9
because
perspective
culture.
10
other than
11
assessment
12
because
13
ECSI requirement,
14
be considered.
15
as an institution,
of the cultural
value of greeting
requirement
governing
and
cards, so some measure
their value.
An
is important
the setting of postal rates, the
which dictates that the cultural value of the mail to recipients
I briefly review the history of greeting cards in relation to the Post
and then review anthropological
perspectives
the itinerary approach.
itinerary of a greeting card from production
19
research
20
is reviewed
21
cards through the mail. That portion of the testimony
22
greeting
23
would
24
Americans.
conducted
on cultural value.
cultural value of any good in a market economy
18
26
systems
cards to recipients
described:
25
exchange
to assess
17
This approach
is illustrated
by following
through consumption.
and linked to the continued
American
women,
In my conclusions,
the value to recipients,
minorities,
and
low-income
tradition
the
of sending
cards
greeting
reviews how decreases
of greeting
persons
is
Then, original
two years ago about the cultural salience of greeting
cards sent would not effect all recipients
affect
views of value and
This point of view is especially
to price is necessary
A means of discovering
16
study
do not pay for the greeting
or in addition
of the statutory
basic anthropological
how anthropologists
these recipients
I
on culture and how greeting cards are a
I summarize
and describe
As an anthropologist,
cards equally,
more
than
in
but
other
I point out how the value of greeting cards, particularly
may be assessed
anthropologically
III
via objective
and
1
trustworthy
means. Assessing
the cultural value of greeting cards to recipients
2
an important adjunct to other methods of assessing the value of elements
3
mail stream.
iv
is
in the
Statement
1
I hold a doctorate
2
of Qualifications
of Ken C. Erickson
in cultural anthropology
3
serve as Associate
Professor
4
and Anthropology
5
Center for Ethnographic
6
University.
7
consumer
8
meatpacking
9
in the United
10
multilingualism,
11
conducted
12
bilingual access to health care.
from the University of Kansas.
of Anthropology
in the Department
at the University of Missouri-Kansas
Research
My anthropological
and publications
have
plants in the Midwest, on immigrant/established
on Vietnamese
anthropological
anthropological
immigrant
linguistics,
research on AIDS/HIV
and presently
the Practice of Anthropology
15
anthropologists
16
the American
17
a member of the Society for Applied Anthropology.
18
This summer, working with my colleagues
Anthropological
I am the
principal
Association.
19
Dahl,
investigator
20
networking
21
and African-Americans
22
resident
and newcomer
23
research
has focused on communication
24
preparation
25
Curriculum
and communication.
on multi-ethnic
relations
organization,
education.
and on
the community
of my professional
organization,
and
Dr. Tanya Price and Dr. Goran
of an international
and Atlanta
study
and language,
of testimony to the Postal Rate Commission
of personal
among
and among
in Lund and Stockholm.
1
for
of applied
I am a Fellow of the Association
Vitae is attached Exh. GCA-I.
on
I have
programs,
That study is being conducted
in Los Angeles
Swedes
represent
committee
on
of the National Association
14
on the nominations
prevention
at the
focused
resident
household
and bilingual
I have served on the executive committee
13
City and Director of the
product design in print and electronic communications,
States,
of Sociology
in the College of Arts and Sciences
research
I
Latinos
established-
Much of my prior
including research for the
in Docket No. R97-1.
My
I.
1
2
My testimony
Purpose
and Scope of Testimony
is given on behalf of the Greeting Card Association.
3
testimony,
I discuss
4
significance
of greeting cards in American
5
questions
6
postal rates reflect the educational,
7
mail to the recipient.
8
anthropologists
9
from
the
before the Commission
perspective
of
culture.
because
cultural
In my
anthropology
This inquiry is relevant to the
of the statutory
requirement
cultural, scientific, and informational
I review anthropological
the
that
value of
views of culture and describe
how
link it to studies of value and economic systems.
Greeting
cards
are shown
to have a long history-a
10
intimately tied to the Post Office as a social institution
11
Greeting
12
any market-based
13
described:
the itinerary method.
14
production
through
15
cards are discussed:
16
salience
of greeting
17
research
conducted
two years ago for the Greeting
18
testimony
concludes
by describing
19
they are received,
20
Such research
21
value of First Class matter such as greeting cards.
history
in societies
that
like our own.
cards have always had cultural value, as does any traditional
society.
One way of documenting
this cultural
The itinerary of a greeting
good in
value
cards for Americans
displayed,
is an objective
value.
the importance
2
drawing
cultural
on original
Card Association.
The
of studies of greeting cards as
and used by Americans
and trustworthy
greeting
The particular
is next presented,
is
card is traced from
use, and two kinds of cultural value that surround
social value and symbolic
is
in their everyday
method of assessing
lives.
the cultural
II.
1
Anthropology,
2
broadly
3
historical
4
there
5
archaeological-and
6
components.
7
differences
8
features
of particular
9
Studies
of exchange
and contemporary
are four
conceived,
sub-fields
11
anthropology.1
is the study of our species
of anthropology-physical,
each of these sub-fields
and similarities
contemporary
systems
Anthropologists
13
human differences
14
textbooks
among
academic
cultural,
in both
tradition,
linguistic,
has both academic
and between
and
groups.
It also studies
how cultures
studies
change
of consumers
and
and
and applied
studies human cultures to understand
cultures to understand
societies
View Culture
Within the American
times.
Cultural anthropology
10
12
How Anthropologists
the
the
and persist.
markets
in
like our own are part of the focus of contemporary
view culture as a key theoretical
and similarities.
tool for understanding
One of the most widely used anthropology
puts it this way:
15
16
17
18
When anthropologists
speak of a human culture, they
usually mean the total socially acquired life-style of a group
of people including patterned, repetitive ways of thinking,
feeling, and acting.2
19
One pattern that all human cultures share is an ability to create meaning
20
and assign
value.
The two are related,
21
because
22
the interaction
23
comes out of the presence
from an anthropological
cultural value does not inhere in things themselves,
1 Glassie,
press
(1999
New Studies.
of things and sociocultural
Henry.
but is derived from
In other words,
meaning
of a set of symbols that are put to work in social
Material
1; Miller,
Routledge:
systems.
standpoint,
Daniel
London
Culture.
Bloomington:
Acknowledging
(1995).
* Harris, Marvin. Culture, Nature: An Introduction
Indiana
Consumption:
to Genera/ Anthropology.
and Row (1985) p. 114.
3
University
A Review
of
New York: Harper
1
interaction,
This is an anthropological
2
anthropological
3
case of greeting
4
value
5
educational,
6
mail can begin to be formed - can be understood
7
lens on economic
(and many linguistic) studies of human symbolic systems.
- and
cards, ways in which anthropologists
the
way
assessment
how
might approach
of statutorily
In the
cultural
recognized
or “ECSI” value to recipients
of
by focusing an anthropological
systems.
Anthropological
As an applied
9
an objective
cultural, scientific, and information,
III.
8
view of meaning that is at the core of most
cultural
anthropology
Perspectives
anthropologist,
10
about
views
11
anthropological
12
value of greeting cards that come in the mail.
perspective
economic
on economics
on Value and Economics
I can offer some
systems
in
basic insights
general.
The
may shed some light on the cultural
13
Here, again, is a textbook view of the anthropological
14
16
17
18
19
All cultures have an economy,
a set of institutions that combine
technology, labor, and natural resources to produce and distribute goods
and services.
To the extent that economizing takes place-that
is,
minimizing costs and maximizing benefits-it
always takes place in a
definite cultural context, and it is always embedded
in institutional
relationships such as kinship or politics. 3
20
It is an anthropological
15
21
perhaps,
for most humans
22
goods are meaningless.
23
a recent
phenomenon.
24
complex
forms
25
produce
Postal Services
26
for most of human
truism
that for most of human
in recent times, arguments
This is because the appearance
The arrival of money
of social organization,
reciprocal
exchange
4
and
about price elasticity
of
of money economies
is
to state societies
3 Harris (ibid). p. 247
history,
is tied to the development
and Postal Rate Commissions.
history,
approach:
such as those
of
that
For most people and
in which
value
cannot
be
1
measured
by price has been the mainstay of human economic
2
people for most of human history have not used price to assess value.
While our present-day
3
to
determine
systems.
society may lean heavily on price-based
important
value
5
proceedings,
6
matter
7
These methods are useful in both complex and simple societies. These tools are
8
derived
9
ethnography.
to develop
from
other
as those
raised
means
exploratory
of evaluating
research
in the social
based
sciences,
But a part of that context
12
present
13
events. Anthropologists
14
appear over night and neither do rituals, symbols, or greeting cards.
15
for an anthropologist,
16
people
17
greeting
18
Importantly,
19
postal systems.
in the memories
and retellings
requires
Greeting
23
Greeting
exists outside
(or re-writings)
is seen as part of the present
at least
IV.
suggestion
particularly
the
of past human
context
So history,
through
Making sense of the cultural
a passing
understanding
of their
which
value of
history.
the history of greeting cards is closely tied to the history of national
20
22
exchange.
have to take into account the fact that cultures do not
make sense out of their lives.
cards
subject
to capture what people do and say in real
life, in a lived human
21
context.
tools
non-money
I1
moment
in these
have often been forced by their non-market
These methods are designed
10
such
studies of
4
anthropologists
questions
Most
is some
that they have been in use even before mass production
printing.
with
have been
Cards and the Post
There
cards
cards
Greeting
more
around
precisely
for a long time.
documented
5
historical
and
cultural
1
provenience
appear
in Great Britain by the middle of the last century.4
2
spread
3
crossed
4
link the mailed greeting
5
life-to
6
marketplace.
is tied to emerging
and political changes,
changes
that
national borders just as they do today and that, just as they do today,
national
card-a
interests
The development
7
technological
Their
material
embodiment
and to the technical
of printing
of interpersonal
and strategic
technology
interests
and marketing
social
of the
strategies
by
8
printers came along at just about the same time as the British penny post and
9
the signing
10
convention,
11
use of the 123mm
12
Greeting
13
as 1843.5
14
1895, Gleeson
15
England alone would include at least 200,000 examples.“6
16
right along with modernity
17
part of the community
of the first international
postal accords.
The first global
postal
signed in Austria in 1869, approved for the first time the international
by 83mm
open-faced
cards had been mass-produced
postal
card that we know today.
for domestic
But after the postal convention,
White wrote that “a complete
greeting
use in England
as early
cards really took off.
set of all designs
published
In
in
Greeting cards arose
and are part of what makes a contemporary
nation a
of nations.
4 The historical importance of greeting cards was discussed in my testimony before the Postal Rate
Commission in Docket No. R97-1.
Historians like Kombolin, Yuri Pozdravitelnaia Otkrvtka v Rossii;
Konets XIX Veka-nachalo XX Veka. The Greetine Card in Russia: End of the 19th Centurv-Beeinnine
the 20th Cenhxv.
of
(Russian and English) Kiiesa Malen, trans. Sankt-Petersburg: Trade House Konstantin
(1994) point out that greeting cards have been part of the culture of Europe since the invention of printing.
Ernest Dudly Chase, in The Romance of Greetine Cards Dedham, MA: Rust Crraft Publishers (1956)
points out that greeting cards were known in the mid-1400s.
There are Chinese parallels-printed
greetings that were exchanged during seasonal rituals-that predate these European cards by a thousand
years, according to Mary Erbaugh, “Greeting Cards in China: Mixed language of Connections and
Affections,”
In Deborah Davis, editor, The Consumer Revolution
in Urban China.
University of California Press (2000).
5 &day.
Gyorgy.
The History of the Christmas Card.. London: Rockliff (1954).
6
Berkeley, CA:
1
Across from Washington,
D.C.‘s Union Station, some words are written in
2
stone atop two Ionic pillars that frame the entrance of what was at one time the
3
principal post office in our nation’s capital:
4
5
Messenger of Sympathy and Love
Servant of Parted Friends
6
Consoler of the Lonely
7
Bond of the Scattered
8
Enlarger of the Common Life
9
These words
Family
represent
one vision of the mission
10
United States Postal Service.
II
the United States Postal Museum.
12
Whatever
the purpose
Today, this building is no longer a post office, but
of the building,
the Postal Service
Despite email and the telephone,
remains
an
enlarger
14
the U.S. mail to communicate
15
re-produce
16
understanding
17
social glue for families and broadens
18
measured
in objective and empirical ways.
19
governing
statute
20
economic
21
Rate Commission.
22
Service plays that role: as the means through which greeting cards are received
23
by ordinary Americans.
American
life.
of the
13
24
of the common
and mandate
people still use
with friends and loved ones and to celebrate
cultural traditions.
and
How well the Postal Service promotes
and love, abets the subjective ebb and flow of social life, provides
requires
attention
the scope of shared
can be
Since for purposes of rate setting the
to cultural value -- along with other non-
forms of value -- these measurements
This testimony
experience
will suggest
should be of use to the Postal
one arena in which the Postal
For recipients of greeting cards, the mail has cultural value.
6 White, Gleeson
Christmas
Cards and Their Chief Designers.
(1895) p.4.
7
London: Offices of the Studio
Some measures
1
of the value of greeting cards and other First Class mail
2
to recipients will no doubt include volume and price calculations.
3
on the old Post Office building is multidimensional
4
are the
5
recommend
6
deals with issues that are outside the scope of everyday
7
issues such as those that are put up for public display above the entrance
8
former Main Post Office Building in Washington,
criteria
the
Postal
Rate
in its range of meanings.
Commission
uses
cards are a valuable
and
research often
economic
exchanges
to the
part of our culture
10
everyone
11
one measure the value to recipients of greeting cards that come in the mail?
V.
12
Anthropologists
13
14
exchange
15
economies.
and Cultural
that one - perhaps
systems
of
like market
the only - “objective”
way to
measure
18
stamp. The economist
19
writes that sending a birthday card “reflects the mailer’s view of the value of the
20
birthday
card to the recipient.”
21
mailer’s
and the recipients
22
recipient are not necessarily
witness
cards to recipients
invented
and all kinds
17
23
the value of greeting
Value
in all kinds of value
systems - not just those very recently
It has been suggested
16
and
cards have cultural value. But how can
Anthropology
are interested
-
D.C.
and venerable
seems to agree that greeting
So
to evaluate
requests for changes in postal rates. Anthropological
Greeting
9
that
The inscription
Bernstein,
is at the point of sale of a
in responding
to GCANSPS-T41-6,
While this may in some respects
be true, the
views of the value of that birthday
card to the
congruent.
While the price paid by the sender is one way to measure the value of a
24
greeting
card to the recipient
25
perspective
26
greeting
suggests
additional
- as seen by the sender
objective
- an anthropological
means of establishing
cards or any other good in the marketplace.
8
the value of
In fact, a large body of
recent anthropological
review
research and analysis deals with this very problem.
some of this research
American
and analysis
one item of
culture - the greeting card that is sent through the mail.
While I am not an economist,
4
to help understand
I will
5
the value
of goods,
particularly
6
relationships
7
terms. Anthropologists
8
to understand
9
and goods over time).
between
it appears that in most economic
the econometric
price and purchasing,
analyses
analysis of
used
value is measured
to explore
in monetary
often measure prices, too (though they turn to economists
econometric
models of the complex
relationships
among
prices
But many goods in cultural systems are not bought or
10
sold. Some things are given as gifts. Some items are exchanged
11
And some material
cards and letters-arrive
in the mail
12
without the recipient having to pay the sender or the letter carrier.
The value of
13
such things, the value to recipients,
14
to the price paid for them in a market setting.
15
methods to account for and establish the value of these kinds of goods.
goods-like
Anthropologists
16
within
greeting
cannot be directly established
often conduct
a cultural
Anthropologists
their research
This means
17
observation
setting.
18
observe exchanges
19
of material culture is used. These observations
20
objects in their cultural contexts of use.
21
that an understanding
22
does
as they happen.
for other items.
Anthropologists
through
with reference
have developed
participation
they are able to directly
can observe how any item
result in empirical descriptions
It is an anthropologically
accepted
of the specific nature - or price - of any consumer
not offer a complete
account
and
of its social or cultural
value.7
of
fact
good
With a
7Writing about food consumption, anthropologist Sydney Mintz provides an example of the
anthropological view of objects: “The specific nature of the consumed substances surely matters; but it
cannot, by itself, explain why such substances may seem irresistible. ” “The Changing Role of Food in the
Study of Consumption.” In Consumption and the World ofGoo~/s, John Brewer and Roy Porter, editors.
Routledge: London (1993) ” p.271.
9
1
knowledge
of local systems of meaning (languages,
2
desires),
3
And, sometimes,
anthropologists
histories and
explore the value of goods from multiple perspectives.
anthropologists
Anthropologist
4
expectations,
Dominique
are able to explore the entire life of a good.6
Desjeaux,
a specialist
in material culture, calls
5
the entire life of any good its “itinerary.”
g The itinerary is the route or path that a
6
good
its conception
7
distribution,
8
understanding
9
cultural values that people assign to it at any point in its itinerary.
takes
in time and space
merchandising,
the itinerary
from
sale or exchange,
of a good,
10
is useful to objectively
II
system: greeting cards, for example.
12
Exploring
VI.
through
its production,
uses, and eventual
anthropologists
disposal.
can uncover
By
multiple
This approach
trace the multiple values of any good in any cultural
the Itinerary
of a Greeting
Card to Discover
its Cultural
Value
Tracing the cultural values of a greeting card along its itinerary is a way of
13
14
assessing
the cultural value of greeting cards that are sent and received in the
15
mail.
16
manufactured.
17
and used in ways that may or may not be congruent
18
managers,
19
disposal,
20
placed upon it by the people who interact with it and through it. By sketching
21
itinerary of a greeting
22
cultural meanings
Like any consumer
good,
a greeting
And, like many consumer
marketers,
a greeting
distributors,
card has to be designed
goods,
it is modified
and
after purchase
with the expectations
retailers, or letter carriers.
card can come to have multiple
card, starting with its manufacture,
of
From design to
kinds of cultural
value
the
I will try to show how
grow and interact up to the point at which the Commission’s
%I anthropological terms, the word “goods” refers to those items of human material culture that are part of
exchange systems. They are items that are traded OTpurchased, items that circulate in money economies or
in other systems of exchange.
g Desjeaux, Dominique. Quand Les Francais DCmCnwent. L’Harmattan: Paris. (1999).
10
1
specific assignment
begins -- the purchase
2
In other words, the same cultural factors govern the design, distribution,
3
and recipient appreciation
4
In complex
choice,
and use of the card.
processes
5
actors involved
6
ways.
7
result in a prototype
8
success.
9
may have on her supervisor,
such as greeting
in design and production
A manager,
of postage to mail the greeting card.
card manufacturing,
will value greeting
cards in different
in charge of artists and writers whose collaborative
greeting
card, may be concerned
Or, she may be concerned
the many
labor will
about its eventual
sales
about the impression that the greeting card
A press operator would be concerned
about the
10
special characteristics
of the greeting card, about the dies that must be made to
11
cut the greeting
12
manufacturing,
distributing,
13
could determine
the economic value of each greeting card with reference to each
14
person whose salary depends
15
no means represents
16
card to each person in these early stages of the card’s itinerary.
card, about the inks or foil, and so on through
and merchandising
the product.
upon its production.
the total value, importance,
The material features of a greeting card-the
17
the process of
To be sure, one
But this economic
or meaning
value by
of the greeting
writing on it, the ink and foil
18
and paper-condition
the work that must be performed
to produce the greeting
19
card.
20
linked to (though
21
workplace.10
And work at each step in the itinerary of the greeting card is linked
22
to personal
and social histories, to what Bourdieu would call a habitus - a set of
23
cultural patterns
24
human history and contemporary
The work of making greeting cards has a particular
‘0 Lalmphere,
Philadelphia:
not determined
by) its material features.
that exist outside of conscious
Louise, Alex Stepick,
materiality-a
and Guillermo
Temple University Press (1994).
11
awareness
cultural value that is
This is true of any
that are a blend of
blend of social life and things-
Grenier.
Newcomers
in the Workplace.
in the making of the good. 11 So one kind of cultural value
1
that is reproduced
2
found in greeting cards is in the cultural value of the work that must be performed
3
to make
the card.
4
verifiable,
cultural
5
American
This
work
link to the cultural
a demonstrable,
value of greeting
and
cards
empirically
as part of an
cultural tradition.
The social and symbolic
6
constitutes
value(s) of greeting
cards at any point in their
7
itinerary are not fixed but are relative to the people who are creating,
8
using them.
The cultural values that a greeting card carries are transformed
9
new values,
new meanings,
as the greeting
of the production
card moves through
10
This discussion
11
that there are many kinds of value beyond the value measured
12
these values may be ascertained
13
and/or
14
course, greeting card manufacture
15
to people who send and receive them.
interviews
17
is also dependent
18
use-their
19
their exchange
upon context.
into
its itinerary.
of greeting cards is offered to highlight the fact
empirically
engaged
through
by price, that
participation,
in making greeting
observation
cards.
And, of
is a part of the cultural value of greeting cards
The ways in which people buy, modify, send, and receive greeting
16
The meanings
social and symbolic value-may
cards
of greeting cards found in their
vary depending
and display and may be discovered
upon the contexts of
empirically.
Study of greeting cards as they are actually used has been conducted
20
21
of the people
selling, or
Europe,
the United
States,
’ ‘Bourdieu, Pierre. Distinction:
and in China. I2
Anthropological
A Social Critiaue of the J&ement
research
in
has
of Task. Cambridge, MA: Harvard
University Press (1984).
‘* Erickson, Ken C. Original ethnographic and survey research on the cultmal value of greeting cards was
reported in Direct Testimony of Ken C Erickson on Behalf of Greeting Card Association.
Postal Rate and
Fee Changes, 1997, Docket No. R97-1. Pabson, Stephen. “From Symbolic Exchange to Bureaucratic
12
highlighted
the symbolic and social value that greeting cards hold to people who
2
send and receive them-these
3
card’s itinerary.
4
VII.
5
For the purposes
6
cultural
7
understood
8
ways
9
relationships.
are part of the consumption
Greeting
dimensions
Cards in Use: Their Social and Symbolic
of this testimony,
of value:
the
exchange
and
and the symbolic.
of greeting
cards.
11
public
12
ideas-including
13
bases for the rules (or regularities)
14
culture say and do.
Roles
two related
These
can be
Social value in this sense refers to the
use
of greeting
Symbolic value refers to the semiological
10
cards
acts
or meaningful
on social
dimension
Greeting cards contain cultural symbols that are displayed
and these
symbols
help to reproduce
important
the kind of deeply held and unconscious
Any ethnographic
15
it is useful to distinguish
the social
as subsets of cultural value.
in which
stage of a greeting
I6
that is conducted
17
greeting
card use-will
18
functions
that greeting
19
have these functions.
research
beliefs
and
notions that form the
that are behind the things that members of a
on greeting
cards-that
through interviews about or observations
uncover
cultural
in
instances
cards can have.
is to say, research
of actual instances
of at least three
of
kinds of social
It is likely that hand-written
letters also
These are
20
To create new relationships
21
To extend or expand new relationships
22
To limit or attenuate
23
For example, a greeting card may be sent to someone to whom you have
24
no relationship:
relationships
a new co-worker,
for example.
Teachers
may send out greeting
Discourse: The Hallmark Greeting Card. Theory Culture and Society (1986) pp. 99-111. Greeting Cards in
China: mixed language of connections and affections by Mary S. Erbaugh, p. 171.200.
13
1
cards to parents to welcome their children to school and in so doing convey and
2
mark the beginning
3
cards, through
4
able to make social relationships
5
interpersonal
speech
6
make
especially
7
relationships
their materiality,
that did not exist before.
are able to be displayed.
This means they are
take on a material form.
can not do this.
effective
Telephone
This material feature
ritual means
Greeting
of marking
calls and
of greeting
cards
and creating
new
in our culture.
Greeting
8
9
them
of a new relationship
cards can extend and expand new relationships.
of a greeting card that expresses
The purchase
a new or deeper emotion than might have been
10
considered
part of a past relationship
11
exchange
12
was marked in a greeting card. We have found that many people with whom we
13
have spoken in our research
14
Having
“just the right words”
15
feature
of both written
16
relationships
17
they may not be wanted,
18
distance is called for.
19
Greeting
of emotional
attachment
that might not have been present
to accomplish
speech
21
about saying too much, or about expressing
22
the attenuated
Having the right greeting
But extending
not close enough when a bit of
only create or enhance
create a kind of distance.
~23
in many cultures.
wrong words can create new social debts where
20
Research
or distanced
before it
some social end is an important
or deliver a message
cards cannot
in an
rely on greeting cards to say “just the right words.”
and formal
can be risky-the
can bind the sender and recipient
relationships,
they can
has shown that many people are concerned
some emotion that does not reflect
nature of some family or friendship
relationship.
card to send can thus provide the right kind of social
24
distance that might be difficult if the sender and recipient were caught together
in
25
a spontaneous
by
26
Postal Service witness Virginia Mayes. in which she states:
(and therefor more risky) interaction.
14
I have seen a response
An argument could be made
that greeting cards
or other personal correspondence
would have high
value for the recipient, but I can think of certain
circumstances - such as a greeting card from a local
merchant or from a despised relative - that would
render
this argument
invalid.
[Response
to
GCANSPS-T32-2
(a).]
From an anthropological
perspective,
however, a greeting card from a business -
relative” - that expressed
or even a “despised
the proper degree
10
distance
might have a very positive value to the recipient:
11
sending
party shared,
12
attenuated
13
cards are welcomed
14
or at least respected,
relationship.
Besides
Obviously,
of emotional
it could show that the
the recipients
wish for a more
there are many instances
in which greeting
- a reason they are sent
these three social values, greeting
cards carry symbolic
cards, by blending images and text, reproduce
value.
15
Greeting
in narrative and artistic
16
forms ideas about relationships-about
17
be represented,
18
Greeting cards can be seen as a kind of performance
I9
others to see, assess, and re-interpret
20
in social relationships.
21
reproduce
22
good, bad, or funny about human relationships.
23
market-based
24
our families.
25
about one another
26
often talk about how a greeting
27
symbolic value of a greeting card is always available to be put to work in social
2R
relationships.
29
greeting cards is brought to life through greeting card exchange
how they should be, about how they can
and about the culture in general-and
that acts out meanings
for
on their own as they put the card to work
The symbolic value of a greeting card lies in its ability to
and reflect existing
consensus
Greeting
they do so in public.
assumptions
about what
Greeting
of what we think about ourselves,
cards that accurately
right,
cards offer a kind of
our associates
and
reflect what we want to say to and
sell better than cards that do not.
In conjunction
is appropriate,
card “fits” a particular
Consumers,
for example,
social relationship.
The
with particular social needs, the symbolic value of
15
and display.
VIII.
1
By sending
greeting
cards
traditions.
The Salience
and displaying
participate
Cards for Americans
cards,
senders
and recipients
of particularly
American
of
cultural
research on greeting cards in the United States was
to the Postal Rate Commission
was based on observations
showed
greeting
in the enactment
Anthropological
reported in my testimony
research
of Greeting
and interviews
that greeting
play roles in the celebration
in 1997. That research
in US. greeting
card shops.
The
cards have a cultural life of their own, that they
of American
family rituals, and that greeting
cards
facilitate much more than me-to-you communication.1s
The anthropological,
10
That survey
research
resulted
was supplemented
11
by a telephone
12
statistically
13
cards,
14
highly salient elements
15
to maintain
16
for Americans,
17
transition
IH
salience
19
people and people who identified as African-American
or Latin0 felt that greeting
20
cards
people
21
people.
22
survey.
participant-observation
robust sample of Americans
The survey research
greeting
or difficulty.
of greeting
were
cards
the conclusion
salient
at moments
we found significant
to ethnicity
percent
of the
that,
of family
variation
and income.
than did high-income
seventy-seven
cards are
of family rituals and that they are used
are especially
cards according
that greeting
of greeting
In addition, the survey demonstrated
And, importantly,
more important
For example,
supported
social ties.
of data from a
about the cultural salience
in the celebration
and enhance
in an analysis
in the
Lower income
or Euro-American
respondents
agreed
or
23
strongly agreed with the statement that greeting cards that come in the mail “help
24
me know that others are thinking of me in a time of mourning,”
‘3 Erickson (1997) p. 15
16
and the same
1
numbers were obtained
2
most salient feature
3
others.”
4
humor can only make sense in a cultural context,
5
culturally-mediated
6
cultural make-up
7
greeting cards from the survey concerned
8
occasions.
9
greeting cards they received “helped them celebrate.”
of greeting
This shows
“sharing
of any language
cards are part of sociability
Seventy-two
have a differential
12
African-Americans
13
than do other groups.
14
important
15
that decreases
16
groups.
or culture.
and, because
how greeting
cards support
effect according
the celebration
agreed or strongly agreed that
to ethnicity
and income.
to most greeting
cards sent through
to the low- and middle-income
18
cards in American
19
about greeting
20
social lives of women.
to conduct
Culture.
cards:
the mail are especially
In a non-card
It was clear
impact on these
on the consumption
That research has demonstrated
their importance
For example,
groups in the sample.“14
research
cards would
cards at all levels
in greeting card receipt would have a differential
I have continued
in the
of holidays and special
in the receipt of greeting
“attach more importance
Greeting
features
The next most salient feature of
percent of respondents
that decreases
The next
a good laugh with
notions of what is funny and what is not-key
11
21
were asked about illness.
cards concerned
how greeting
The data showed
10
17
when respondents
of greeting
two critical features
in display, and their importance
related study in a Midwestern
in the
grade school, our research
22
team was struck by the importance
23
that came in the mail. We found that greeting cards and letters are not simply
24
consumed
when
they are read.
of the display of greeting
They are displayed,
I4 Erickson (1997) p. 42.
17
cards and letters
passed
around,
and
presented
as material evidence of family social connections.
no surprise
to any American
One household
touring
their
refrigerator.
with a refrigerator
capable
we visited was actually embarrassed
kitchen,
that
there
was
nothing
This will come as
of holding a magnet.
to point out, while we were
to be seen
posted
on the
It was a new one, they said, and they had not been able to re-post
the “kid art” and usual notes that they had on display before the new refrigerator
arrived.
The point is that the cultural value of greeting cards includes their display.
8
9
This fact was mentioned
in my earlier testimony
10
we learned that greeting
cards were often passed around for other family and
11
friends
12
senders that recipients of greeting cards will put them on display for a time.
13
to read.
And the survey
demonstrated
in Docket No. R97-1 because
that it is the expectation
In her recent article on greeting cards in the People’s
14
Mary Erbaugh
echoes
this point.
15
display elaborate
16
months at a time.“15
17
empirical,
18
States and elsewhere
19
displayed
and in some cases even collected
20
important
social value - social because
21
others to see, read, and comment
22
exchange
arrangements
observational
“Offices
from factories
of Christmas
of
Republic of China,
to universities
now
and New Year’s greeting cards for
Her work, and my own recent research,
provide additional
support for the notion that greeting
cards in the United
are not simply read and tossed
value measured
upon.
away.
and saved.
the greeting
They may be
This suggests
an
cards are displayed
for
They have more than the one-to-one
by price paid by an individual for a greeting card.
I5 Erbaugh (2000) p.192.
18
Thus, the consumption
1
2
during which
3
evident.
stage in the itinerary of a greeting
the non-economic
value of a greeting
card becomes
The Value of Greeting
Cards to Extending
IX.
5
The cultural value of a greeting
6
exchange
7
packet.
8
the majority
of greeting
9
implications
for the importance
card extends
Women’s
Social Roles
beyond the moment of its
in person or its delivery to the home or post office box with the mail
This is clear.
contemporary
But setting that exchange
card senders
American
in context reveals that by far
and recipients
of greeting
are women.
cards that come
12
them especially
13
provide
a clue.
14
senders
and recipients
15
roles and economic
16
now.
17
greeting
18
boundaries
19
discourse.
20
complex relationships
21
Anthropologists
important?
dominated
23
women’s
Recent research
In China,
in the mail in
cards.
lives that makes
away from the United States can
as in the United States,
of greeting
women
There, women’s
are the primary
public and private
and social power had been more constrained
Chinese women’s
22
This has
culture.
What special roles might greeting cards play in women’s
11
especially
But these data do not exhaust the social value of greeting cards.
4
10
card is a time
roles are expanding.
cards especially
attractive,
and increasing
roles for women
even as they trace a reworking
participation
Cards offer commercialized
“Changing
than they are
in previously
of gender
male-dominated
validation of women’s
make
written
broader and more
outside the home.“16
recognize
in public economic
that some
social
systems
are more
and political spheres than are other cultures.
maleAnd
roles in the United States, of course, are often the subject of public
16 Ibid p. 194
19
I
discussion
and are viewed as having changed
2
own research
3
extend and manage
social relationships-to
4
baby-sit,
neighbors
in patterns
5
enculturate
particularly
daughters,
6
mark and celebrate what family means to Americans.17
shows
to engage
children,
X.
7
10
to change.
in the United States use greeting
Culture
thank relatives
of exchange
Change
cards to
for taking time to
and helping,
in the annual
Our
and to
round of rituals that
and Greeting
Cards
If the price of sending a greeting card through the mail were to increase,
8
9
how women
and continuing
what would that mean to people for whom greeting cards are especially
salient?
When greeting cards are not received in the mail, what are the results?
The survey conducted
11
two years ago demonstrated
12
would not be equally affected
13
received
because
14
people,
Latino-Americans
15
Americans.
16
to reciprocate
17
lost opportunity
18
system that trades information
19
that these entail.
greeting
by a reduction
that all Americans
in the number of greeting
cards are more salient for women,
and
African-Americans
than
they
cards
lower-income
are
for
other
So the lack of a greeting card received is the lack of an opportunity
I7 While there
with another greeting card.
for the maintenance
Every greeting card not received
of informal exchange
systems, an exchange
about family and friendship
is no doubt a strong connection
between
is a
relationships
commercial
interests
and all
and family
celebration of rituals like Mother’s and Father’s day, our knowledge of these ritual occasions
shows that family participation oflen extends beyond the range of products (cards, gifts, party
goods and decorations)
offered for sale and use.
Americans
because they are slaves to the companies that manufacture
celebration
of these rituals.
Americans
participate
symbolic value.
20
participate
in these rituals not
the goods that are implicated in the
in them because
they have social and
The social and symbolic
1
2
some possible
results
3
greeting
received
4
relationships.
5
other media.
cards
value of greeting
of fewer greeting
would
cards received
signal an attenuation
points to
in the mail.
Fewer
in ritually marked
social
And it would limit the kinds of public artistic and textual forms to
Conclusions
Xl.
6
The Postal Service is a creation of the state, just as Inca roads and quipu-
7
8
carrying
9
with a codified
runners were creations
classical
economics
11
ties it to the emotional
The
of earlier American
role that cannot
10
12
cards to recipients
Post
alone.
be measured
states.
with recourse
needs of the people it serves.
institutionalizes
the
low-cost
linking
14
coherent
15
together who are otherwise
16
the institution
17
perhaps
18
the same time, economic
rationality,
19
from the earliest American
historical accounts,
20
about how a national postal service cannot be constituted.
21
public interest in a low-cost
22
publishing
23
Office brings two discourses
Nationalism.
that helps make the very idea-that
of
communities
and tangible.‘*
separated-appears
from its very beginnings.
Benedict
individuals
idea-of
Imagined
and
a nation
ability to bring people close
to be inscribed
in the history of
This is a social and symbolic
into a traditional
economic
value,
calculus.
profit making, and the marketplace
At
were,
also part of the early discussions
Benjamin
postal service can not be separated
for example.
R.
imagined
This aspect of the post-its
not one that is easily entered
18 Anderson,
to the tools of
The Service has a cultural and social role, one that
13
interests,
And it is a creation
Franklin’s
from his own
Early day politics of the United States Post
into sharp relief: one is about rational economic
Communities:
Reflecctions
London: Versa (1983).
21
on the Origina and Spread of
1
interests;
2
Commission’s
3
the other is about social and cultural value. This testimony
own ECSI mandate continue that discussion.
Culture encompasses
and transcends
economics.
In addition to the use
4
of existing information,
5
and other First Class matter could and should be a cornerstone
6
developing
further study of the cultural contribution
7
Class letters and greeting
H
following
9
and documenting
a set of objective
to them.
II
approaches
12
Commission’s
Such
and trustworthy
cards.
actual Americans
10
and the
cards
in the process of
of the value of First
Of course, further studies could be made by
as they conduct their daily lives, interviewing
the importance
research
measures
of greeting
them,
of greeting cards and other First Class matter
would
and might well enhance
be a powerful
adjunct
the Postal Service’s
national goals.
22
to other
research
and the Postal Rate
CERTIFICATE
OF SERVICE
I hereby certify that I have this day served the foregoing
all participants
of record
in this proceeding
document
upon
on this date in accordance
with
section 12 of the rules of Practice and Procedu
1120 20th Street, N.W.
Suite 300 South
Washington, DC 20036-3437
(202) 457-1646 (Tel.)
~(202) 457-1617 (FAX)
Dated:May
22, 2000
Attorney for
Greeting Card Association
1
Exh. GCA-1
Curriculum
Vitae
Ken C. Erickson, Ph.D.
Center for Ethnographic Research
University of Missouri, Kansas City
5100 Rockhill Road, Kansas City, MO 64110
http://umkc.edu/cer
[email protected]
816/2135-l 597 [voice]
Education and Training
Ph.D. Cultural Anthropology,
M.A. Cultural Anthropology,
University of Kansas, 1995.
University of Wyoming,
Certificate, Public Broadcasting
Pennsylvania. 1984.
B.A. Anthropology,
Management.
cum laude , Washington
1985.
The Wharton School, University of
State University,
Professional
and Academic Experience
Director, Center for Ethnographic Research,
UMKC, 1998-present.
1976.
College of Arts and Sciences,
Research Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, Anthropology,
Administration of Justice, UMKC. 1996 - Present.
Senior Research Associate, Chapter l/Title I and Bilingual Education,
and Training Associates, Overland Park, KS. 1995.
and
Research
Program Coordinator (Federal Equity Programs for Race, Gender, and National
Origin Programs), Kansas Department of Education. 1994 - 1995.
Education Program Consultant (Kansas and Federal Bilingual Education and
English as a Second Language Programs), Kansas Department of Education.
1990 to 1994.
Senior Research Associate,
MD. 1992 - present.
LTG Associates,
Turlock, CA and Tacoma Park,
Social Services Administrator (Refugee Programs Administration),
Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services. 1983 - 1990.
Station Manager,
KANZ-FM
Kansas
Public Radio. Garden City, Kansas. 1982-1983.
Program Director, Account Executive, News Director, Broadcaster.
BostonfWaltham MA; KBUF, Garden City, KS. 1980 - 1983.
WDLW
Graduate Research Fellow (Study of Puerto Rican neighborhoods and family
stress and support). Department of Anthropology. Brandeis University. 19801981.
1
Recent Publications
and Reports
(Publications indicated by p; contract and grant reports by r.)
r2000 Tools and Style. Presentation
Corporation, March.
to Consumer
1999 Postal Modernism and Anthropological
Anthropology Newsletter.
Design Group, Motorola
Relevance
at Hallmark Cards, Inc.
1999 (with Eduardo Davel, HEC Montreal and Alain Robichaud, U. Montreal)
‘Sons’ of the Fathers: Liberty from the Primal Scene in Two Fathered
Corporations. Standing Conference on Organizational Symbolism’s Annual
Program, Edinburgh, Scotland. July.
1998 (with Jane Gibson, KU, and Lori Givan, Hallmark Cards, Inc.) Creative
Family Satisfaction Panel. Hallmark Cards, Incorporated.
1998 It’s all in the Cards: Knowledge Management at
Incorporated. Invited paper for the session: Reframing
Anthropological
Perspectives on Knowing and Acting,
Bloomberg & Julian Orr for the Annual Meeting of the
Association, Philadelphia, PA.
Cinderella Greetings,
Knowledge Management:
organized by Jeanette
American Anthropological
~I998 (with Patti Sunderland) Where Our Weird Halloween
From Washington Post. Horizon’s Section. October 11.
Traditions
Come
r1998 Collaborative Evaluation Training Curriculum and Power Point (tm) Deck.
Public Housing Resident’s Council of Kansas City. Kansas City, MO.
r1998 (with Stan Moore) Exploratory Ethnographic Assessment of HIV Risk
Among Immigrant Men in Southwest Kansas. Kansas Department of Health and
Environment, Division of Infectious Diseases. Topeka, Kansas.
(http:l/umkc.edu/cer/projects).
1998. Talking About Meat: How Immigrant Meatpackers and their Supervisors
Communicate. Invited presentation in the panel discussion on Changing
Ecologies of Technical Work Practice and the Ethnographic Stance, organized
by Phil Henning, International Congress of Anthropological and Ethnological
Sciences, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA.
1998. The Global in the Local: Doing Team Ethnography in the Meatpacking
Industry on the U.S. High Plains. Invited paper presented in the session on
interdisciplinarity sponsored by the University of Missouri-Kansas City Social
Science Consortium of the Interdisciplinary PhD Program, Society for
Socioeconomics,
Vienna, Austria.
r1998 (with Elizabeth Berkshire) Uinta County Communities Ethnographic
Assessment. Uinta County Affiliate of the Wyoming Foundation, Evanston,
Wyoming.
1998. I Just Put My Boyfriend in the Trunk: Doing Gender in the Packinghouse
Town. Presented at the session entitled Garden City, Kansas: A Decade of
Research on Changing Ethnic Relations during the Annual Meeting of the
Central States Anthropological Society, Kansas City, MO.
2
r1997. Card Stories: Mother’s Day In-Store Ethnography Report. Prepared for
Seasons Cards Division and Hallmark Cards, Incorporated Business Research
Division, Kansas City, Missouri.
~I997 (with Don Stull) Doing Team Ethnography:
Hills, CA: Sage.
Warnings and Advice. Beverly
r1997 In-Store Innovation and Las Vegas Site Visit Report. Prepared for
Hallmark Cards, Incorporated Business Research Division.
r1997 (With D. Perez and M. Skidmore) Anti-Gang
for the Kansas City, Missouri Police Department.
Evaluation
Report. Prepared
~I996 Muscle and Meat: Rewriting a Story of Progress. In The Story of
Progress. G sta Arvastson, Ed. Studia Upsalensis No. 17. Uppsala, Sweden:
Acta Universitatis Upasliensis
p1996 (with Don. Stull) Management
42(4):44-50.
and Multiculturalism.
1995 Skillful Butchers in a Deskilled Packinghouse:
Boxed-Beef Factory. PhD Dissertation, Department
of Kansas, Lawrence.
Meat&Poultry
An Ethnographic
of Anthropology,
Study of a
University
r1995 Literature Review: Bilmultilingual Service Delivery in Community and
Migrant Health Clinics. Paper prepared for the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services and LTG Associates. 1995.
1995. Culture Against Knowledge: Power at the Center Applied at the Margins.
Paper presented at the annual meetings of the Society for Applied Anthropology,
Baltimore, MD.
~I994 Guys in White Hats: Short-Term Participant Observation Among Workers
and Managers. In Newcomers in the Workplace: Immigration and the
Restructuring of the U.S. Economy. L. Lamphere, Ed., Pp. 78-98. Philadelphia:
Temple University Press.
~I994 The Anthropologist as Radio Producer.
Ed., Pp. 145-160. New York: Avondale.
In Media Anthropology.
S. Allen,
r1994. (with Don Stull) Walking the Talk: Language and Cultural Issues at
Branding Iron Beef [pseud.], Incorporated. Manuscript.
1994. How Tobacco Won the West (and Why Tobacco Control Isn’t Winning it
Back): Anthropological
Encounters with the Marlborough Man. Prepared for LTG
Associates, Inc. funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s SmokeLess
Evaluation. LTG Associates, Turlock, California.
~I993 (with D. Stull and M. Broadway) The Price of a Good Steak. In Structuring
Diversity: Ethnographic Perspectives on the New Immigration. Louise Lamphere,
Ed., Pp. 35-64. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
3
~I993 Assessing Mental Health Needs in a Packinghouse
High Plains Society for Applied Anthropology. April.
Town. Journal of the
rl990 (with Stull, Donald D., J. Benson, M. Broadway, M. Grey and A. Campa)
Changing Relations: Newcomers and Established Residents in Garden City, KS.
Final report to the Ford Foundation. Lawrence, KS: Institute for Public Policy and
Business Research. Report No. 172.
PI990 New Immigrants and the Social Service Agency: Changing
SRS. Urban Anthropology 19(4):387-407.
Relations at
~I988 Vietnamese Household Organization in Garden City, Kansas: Southeast
Asians in a Packing House Town. Plains Anthropologist 33(119):27-36.
Recent Presentations
1998 (forthcoming: January) Ethnographic Perspectives on Organizations and
their Trading Partners. Invited presentation for Solectron Corporation , Milpitas,
California.
1998 (forthcoming: December) Ethnography and Market Research. Invited
,jitiForum,Au Presentation: Hallmark Cards, Incorporated, Kansas City, Missouri.
1998 It’s All In the Cards:~Knowledge Management among Suits and Creatives
at Cinderella Greetings, Incorporated. Invited paper presented in the session on
Knowledge Management, Julian Orr, Organizer, Annual Meeting of the American
Anthropology Association, Philadelphia (December).
1998 (With Joe Stornello, PhD.) Ethnography and New Product Development.
Invited Presentation for Con Agra Frozen Foods, Inc. Omaha, Nebraska,
October.
1998 (with Lori Givan et al. ) Five Family Satisfaction Panel Study Results and
Video. Prepared for Creative Advisory Board and Hallmark Cards, Incorporated
Business Research Division.
1997 Making Meat Among Mexicans, Southeast Asians, and Anglos: Industrial
Slaughter On the High Plains. Invited paper presented to the 1997 Fellows of the
Shelby Cullom Davis Center for Historical Studies, Princeton University,
Princeton, NJ.
1997 Feeling Family: Mother’s Day Cards and Their Stories. Presentation
Hallmark Business Research, Hallmark, Incorporated, Kansas City, MO.
for
1997 Mother’s Day Messaging. With Lori Givan and Kemp Strickler, Hallmark
Business Research. Presentation to Hallmark creative executives.
1997 Crossing Ritual Borders: Cultural Change in Celebrations
Presentation for Hallmark continuing education program.
1997 That Mom/Mother
Group.
Thing: Invited presentation;
4
and Gift Giving.
Hallmark Creative Advisory
1996 (with Don. Stull) Management and Multiculturalism. Invited presentation
the Annual Meeting of the Western States Meat Association, San Francisco,
California.
1995. Southeast Asians in Southwest Kansas: Ethnic Identity Formation.
lecture, American Studies graduate course, University of Kansas.
at
Invited
1995. SmokeLess States Ethnographic Evaluation: Illinois and Kansas. Report
prepared for the LTG Associates and George Washington University for
submission to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
1994 Lao Classroom Discourse: Audio from Kansas, Video from Thailand. Paper
presented at the Illinois Statewide Conference for Teachers of Linguistically and
Culturally Diverse Students, Chicago, IL.
1994 Language, Culture, and Disability. Keynote address. Midwest Association
for Behavior Disorders. Kansas City, MO.
1993 What Social Workers Don’t Know can be Fatal: Appropriate Cross-Cultural
Human Services Delivery to New Immigrants in Kansas. Invited Workshop.
Governor’s Conference on Human Services, Topeka, KS.
1992 Jobs for Anthropologists.
Invited lecture for undergraduate
Department of Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, NC.
1992 Language and Cultural Diversity. Invited presentation
principals at Topeka USD 500. Topeka, KS.
students.
for managers
1992 Native Language and Literacy: What is Reading? Southwest
Adult Educator’s Conference, Dodge City, KS.
and
Regional
Recent Grants and Consulting
Sprint PCS Ethnographic Capacity Building.
Crawford County Pritchett Trust Needs Assessment,
Hallmark Business Research Technical Assistance.
HIV/AIDS Demonstration Project Evaluation. Centers for Disease Control,
Kansas Department of Health and Environment, United Methodist Mexican
American Ministries. 1998-1999.
HIV/AIDS Ethnographic Assessment among Latin0 Men in SW Kansas. Kansas
Department of Health and Environment.
Kansas City, Missouri Career Ladder Program. Office of Bilingual Education and
Minority Langauge Affairs. (Not funded).
Kansas City, KS COPS Grant Evaluation.
Uinta County Futures Assessment.
Wyoming Foundation. 1997.
(With Prof. Alarid).
Uinta County, Uinta County Affiliate of the
5
Greeting Card Association,
1997.
Hallmark Business
Research on Cultural Salience of Greeting Cards,
Research.
Hallmark Business Research.
Mass Channel Research.
Store Redesign Research.
y;nh;,ncing the Capacity of SAVE, Inc. [AIDS/HIV
Public Housing Residents
1997.
1997.
housing]. Spring and Summer,
Council and HUD. 1996-1998.
1996 Single Women’s Strengths: Life Histories of Lincoln Garden’s Residents.
UMKC Faculty Research Grant. (With Professor Kristin Esterberg; Fall, 1996.
Anti-Gang Project Evaluation.
Fall 1996 and Winter, 1996.
University Courses
Urban Anthropology,
Graduate
Taught
Applied Anthropology,
Readings and Research
Sociological
and Anthropological
Sociological
Research
Qualitative
(With Professors
Research
Talk Like an American:
education course.
UMKC.
in Sociology and Anthropology,
UMKC.
Research Methods, UMKC,
Methods: graduate course, UMKC.
Methods: graduate course, UMKC.
Sociolinguistics
Cultural Issues in the (In)Equality
Introduction
Max Skidmore and Doug Perez).
to Linguistics:
and American Speech: UMKC continuing
of Schooling:
UMKC continuing
Fort Hays State University continuing
education.
education
Language and Related Proficiencies
Spanish; fluent speaking, reading, and writing.
Vietnamese; good speaking, some reading and writing.
Swedish; fair speaking, reading, and writing.
French; some speaking; fluent reading, some writing.
Portuguese: fair reading.
Lao and Thai; some speaking.
Wind River Shoshone, Tetela (Bantuan): some linguistic ethnography.
SPSS, spreadsheets, NUD*IST, ANTHROPAC, ETHNOGRAPH, DBASE, etc.
Service
Nominations Committee, American Anthropological Association, 2000
University of Pennsylvania, College of Education. Edmund T. Hamman, PhD
(committee)
UMKC. 7 PhD committees, 3 MA committess (to 12/99)
Member, Social Sciences Institutional Review Board, UMKC.
Treasurer, National Association for the Practice of Anthropology. 1996-1998.
6
National Association for the Practice of
Committee. Governing Council Member
Practice of Anthropology, 1991-1994.
National Association for the Practice of
Chairperson. 1993, 1994.
National Association for the Practice of
Chairperson. 1991, 1992.
Anthropology. Video Production
at Large, National Association for the
Anthropology.
Annual Meeting Workshop
Anthropology.
Student Award Committee
Professional
Memberships
Fellow, American Anthropological Association; Treasurer, National Association
for the Practice of Anthropology, unit of the American Anthropological
Association; Member, International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological
Sciences; Member, Society for Linguistic Anthropology; Member, Council on
Anthropology and Education; Member, Society for Applied Anthropology;
Member, Society for Socioeconomics.
7