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Dr. Carter - Anthropology

By: Jillian Bevacqua

Posted: 10/2/08

Dr. Benjamin Carter is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Anthropology here at the College. While he is only teaching on campus for a single semester, Dr. Carter is sharing his extensive knowledge of anthropology and archeology in multiple courses with strong enrollment. He is currently teaching two sections of "Intro to Cultural Anthropology" as well as "South American Archeology."

Dr. Carter grew up in a small coastal town in Maine and returned there to teach this past summer after spending eight years as a college professor at five different universities.

He attended graduate school at Washington University in Saint Louis, where he received his Ph.D in Anthropology with a focus on Archeology. He began his teaching career at Washington with his first full time job as a professor. From there, Dr. Carter taught at the University of Missouri in Saint Louis, and has moved on since then to teach at Muhlenberg's own Wescoe School, Lehigh University and, most recently during the 2008 spring semester, Drew University.

After his teaching at Drew, Dr. Carter returned to his home state, where he created and organized and Archeological Field School. The school offered a three week program over this past summer in which he instructed seven students on the fieldwork that archeology entails, allowing them to participate in their own archeological digs.

Additionally, Dr. Carter did research in Ecuador regarding the topic of technological change and its effects on society. He visited the country once a year for nine straight years, refraining from doing so again this past year in order to write his dissertation on the subject.

When asked about his favorite part of his studies in archeology, Dr. Carter said that his main focus is a small one; a creature in the shellfish family. The spondylus, a pretty, red, clam-like creature, was of great importance to Inca and Indian tribes of the past.

Dr. Carter acknowledged that the spondylus shell was known for being "more valuable than gold to the Incas" and was used in forms of exchange but, more importantly, was recognized as a ritual and social material. Dr. Carter appreciates the study of this object and its effect on society as it changed and developed over time.

While he is unsure of his teaching plans following the conclusion of this semester, the College is happy to welcome Dr. Carter as a meaningful addition to the Sociology and Anthropology department.

He will be a strong contributor to the department's goal of helping students to develop critical thinking skills while teaching them the history, knowledge, and methods that pertain to both branches of the department.