Dates

• Existence: 1942-

Biographical Statement

Dr. Dean E. Arnold was born on August 2, 1942 in Sioux Falls, SD and graduated from Wheaton College with a B.A. in Anthropology in 1964 and afterwards went to the University of Illinois, Urbana where he earned both his M.A. (1967) and his Ph.D. (1970). His dissertation was entitled, "The Emics of Pottery Design From Quinua, Peru". After three years of teaching at Pennsylvania State University, Dr. Arnold went to Universidad Nacional San Antonio Abad in Cuzco, Peru as a Fulbright lecturer. After finishing his work in Peru, Dr. Arnold came to Wheaton College in 1973. During his thirty-plus years at Wheaton, Arnold has provided the department with his leadership as chair.

Arnold was a Fulbright scholar a second time in Mexico in 1984, returning to Yucatan Mexico to continue his study of potters that he began in 1965. He has completed field work in the U.S. Southwest, Mexico, Peru, and Bolivia and has ongoing research interests in a long term study of the relationship of social change and technological change among potters in Ticul, Yucatan and Mexico, having studied them extensively over a period of 32 years.

Dr. Arnold is an internationally known expert in the organization and technology of ceramic production having published numerous books and articles covering topics ranging from the ecology of production to the standardization of ceramic pastes and the social organization of potters. In 1996, he was awarded the Society for American Archaeology's Award for Excellence in Ceramic Studies. Dr. Arnold teaches such classes as Biculturalism, Latin American Peoples, Pre-Columbian Civilizations and Senior Seminar. He is also a Research Associate at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago.

During his graduate schooling, Arnold married June Ann Trottier on June 22, 1968 and together they raised two daughters.

Citation:

Author: Wheaton College Archives & Special Collections staff

Found in 25 Collections and/or Records: