The short history recounted here is based on Peter Brown’s memory, departmental documents, and interviews with Peggy Barlett, Bradd Shore, and Mel Konner when they were zoomed into ANT 385 in Spring 2022.
As scholars, we all know that historical narratives are socially constructed, and in this case most of the following is from the perspective of PJB. Others may differ in their opinions and interpretations of the facts.
The history becomes more and more complicated as the department size has grown from 3 faculty to 22 and from one undergraduate major to two majors and a PhD program.