Last summer, exactly 30 years after I graduated from ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝, my favorite professor retired, which led me to think about my early experiences with interdisciplinary thinking and international awareness — and how these tools prepared me for work and life.

To prepare for Steve Kemper’s retirement party, I dug through a box of college notebooks and papers that I had moved unopened from one apartment and city to the next for the past three decades.

Seen circa 1981, Steven Kemper joined the ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ faculty in 1973 and retired in 2019 as professor emeritus of anthropology. (Muskie Archives and Special Collections Library)

I found a pastel-pink exam book, with my name in pencil on the cover. Inside, I saw my handwriting, no different from today’s.

As I began to read, I didn’t remember writing or knowing any of what was on these pages. My 19-year-old self possessed deep specific knowledge that is long gone from my memory, 30 years on. But I did recognize that this exam was for an anthropology course Steve taught my sophomore year, on culture and politics in South Asia.

Steve’s name doesn’t show up anywhere, but his handwriting is unmistakable. A cursive like no other: loopy, ornate, enthusiastic, and generous, with tails on letters like x, p, and y flowing down with a flourish. Steve had written comments in the margins, including a correction when I wrote “bride price” instead of “dowry.”

I learned from my exam that back when I was only 19, I knew a lot about what might be considered pretty esoteric things. Before this class, I knew nothing about South Asia. I enrolled by accident, thinking “South Asia” referred to what I now know is Southeast Asia. My father is a Vietnam War vet, and I wanted to learn more about Vietnam.

Instead, on the first day of class, Steve had pulled down a map from a roller above the chalkboard and drew me quickly into learning about India and its neighboring countries — including Sri Lanka, where I eventually spent many years and learned two of the languages spoken there.

Back then, I was focused on the details of the societies Steve instructed us about. I am sure I didn’t appreciate what was at stake, why this kind of learning matters so much.

Memories can be triggered by a whiff of an odor, a snippet of a song, or a taste of food: events, experiences, and emotions long ago tucked away spring up at a resonant prompt. Holding the exam book in my hand, I suddenly remembered working in the college library; studying for hours for Steve’s tests; re-reading books, articles, and lecture notes; taking new notes and writing practice responses to questions he had provided in advance.

When I remembered the library study sessions, I had an epiphany. There was something about the esoteric nature of the exam topics, and my absence of memory of the details of the materials but clear memory of studying for the test, that led me to really understand — just in time for my 30th Reunion — what I learned in college.

Professor of Anthropology Steven Kemper poses in his office in Pettengill Hall on Sept. 27, 2017. (Samuel Mironko ’21 for ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

Back then, I was focused on the details of the societies Steve instructed us about. I am sure I didn’t appreciate what was at stake, why this kind of learning matters so much.

I now see that Steve helped me to have a genuine interest in people unlike me, and to understand the necessity and value of the hard work of reading, researching, interviewing, seeing, feeling, talking, listening: all in the interest of making sense of how we live in the world, what matters most for people, and why.

From Steve, I learned how to identify what I know and what I don’t know.

In learning about the efforts toward justice by Mahatma Gandhi or by unionized workers in Calcutta, or in learning about menstruation practices among Tamils in Sri Lanka, I developed a lifelong attention to the values, customs, aspirations, and struggles of people near to and far from my daily life. Steve taught me that this kind of learning and understanding is hard but essential work.

Nowadays, I use that conviction to learn and understand, and to make sense of everyday conversations, first-hand experiences, and news items — say, about the Indian government’s revocation of special status for Indian-controlled Kashmir, debates about the separation of migrant families at the U.S.–Mexican border, or the causes and impacts of last spring’s Easter Sunday bombings in my beloved Sri Lanka. From Steve, I learned how to identify what I know and what I don’t know. I learned why it matters that I spend time to learn, humbly and with deep curiosity and respect.

Today I’m an anthropology professor, like Steve. I teach my students how to understand and respect people unlike themselves, and I teach them how this is the road to creating experiences of equity and justice.

Steve has retired from 45 years of transformative education. And yet, his work is not done. During this moment in American life where misunderstanding across communities reigns, educators of my generation and the next must step up and do more of this work.

Caitrin Lynch ’89

About Caitrin Lynch ’89

Caitrin Lynch is a cultural anthropologist at Olin College of Engineering.

In 2018, she delivered a TEDx talk about how in their work to create product and system designs that solve problems and enhance people’s lives.

ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College has named three Dana Professors as two members of the anthropology faculty and one member of the religion faculty.

Established in 1966 with a matching grant from the Charles A. Dana Foundation of New York City, Dana Professorships recognize exceptional teacher-scholars at ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝. The Dana Professors named during summer 2004 are Loring Danforth and Steven Kemper, professors of anthropology, and John Strong, professor of religion.

The additions bring to seven the number of Dana Professors at ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝.

Danforth, of Lewiston, came to ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ in 1978. He earned his doctorate and master’s degree at Princeton University and his bachelor’s degree at Amherst College.

Danforth has conducted research on the Greek Civil War and on ethnic Macedonian populations. He is the author of The Macedonian Conflict: Ethnic Nationalism in a Transnational World (Princeton University Press, 1995) and Firewalking and Religious Healing: The Anastenaria of Greece and the American Firewalking Movement (Princeton University Press, 1989), both selected for the CHOICE list of outstanding academic books.

Kemper, also of Lewiston, started at ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ in 1973. He earned his doctorate and master’s degree at the University of Chicago and his bachelor’s at Dartmouth College.

Kemper has made a dozen research trips to Sri Lanka and elsewhere in Asia. He is the author of The Presence of the Past (Cornell University Press, 1991), an exploration of the contradictions involved in textualizing the history of Sri Lanka, and of Buying and Believing: Sri Lankan Advertising and Consumers in a Transnational World (University of Chicago Press, 2001).

Strong, of Auburn, started at ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ in 1978 and chairs the religion department. He received his doctorate at the University of Chicago, his master’s degree at the Hartford Seminary Foundation and his bachelor’s at Oberlin College.

Strong’s several books include The Legend and Cult of Upagupta: Sanskrit Buddhism in North India and Southeast Asia (Princeton University Press, 1991), The Buddha: A Short Biography (Oneworld Publications, 2001) and the forthcoming Relics of the Buddha (Princeton University Press).

Since the early 1960s ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ has received a number of grants from the Dana Foundation. Through these awards, the Foundation has recognized and honored excellence among ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ students and faculty.

In 1966 the foundation awarded ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ a grant to establish an endowed professorship fund that would recognize faculty members for exemplary teaching, the value of their research and their service to ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝. Between three and seven Dana professors from across the disciplines hold the honor at any one time. The other Dana Professors are: Martin Andrucki, of the theater and rhetoric department; George Ruff, physics; Thomas Wenzel, chemistry; and Richard Williamson, French.

In 1965 ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ received support from the Foundation to establish the Dana Scholars Program, which recognizes 10 men and 10 women from each first-year class for academic excellence and promise, leadership potential and service.

The Dana Foundation awarded funds to ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ in 1963 to support the construction of Dana Chemistry Hall. It also supported the construction of Ladd Library in 1971 and renovations of Memorial Commons in 1966 and 1976. In 1984 the foundation provided funds to established the Dana Research Apprenticeship Program, which supports student research.

Taking part in the session will be Chris Beam, a lecturer in history, who teaches a course on the Vietnam war; Andrew Gentes, an instructor in Russian history, who will discuss the Soviet war in Afghanistan; Lillian Guerra, assistant professor of history, who is a Latin American specialist; and Steven Kemper, professor of anthropology, who is an authority on South Asian nationalism and tribal politics. Kemper has also traveled several times to Afghanistan.

Each commentator will offer historical perspectives on the attacks and the U.S. response. The panel will then invite the audience to participate in a general discussion.