Who was Alan Dundes? Everything You Need to Know

Quick Facts

Died At Age: 70

Family:

Spouse/Ex-: Carolyn

Anthropologists American Men

Died on: March 30, 2005

City: New York City

U.S. State: New Yorkers

More Facts

education: Yale University

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Childhood & Early Life

Born in New York City, Alan Dundes was the son of a lawyer and a musician. He completed his bachelor and master degree in English literature from Yale University.

After completing his education, he received training to become a naval communications officer. After completing two years of service maintaining artillery guns on a ship in the Mediterranean, he attended Indiana University and received a Ph.D. in folklore in 1962.

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Career

Starting his career as a teacher at the University of Kansas, he joined the University of California, Berkeley, in 1963. Here he taught folklore as a part of anthropology. He remained in the same role for 42 years.

In the folklore course which he taught, students were introduced to varied forms of folklore such as legends, myths, folk speech, folk belief and so on. He also gave lectures on American folklore and Psychoanalytic approach to folklore and its history on an international perspective.

He earned popularity at the university for his wide knowledge of cultures. For his expertise in teaching and for his wit and charm, he became a favorite among his students and the media as well.

He also supported New Student Orientation Program at Berkeley University and often gave opening address during the summer orientation programs where students’ opinion about the type of instruction was sought.

Due to his initiative, Berkeley Universities’ Anthropology department set up a master’s degree in folklore program. As part of this program, an archive, which consists of more than 500,000 folklore items, was arranged.

As a scholar of folklore, his writings, lectures or works often created controversies. Some of these works included the examination of New Testament and the Qur’an.

One of his works, Into the Endzone for a Touchdown, which explores the homoerotic implications explicit in the rituals and terminologies surrounding American football, even earned him death threats.

In 1980, he addressed the American Folklore Society annual meeting as president; his presentation was later published by the name, Life is Like a Chicken Coop Ladder.

In the later phase of his life, he was awarded a cheque of $1,000,000 which enabled him to endow the university with a distinguished professorship in Folkloristics. This ensured that his retirement wouldn’t abandon folklore in the department.

Major Works

He published his book Never Try to Teach a Pig to Sing in 1991. In this book, he discussed about modern folklore which includes T-shirt slogans, ethnic sexual remarks and various types of exchanges shared through office photocopy machines.

Awards & Achievements

In 1993, he received the Pitre Prize for his lifetime achievement in folklore. For his excellent teaching ability he received the UC Berkeley Distinguished Teaching Award the next year.

Personal Life & Legacy

Alan Dundes married Carolyn with whom he had three children namely David, Lauren and Alison. His son David is an information technology manager, Lauren works as a professor of Sociology and Alison is a professor of political science and anthropology.

In 2001, he became the first folklorist to be elected as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Prior to his death, he was interviewed by Brian Flemming, the maker of the documentary, The God Who Wasn't There.

While delivering a lecture at the University of California, Berkeley, he collapsed suddenly on account of a heart attack. He passed away at the age of 70.

Trivia

He faced criticism for his application of psychoanalysis in his works. Through one of his works, he offered a psychosexual reading of the Apollo moon landing. He established brother-sister relationship between the Sun and the Moon through this analysis.

He was always eager to know his students individually. For that reason, students lined up to speak with him individually during office hours at the University of Berkeley.

According to his wife, he was a workaholic. He loved to watch football and baseball. He was a voracious reader. Therefore, every nook and corner of his Berkeley home was full with books.

Alan Dundes Biography