When I sat down in Dr. Katherine C. Donahue’s office I knew that her life must be full of stories. There was little space that wasn’t littered with books written on different global destinations or pictures from past and recent trips to Eastern France or Tanzania. The 66-year-old doctor of anthropology here at Plymouth State University proved that she had the energy of a 12-year-old. The consistency of her swiveling in her black synthetic leather chair told me that she was more than a run-of-the-mill classroom lecturer.
Clock: So what made you want to become an anthropologist?
Dr. Katherine Donahue: I was always interested in things that I later discovered were anthropology. I had an uncle who was an anthropologist, he taught at Amherst, but I really got into it when my husband was in law school at BU. I took a few courses at there, and since I worked there, I got free tuition. I took courses in anthropology, including African archaeology, and thought this is really what I want to do. So I applied to different schools and I was accepted at BU, and then went on to graduate school once my husband graduated from law school.
C: What was the first place you traveled to after becoming an anthropologist?
KD: I ended up going to Northern New England for my dissertation. I was going to go to Portugal to do research there, but there was a revolution at the time. Eastern France is where I have done most of my research. I did research on the transition into industrial production, mainly on the Peugeot car and the people who work there.
C: What did you find out about that?
KD: Well a fair number of west and north Africans have been invited to come and work there and since have stayed on in France, and now France is trying to figure out how to manage. The riots this past year, which spread throughout France and Germany, were partly because of these migrants, who really aren’t immigrated into the French society, and a lot of them have no jobs. So in some places there is up to 40% unemployment. That is what I have been doing research on.
C: What about Tanzania, you said you have gone down there a few times in the past years. What do you do there?
KD: Well some of it is to understand an area where elephants are drawn to a watering hole. It is good for tourism, but bad for the surrounding environment.
C: Where is your favorite place to travel?
KD: Huh, that’s tough. Well, I like Africa a lot; I just got back from Taos, New Mexico. France and Italy I like, too.
C: So you have traveled all over?
KD: Well I haven’t been to Asia, but I would like to go someday. It’s like I got a little hot foot, itchy!
C: So what is your favorite method of travel then? You know, like planes, trains, or automobiles?
KD: Wow, um, well let’s see I could say the safari drive four=wheel kinda thing, um… hiking. We climbed Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.
C: Really? Was it a difficult hike?
KD: Yeah, with a bunch of the students in 2004. It is actually not that difficult, the only thing is the altitude. You know when you end up at 19,340 feet and the last 3,000 feet is the most difficult thing. You can really feel it when your body is deprived of oxygen.
C: Wow. So is the everyday life of being an anthropologist difficult?
KD: Well, I think juggling everything is difficult. This is because ideally you put effort into teaching and a lot of committees, there are a lot of committees on this campus. A lot. There is also the publishing part – the research and publishing is really time consuming. I also live 60 miles away.
C: Good Lord! That must be a fun drive in the morning. I was just wondering, on a different subject, where did you get your bracelet? There is so much beadwork; it’s beautiful.
KD: I got it in Tanzania. Also I have this belt. Isn’t it way cool? A woman who is Tanzanian, Maasi, she is one wife of seven, but she is the head wife, made it, actually.
C: When you were in Tanzania, what was it like seeing your first elephant?KD: It was incredibly exciting. We had this armed guard for the requirement. I mean he wasn’t much good because he never saw the elephants. He was from another part of Tanzania, he just happened to get a job there.
C: So he just carried around a gun all day?
KD: Yeah pretty much. He really didn’t know what he was doing, he was supposed to be so knowledgeable about the land around us, but actually he didn’t know anything about it really.
C: So what would you say to those who want to become anthropologists, is there really a need for them now?
KD: The fields that are opening up are more the resource management type of fields. Environmental anthropology is growing, because a lot of non-governmental organizations are trying to figure out how to work with the population at hand to try and do conservation.
C: Is there any task you want to accomplish as an anthropologist?
KD: Publish more. I am going to take a sabbatical next year to work on a couple of projects. One is the Moussaoui case and another is the French immigration. The other one is Tanzanite – it’s really huge. People on cruise ships buy this stuff like it is going out of style. Have you ever heard of it?
C: No, is it pretty?
KD: It is a purple reddish stone. It isn’t too expensive, but it is very rare, which doesn’t really seem to go together. And the thing is it is only found in Tanzania, hence Tanzanite. But it is a fascinating thing, I heard about it from some students on the trip to Tanzania. So just leave it up to students to know about this stuff!
C: That is one way of learning I guess. So what kind of people have you come across, what culture really sticks out in your mind?
KD: Probably Tanzania, the Maasi, I would think. They are so different that I am still really trying to understand them. Maintaining a culture that is changing so much, many of them are westernized and it is just interesting to see how they still keep the culture.
C: So what are some of the differences in the culture?
KD: Well they have the opportunity to be able to go to college and get their bachelors, and some speak and dress in a westernized manner. I have seen some wearing, you know, Mickey Mouse watches and things like that.
C: Are there any ways of preventing this type of, extinction of a culture, if you will?
KD: Well there is a sub-field of anthropology, called applied anthropology. It works with non-governmental organization work; trying to mitigate change, so it’s not so devastating for people. That is a good field to get into if you really want to make a difference in this way.
C: Just to end on a different note, what is the food you like to eat most and what is the weirdest food you have had? I am guessing that in your travels you have had the chance to eat a lot of different foods.
KD: My favorite dish… well that is a hard one. What do I eat? I like chili; actually that is what I had during the Superbowl. And perhaps anything with chicken. The strangest food would have to be Rocky Mountain Oysters. Now don’t get grossed out, but it is sheep, goat, pig, or cow testicles.