The Scholars’ Paradise, indeed. While there are other paradises for scholars, the Center was/is truly so, enabling us fellows to pursue our research without the intensity of academic politics. It was in large part thanks to Director Gardner Lindze and Associate Director Robert (Bob) Scott, who created the atmosphere where the fellows became not only colleagues but also friends, several of whom I have remained in touch with.
It was, if one can imagine now, before the revolution by technology—no cell phones and no emails. And, as the video of our graduation skit shows, there was not even an individual telephone in our studio! If we missed a buzz from the main office or were too slow to get to our communal telephone, we missed the call altogether. This was fine for most of us, except for those who were expecting important calls. I remember that Bob Putnam was not too happy with this system, since he was waiting for a call to confirm his directorship at Harvard’s Kennedy School the following year.
The highlight was the Gardner Lindzey Celebration on April 29. It started “casually” with a volleyball tournament—the famous Bob Scott “ritual”—at 9:00 a.m. After lunch and several speeches by noted psychologists, the daytime session ended at 4:30 p.m. The evening session was to start two hours later, at 6:30 pm. I went back to my office to work. When I emerged at 6:30, I felt so stupid—everyone else had gone home and returned in elegant attire, some women/spouses in long skirts and men in sharp summer suits. So much for a dumb foreigner who thought that there was no dress code for Americans, especially Californians, even though I had already done enough ethnography of Americans to understand how they can say the same “Hi,” yet still express social hierarchy.
While I note with pleasure that some fellows have moved on to greener pastures after/because of the Center residence, I am quite saddened by the passing of those whose knowledge and friendship I cherished. Michael Anthony Eardley Dummett, a noted analytical philosopher, whose work on Gottlob Frege was highly acclaimed, was knighted in 1999. A marvelously warm person with whom I went to see a film when my son visited me. Christopher Lasch, a noted historian, with passionate dedication to social justice, was another scholar whose wisdom was a source of intellectual stimulation. And what a superb piano player he was. Harold Jacobson was another generous scholar whose acquaintance I renewed when I was a Toyota visiting scholar at the University of Michigan.
Peter Stansky, the noted modern British historian whose work on George Orwell, among others, is well known even outside the discipline of history, became a lifelong friend (I hope he agrees with me), whose wisdom I continue to seek over the telephone as I struggle with my own research. Nell Painter, who moved to Princeton shortly after her stay at the Center, discovered how naive I was and shared with me her ethnographic insights into the daily life at the Center as we went shopping for records together. Shirley Heath, a 1984 MacArthur Fellow, was a gracious host at her home, where scholars from abroad were visiting.
A most memorable experience was our outing to Yosemite National Park. Judith Schapiro, later to become the tenth president of Barnard; James Matisoff, the authority on Tibeto-Burman languages; his wife, Susan Matisoff, a scholar of Japanese literature, and I made an overnight trip to Yosemite by car, singing French chansons all the way, Judith taking the lead with her impeccable French. What fun it was.
Yes, the weather was gorgeous; even though too hot during the day in the summer, the evenings were guaranteed to be crisp and cool. From my room, I could see the gorgeous sunset almost every evening. Almost every day I stayed out late while satiating my gaze with the “sunset and evening start.”
Yes, I did work on the theme of the political economy and symbolism of rice in Japanese history and society, research that was published as a book, Rice as Self: Japanese Identities Through Time (Princeton University Press, 1993), and several articles.
I conclude this memoir with my deep appreciation for the Center for the Behavioral Sciences for offering me a splendid experience for intellectual and personal growth.
Emiko Ohnuki-Tierney
William F. Vilas Professor
University of Wisconsin, Madison
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