Joel M. Halpern Papers, 1840-2007
Collection context
- Creator:
- Halpern, Joel M. (Joel Martin), 1929-2019
- Extent:
- 24 linear feet 57 manuscript boxes
- Language:
- English .
- Scope and content:
-
Papers of Joel M. Halpern, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Anthropology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst. The collection contains bio-bibliographic data, census data and other information pertaining to American expeditions to former Yugoslavia.
- Biographical / historical:
-
Joel Halpern (1929-2019), cultural anthropologist, Professor Emeritus at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst.
Halpern was an adventurer and a keen observer who from an early age set his own path. As a youth, he rejected his father's advice that he study chemistry, and instead earned a BA in history from the University of Michigan and a PhD in anthropology from Columbia University.
His PhD dissertation on the Serbian village of Orašac received the Clarke F. Ansley Award from Columbia University Press and was published in 1956 as A Serbian Village. Throughout his long career, he conducted ethnographic research in regions ranging from Lapland to Laos, and is best known for his studies of the effects of modernization in the Balkans, particularly the work he and his former wife Barbara performed in Orašac, which spanned six decades.
He also engaged in fieldwork in Bulgaria, Canada, Greece, India, Israel, the former Soviet Union, Sweden, Thailand, the United States, and Vietnam. He was on the faculty at the University of California, Los Angeles; Brandeis University; and the Russian Research Center at Harvard before arriving at UMass–Amherst in 1967, where he taught until his retirement in 1993.
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
Material is unprocessed. Please contact rbml@columbia.edu for more information.
This collection is located off-site. You will need to request this material at least three business days in advance to use the collection in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room.
This collection has no restrictions.
- Terms of access:
-
Reproductions may be made for research purposes. The RBML maintains ownership of the physical material only. Copyright remains with the creator and his/her heirs. The responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the patron.
- Preferred citation:
-
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Joel M. Halpern Papers; Box and Folder; Bakhmeteff Archive, Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.
- Location of this collection:
- Before you visit:
- Researchers interested in viewing materials in the RBML reading room must must book an appointment at least 7 days in advance. To make the most of your visit, be sure to request your desired materials before booking your appointment, as researchers are limited to 5 items per day.
- Contact:
- rbml@library.columbia.edu