This dissertation research proposal to study the effects of formal education on a nomadic pastoralist group in Iran received enthusiastic reviews. Reviewer Caton mentions that he knew the student, but he was not a faculty member at Washington University during the time the student was there (Caton taught at Wash U. for a few years prior to 1988, the student arrived after that date). There is no justification in the research plan for the domestic travel in the US or the video camera, and I can't recommend their funding. Otherwise the budget is reasonable given the field conditions. The student has no other support for this research. I recommend that the proposal be funded. TIME @ `MMMM d, yyyy` September 20, 1993 Beck 9313825 This project involves the dissertation research of a cultural anthropologist from Washington University, Missouri. Using archival study, interviews and participant observation the student will study the effects of state-controlled formal education on the cultural identity of a nomadic pastoral group in southern Iran. This part of the world has a long history of local-national state hostility and struggle over domination. The researcher, a native speaker of the language, will study how the identity of local school teachers influences the cultural content of the education experience of their students. The hypothesis to be tested is that the state hostility to local cultural identity has paradoxically served to strengthen this local `resistance` identity, and the project will study how this m ight have happened. This project is important in light of the many local wars and struggles of local ethnic groups against national states. Increased understanding of the parameters affecting local resistance and struggle, or local acceptance and cultural blending, will help us understand and perhaps prepare for other situations of conflict.
