NSF Cancels Anthropology Field Grants

The National Science Foundation has refused to grant funds to Harvard for summer field work by anthropology concentrators, after five years of supporting the project.

It is probably too late to find an alternative method of funding for this summer, David Maybury-Lewis, associate professor of Anthropology and head tutor, said yesterday, so the program will simply be suspended. But the department does plan to apply for the NSF funds again next year, Maybury-Lewis added.

No reason was given for the NSF decision, Douglas L. Oliver, professor of Anthropology and chairman of the department said yesterday, but "there has been a good deal of research cutback due to the Vietnam war." Oliver also indicated that the NSF in recent years has begun to distribute funds to a larger number of colleges.

Thesis Research

Harvard's summer program, initiated in 1962 with an NSF grant, provides some ten juniors each year with an opportunity to do field research somewhere in the world. The student lives in a village, and researches some aspect of the native life, which generally becomes the theme of his undergraduate thesis.

Students in the program last year received a ten-week stipend of $600 plus an allowance for travel expenses -- approximately $600 more. Last year's program for ten students cost NSF about $12,000.

NSF's move came as no surprise to the Anthropology Department. Early in the fall, the Foundation told Oliver he could apply again if he wished, but there was no assurance that the money would be available.

In recent years, many more students have applied for the summer project than the department has been able to accommodate.

Last summer, students in the program travelled to Mexico, the Caribbean, Africa and Yugoslavia.