Professor and Chair of Anthropology
Ph.D., Harvard University, 1967

Research Interests

Research interests include social/cultural anthropology, religion, folklore, ethnohistory, American cultural pluralism, American research universities, Native North America, West Africa, contemporary U.S.

Recent Publications

“American Academic Freedom and Tenure.” Brown Faculty Bulletin, Volume VI (2): 3-7. 2006.

Susanville Maidu Creation. With Steve Camacho, Ron Morales, and Viola Williams. Lassen Yah-Monee Maidu Bear Dance Foundation: Susanville, California . 2005.

“Henry M. Wriston on Liberal Education and the University College .” Brown Faculty Bulletin, Volume V (2): 3-6. 2005.

“From Manifest Destiny to the Melting Pot: The Life and Times of Charlotte Mitchell, Wampanoag.” In William L. Merrill and Ives Goddard, eds. Anthropology, History, and American Indians: Essays in Honor of William Curtis Sturtevant. Smithsonian Contributions to Anthropology, Number 44, pp. 131-138. 2002.

“Culture Contact in Protohistoric California : Social Contexts of Native and European Encounters.” With Kent Lightfoot, Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology 20 (2):138-170. 1998.

“Indian Peoples of California .” In Contested Eden : California Before the Gold Rush. Ramon Guitierrez and Richard Orsi, eds. California Historical Society and University of California Press, pp. 48-77. 1998.

"Honey Lake Maidu Ethnogeography of Lassen County , California .” With Ron Morales, Viola Williams, and Steve Camacho. Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology 19(1):2-31. 1997.

Courses Taught
For current and scheduled courses taught by Professor W. S. Simmons, click here.