MEMORIES - David Price

 

David Price - 1979

Life History

Born in Seattle in 1960. Grew up in McMinnville, Oregon. Attended Evergreen from 1979-1983. Hiked the Oregon and Washington sections of the Pacific Crest Trail. Studied Near Eastern archaeology and the history of anthropology at the University of Chicago, received MA in 1984. In 1986 married Midge Miller (TESC '84), and attended the University of Florida studying anthropology and Arabic. In 1989 and 1990 conducted fieldwork for the National Science Foundation on ancient and contemporary irrigation systems in Egypt. Moved back to Olympia. Received Ph.D. in anthropology in 1993 from the University of Florida. Had two kids, Milo (born '92) and Nora (born '94). Am currently the Chair of the Department of Cultural Anthropology & Sociology at St. Martin's College, Lacey, Washington. Am currently using the Freedom of Information Act and archival sources to write a book on the impact of the Cold War on the development of American anthropology.

Experiences at Evergreen

I entered Evergreen an avid reader who did everything possible to avoid writing. I had this slick idea that I would never have to learn how to write because I would become either a professional filmmaker or musician and would not need to deal with what I considered to be the base mechanics of writing. I wound up in a Basic Program where David Hitchens made reading, writing and thinking seem to be interesting and worthwhile pursuits. Through a process that focused initially on quantity over quality (e.g. taking courses that forced me to write a lot), I began to learn how to write. Mark Papworth and Malcolm Stilson showed me how to conduct primary research in field, library and archival settings. This taught me how to find things to write about, while at the same time Papworth taught me the importance of theory and interpretation in research. During the bombardment of Beirut in the summer of 1982 I went with an Evergreen program to an archaeological excavation in Acre, Israel; wound up quitting the dig and taking off to bus, train, hitchhike and walk through Egypt, Turkey, Syria and Jordan; and have been studying the Middle East ever since.