Letters of Support from Yale Students

The department is required by university policy to review faculty members in the penultimate year of their contract. David Graeber's contract with Yale expires at the end of June 2006 and consequently we are conducting this review now. The review takes into account academic work, teaching, and service to the department and university as a whole. If any of you wish to contribute to this evaluation by writing letters, please feel free to do so in the next week or so. Address them to Enrique Mayer, who is chair of the review committee.

November 12th, 2005

Dear Enrique Mayer,

I am writing in support of David Graeber. I was shocked and dismayed to learn that Professor Graeber’s appointment as a professor in the Anthropology Department at Yale University has not been renewed. I received my MFA from Yale in 2004 and during my first year as a student I took Professor Graeber’s Myth and Ritual class. Despite the class not being within my realm of study it was the best class I took during my time at Yale.

Professor Graeber is a brilliant educator. His lectures are exceptional and his classroom manner is warm and approachable. He has the ability to swiftly and understandably convey tremendously complicated information and concepts, without ever sacrificing any of the complexity of what he is describing. Previous to Professor Graeber’s class I had no particular interest in anthropology, but, like all great educators, Professor Graeber teaches more that just the specifics of his discipline. He teaches how to use anthropology to enrich ones understanding of the world. I can honestly say his class changed my life.

In the article in Yale Alumni Magazine that drew Professor Graeber’s failure to be reappointed to my attention, Deputy Provost Charles Long is quoted as saying that criteria for reappointment are, “quality of scholarship, effectiveness of teaching, and contributions to the academic community.” Yet, Professor Graeber is one of the most widely published and popular members of his department. I cannot imagine a more profound testimony to all three of these characteristics than my experience of Professor Graeber. I will attempt to briefly convey the lasting effect of that experience as it has manifested itself in my time since leaving Yale.

In the last year I have taught at both Brooklyn College and the Maryland Institute College of Art. As I write this letter I am in the process of putting together a syllabus for a class that will examine the practices of contemporary artists through reading several texts that deal with the role made objects play in culture. A part of the class will focus on Professor Graeber’s book Towards an Anthropological Theory of Value and another will look at Elaine Scarry’s The Body in Pain, a book that I read upon Professor Graeber’s recommendation. Not only is Professor Graeber’s book a central part of the class, but I am also sure that I would never have decided to teach this class if I had not taken Myth and Ritual. His class helped me to understand art within a larger cultural context of making and has led me to be interested in teaching a class that connects specific artists to thinkers in all disciplines in order to widen the discourse around these artist’s work. The lesson I learned from Professor Graeber’s class is that it is not only a teacher’s job to communicate information, but also to connect information with an active world. Without this insight the academic community is a rather insular one.

The lack of transparency on the part of the committee in explaining Professor Graeber’s failure to be reappointed, combined with my own experience with Professor Graeber and the experience of every other student I have known to work with him, leads me to be unable to explain his dismissal in any other way than as a result of his political activism. For the university to give this impression is devastating. It is a school’s responsibility to support diversity in all forms and that includes diversity in points of view. To think that a professor could be censured for their political beliefs is horrifying.

As a teacher, I have directed several of my undergraduate students to graduate programs at Yale, because I believe in Yale as a diverse and rigorous educational institution. However, the knowledge that the university could dismiss such an exceptional and gifted teacher shakes that belief to its core. I will be unable to recommend Yale in good conscience in the future if Professor Graeber is not reappointed. Please feel free to contact me about this matter.

Sincerely,

Colleen Asper

Prof. Enrique Mayer
Department of Anthropology
Yale University

Dear Prof. Mayer,

I write this letter of support as part of the evaluation of Prof. David Graeber’s contract in Yale’s Anthropology department. As a second-year PhD student having taken courses with David, read his publications, and having observed him at academic events, I have had many opportunities to engage intellectually with him.

I sat in on one of David’s courses in the spring of 2004, on “Direct Action”, and took for credit his “Classical Social Theory” course in autumn 2004. I found his lectures to be challenging, well-thought out, and entertaining. He is known among both graduate and undergraduate students for having extremely detailed lecture notes which he diligently makes available to students as study aids. In his Classical Social Theory course, he managed to cover an enormous amount of philosophical and historical material in an accessible way. I know that for me and others undertaking their qualifying exams in socio-cultural anthropology, the notes and essays from this course provided an indispensable aid for mastering the critical foundations of social science theory. Yale Anthropology’s theoretical courses are slim and there are few courses where such issues are taken up in detail. As such, David continues to provide a useful service to every socio-cultural cohort.

David participates in events and colloquia in a wide range of Yale venues, from the law school, sociology, and the art school. He organized the Anthropology lecture series in 2005-2006 and managed to organize an impressive line-up of professors working on important issues. Given how decentralized the Anthropology department is, I have found this lecture series to be an important node for discussion and debate on contemporary anthropological issues, and have been continually impressed by David’s commentary during these lectures.

Finally, I have had the pleasure of reading some of David’s articles and books. This includes his “Fragments of an Anarchist Anthropology”, his manuscript on his forthcoming book on Madagascar, and articles in prestigious journals such as New Left Review. The range of issues presented in this work indicates David’s eclectic and relevant research interests, and the dynamism which he brings to Yale’s Anthropology department.

Sincerely,

Ajay Gandhi

Dr. Enrique Mayer
Chair of the Review Committee
Yale University
P.O. Box 208277
New Haven, CT 06520

April 24, 2005

Dear Dr. Mayer,

I strongly support Dr. David Graeber’s continued employment in the Department of Anthropology at Yale and applaud his dedication to Yale students. His outstanding scholarship, inspiring teaching, and conscientious advising are remarkable contributions to Yale University.

I have studied with Dr. Graeber since 1999 when I become a graduate student in Yale’s Department of Anthropology. During my first semester in the graduate program, I enrolled in Dr. Graeber’s fascinating course “Ritualization of Power in Africa”; I have remained a student of Dr. Graeber since that time. My theoretical training in both classical and contemporary social theory is largely due to Dr. Graeber. His “Classical Social Theory” course continues to have an excellent reputation among graduate students. Dr. Graeber has the rare ability to convey complicated concepts and theories in digestible language, yet he loses none of the complexity of the argument. I often left his classes excitedly engaged with fellow students in a discussion that was stimulated by Dr. Graeber’s lectures. I was also a Teaching Fellow for his popular “Myth and Ritual” course where undergraduates were noticeably enthralled by his lectures.

Dr. Graeber has provided unwavering and thoughtful support throughout my doctoral studies. He was on my Qualifying Exam committee, and his guidance extended to an individual reading preparation course. He helped me to develop my prospectus, and he was easily accessible by email for advice while I was in Botswana doing fieldwork. Since I returned from the field, Dr. Graeber has read drafts of my dissertation and suggested helpful theoretical and stylistic modifications. His generosity and accessibility to students like myself, in addition to his incredible intellectual breadth, are the qualities of an excellent teacher and valuable member of the Yale community.

Dr. Graeber’s innovative and meticulous scholarship commands attention within the discipline. His exciting book Toward an Anthropological Theory of Value is a significant contribution to discussions about value and the gift. His earlier work on funerary rites in Madagascar builds on long-standing anthropological examinations of ritual. I am eagerly awaiting his most recent book on direct action and social movements. In addition to a teacher and a scholar, I would describe Dr. Graeber as a public intellectual. He participates in global debates on the most pressing social justice issues in our time, and I admire his passion and dedication to a global intellectual community.

Dr. Graeber’s exceptional scholarship, dazzling teaching, and thoughtful advising make him a critical member of Yale’s Department of Anthropology. As a student, I am fortunate to have benefited from his teaching and scholarship. Thank you for the opportunity to express my enthusiastic support for Dr. Graeber during the review process. He is truly deserving of a promotion.

Sincerely,

Mieka Ritsema
Ph.D. candidate
Department of Anthropology, Yale University

May 2, 2005

Dear Prof. Mayer:

I am writing to recommend the renewal of Prof. Graeber’s contract as an Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology. I have had the privilege to study closely with Prof. Graeber over the past three years. I have taken his courses, Classical Social Theory, Direct Action and Radical Social Theory, as well as a reader on Urban Autonomous Movements. Prof. Graeber has served on my exam committee, was the chair of my prospectus committee, and I have worked as his teaching assistant in the Myth and Ritual course, one of the largest lecture courses in the university.

Prof. Graeber’s scholarship is outstanding. He has published widely on a variety of scholarly themes and is regarded as a leading theorist of the anti-globalization social movement and of value theory. I have read his work in other classes, both within and outside of Anthropology. He is invited all over the world to lecture, most recently presenting at Yeshiva University’s prestigious Legal Theory Seminar and Speaker Series. Through his publications and his active lecture circuit, Prof. Graeber represents Yale Socio-Cultural Anthropology as a dynamic and cutting-edge department.

Prof. Graeber has served as a model mentor. Throughout these three years, from taking courses, to studying for my exams, to writing my prospectus, he has always been willing to meet with me. Two days before my qualifying exams, Prof. Graeber spent three hours discussing Marxist anthropology with me, merely because I wasn’t comfortable with this field. By email, telephone, and in-person, Prof. Graeber is brilliant, personable, helpful, accessible, and open to a conversation.

Prof. Graeber is a gift to the department that the students treasure. His loss would have an immeasurable negative impact to the intellectual atmosphere of the department and morale of graduate students. Once again, I highly recommend the renewal of Prof. Graeber’s contract.

Best,

Nazima Kadir

To Whom It May Concern:

I recently became aware that there is consideration of not renewing Prof. David Graeber’s contract, and I wanted to express my thoughts on what a loss that would be for this University and its students.

I have now taken two classes with Prof. Graeber - “Power, Violence, and Cosmology” (ANTH 229b) and “Direct Action & Radical Social Theory” (ANTH 532b) - which I have enjoyed and profited from immensely. In both courses he has shown tremendous regard and respect for his students, and has gone out of his way to make himself accessible to us when we’ve needed it. He is a tremendously passionate individual - both as a person and as an intellectual - and it’s been a joy to have him bring that energy into the classroom for us as students.

Perhaps more remarkable has been the unnecessary lengths Prof. Graeber has gone outside of the classroom to enhance student life at Yale. One of the engaging and enjoyable nights of my freshman year at Yale University was an event where Prof. Graeber held an informal debate with another faculty member on radical social theory for about 60 undergraduates at Dwight Hall. Even though the dialogue was held relatively late in the evening and was inconvenient for Prof. Graeber, he enthusiastically agreed to participate. The exchange was relaxed, funny, and utterly engrossing, and I think everyone in the crowd came away having thoroughly benefited from the dialogue.

During my sophomore year, Prof. Graeber devoted countless hours helping a handful of other students and me organize a major conference entitled “The Emergence of New Social Movements: Shifting Identities in an Era of Global Capital.” The weekend-long event brought hundreds of attendees to Yale, dozens of speakers and workshops, and internationally-known musical performers. I can say without hesitation that this conference would have been entirely impossible were it not for Prof. Graeber’s selfless contribution of time, energy, and even out-of-pocket expenses. I count myself considerably fortunate to have found at Yale a professor as committed to his students, both inside and outside the classroom, as Prof. Graeber.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have further questions. It would be a great loss for this community to no longer have Prof. Graeber here. Sincerely,

Thomas Frampton
American Studies, Class of 2006

To Whom It May Concern
Yale University
Department of Anthropology
PO Box 208277
New Haven, CT 06529-8277

Attention: Andrew Hill, Chair

Dear To Whom It May Concern,

Subject: re-appointment of David Graeber

I am submitting this letter on behalf of Professor David Graeber, concerning his re-appointment as professor in the Department of Anthropology at Yale University.

Professor David Graeber has been a mentor to me for the last three years at Yale University. As member of my qualifying exam committee, as my mentor, and as a future reader to my dissertation thesis, I am honored to submit a letter of support for Professor Graeber.

Within the last three years, Professor Graeber has consistently met with me during office hours or scheduled appointments (approximately three to four times a semester) to discuss and develop the direction of my graduate studies as a PhD student at Yale. He has provided guidance in choosing coursework, in the development of my dissertation topic and ideas, and constantly provides advice and suggestions on my professional growth and development. Professor Graeber demonstrates his commitment to undergraduate and graduate students by not only seeing his students successfully complete their studies at Yale, but also to go on to become critical, analytic thinkers and scholars forever engaged in the world(s) and issues one pursues. This commitment is a reoccurring theme in his mentorship to me – Professor Graeber reminds me to understand my own responsibility and commitment to the field of anthropology as an academic, an Asian American woman, and a representative of Yale University. He has encouraged and pushed me to not only develop my ideas - but to present, publish, share, act on this knowledge, and engage with the greater academic community within and beyond the borders of anthropology.

I am also a Teaching Assistant for Professor Graeber and teach section to the undergraduate students enrolled in his lecture. This past semester (Spring 2005), Professor Graeber’s class, Myth and Ritual, had the highest enrollment of a lecture in the Department of Anthropology and is considered one of the most popular classes offered to undergraduate students. This information is garnered from the 40 undergraduate students in my two sections, who not only enjoy Professor Graeber’s lectures, but also appreciate that he includes his own publications for class reading in the syllabus. Professor Graeber meets with his TAs frequently during the semester (calling TA meetings approximately once or twice a month) to discuss teaching methods and practices, grading, and lesson plans.

Finally, Professor Graeber teaches the only theory courses offered to graduate students in socio-cultural anthropology - classical social theory and anthropological theories on value. It is known within the greater anthropological community that Yale’s Dep’t of Anthropology traditionally graduates students without a foundational background in social theory. Professor’s Graeber’s social theory course is formative to the development of a classical and traditional education in the social sciences.

I have known Professor to be an optimistic and pleasant person, one who has developed professional relationships with faculty within our department, faculty in the greater Yale community, and who is widely popular among both undergraduate and graduate students. If you have any questions I can be contacted through email: christina.moon@yale.edu.

Sincerely,

Christina Moon

Dear
Enrique Mayer
Andrew Hill

I am writing in support for the permanence of professor David Graeber as an a permanent faculty of the Department of Anthropology. I have gotten to know professor Graeber in his classroom as well as outside of it. He has proven to be an excellent teacher whose role extends the walls of the classroom. He has been one of the few teachers which I have encountered at Yale that has generated such enthusiasm as to lead us to continue and form discussion groups of the material from his class. His forms of explanation, clear and profound, have become a great intellectual basis for the understanding of topics and thinkers which I have encountered in other classes. His teachings have also proven very useful for me in my own teaching activities.

I would also like to reinforce not only his professorship, but also his intellectual excellence which is really extending the name of our department in the intellectual community. Having been an exchange student in the anthropology department of Columbia University myself, I have gotten to know professors of renown name like Michael Taussig, who assigns professor Graeber’s readings in his own classes. Also his work is discussed in other departments such as Chicago University. Also, his publications form part of series from Prickly Paradigm Press that has recently published the work of renown contemporary scholars and thinkers such as Marshal Sahlins, Donna Haraway, Michael Silverstein, Bruno Latour among others.

In all, I believe David Graeber’s absence of the department will be a loss which will also be detrimental for the name of our Department.

Sincerely,

Juan Orrantia
2nd year graduate student, Anthropology Department Yale University

Dear Yale Anthropology Department,

I am writing to express my support for Professor David Graeber and my dismay in hearing that Yale was considering not renewing his contract. I can say without exaggeration that the classes I took with Prof. Graeber were among the best I experienced at Yale. I had not taken any anthropology classes until my senior year, but Prof. Graeber’s positive reputation among my fellow students encouraged me to shop his introductory class “Power, Violence, Cosmology,” and after hearing his first lecture, I was hooked. That class completely changed the way I looked at the world; Prof. Graeber used a series of classic anthropological studies to underscore some of the questions one can ask about any society, which I found quite useful to my study of history and, more broadly, my understanding of the world. Prof. Graeber’s lectures were nothing short of brilliant, taking the readings as a jumping off point to really explore and contrast some of the different ways that anthropology as a discipline has studied human societies. After that experience, I decided I had to take the graduate seminar Prof. Graeber was offering the following semester, “Direct Action and Radical Social Theory,” which lived up to all my expectations. In fact, one of the books Prof. Graeber assigned in that class, an exploration of the practice of participatory democracy throughout the twentieth century, became a crucial reference point for my history senior thesis on democracy in the United Steelworkers in the 1970s. In hindsight, if I had taken those two classes my first year at Yale instead of my last, I probably would have ended up in anthropology instead of history.

In addition to the two classes I took with Prof. Graeber, I appreciated his participation in the intellectual life of the University in other ways. He was always willing and eager to engage with students outside the classroom. One of my favorite memories of my time at Yale, in fact, was a public debate between Prof. Graeber and Prof. Michael Denning.

As you are considering the decision about Prof. Graeber’s contract, please keep in mind the tremendous positive impact he has had on the students at Yale. I know a lot of people who have had experiences similar to mine, so I hope you do not lose somebody who is an important part of what makes Yale great.

Sincerely,
Will Tanzman
Davenport ‘04

Professor Enrique Mayer
Yale University
Department of Anthropology
51 Hillhouse Avenue
New Haven CT 06520

22 April 2005

Dear Professor Mayer:

As a graduate student in the Yale Department of Anthropology, I feel the need to write in support of contract renewal for Associate Professor David Graeber. Succinctly put, David Graeber combines recognized excellence in scholarship with a genuine concern for students, quality teaching and a commitment to the development of intellectual community here in Yale anthropology. His priorities as a teacher and researcher are the creation and promotion of an intellectual environment that both challenges students and gives them the intellectual respect they need to develop as scholars.

The value and meaning of scholarship is judged by or created in intellectual communities. Thus informal links that create intellectual community are a prerequisite for good scholarship. David Graeber has helped me not only in providing such a community here at Yale, but also though introduction to wider intellectual circles which may prove vital to my eventual success as a scholar.

David Graeber has given freely of his time to me, and I have observed him do the same with others. His priorities as a teacher and researcher are the creation and promotion of an intellectual environment that both challenges students and gives them the intellectual respect they need to develop as scholars. The sort of flexibility and commitment to student intellectual development that has pervaded all my interactions with David Graeber is amply evident in the his class on the theory of value that I am now auditing. David Graeber has approached the class, and most especially the section on student presentations, with a flexibly that proves his primary commitment is to student intellectual development and the creation of intellectual community. He consistently tries to give students not only the time they need to explain the background of very diverse projects to an equally diverse audience, but he also makes sure there is sufficient time and the interactional environment necessary for a genuine discussion of each project to develop. Of course, this may mean that the class runs late, or that some presentations have to be rescheduled. But focusing on such minor procedural niceties, and not the overall intellectual goal, would be to get hopeless lost in a forest one could never see, fixed only one tree after another.

David Graeber’s contribution to Yale anthropology, the combination of excellence in research and publication with commitment to building intellectual community and teaching, is just what our department need more of. He is focused on the real long term and central goal of our, and all other, academic enterprises, the creation and dissemination of new knowledge, and the training of the next generation of scholars who will continue this project. For these reasons, I express, in the strongest terms possible, my wholehearted support for the renewal of his contract and the continuation of his status as a member of the faculty of anthropology.

Sincerely,

Josh Gordon

Second Year Student
Doctoral Program in Anthropology
Yale University

2 May, 2005

Dear Professors Mayer and Hill,

I write in support of Professor David Graeber as an outstanding and unique asset to the Anthropology Department at Yale.

I am currently a senior Anthropology Major. I have studied under Professor Graeber for two and a half years. In the spring of 2003, I took his seminar on Theories of Value in Anthropology. The following fall, I attended his lecture course on Power, Violence, and Cosmology. In the spring of 2004, I participated in his seminar entitled Direct Action and Radical Social Theory, and, under his and Professor Kamari Clarke's advisorship, did an independent study on race and politics. This spring, my final semester at Yale, he advised my senior essay on reflexivity within social movements, along with Professor Megan Sinnott.

Professor Graeber's teachings and writings have greatly influenced my intellectual development as a student of anthropology. As you may hear from others, he possesses the unique skill of making complex theory accessible to students of all levels of understanding. In addition to making existing theory comprehensible to beginning students, he adds his own distinctive take to classic texts. This results in an innovative presentation of his own theories within a wider context, a result both thought-provoking and groundbreaking. This may have to do with him being both earnest and sincere about what he writes about, while never losing sight of a critical viewpoint. In other words, he cares deeply about his work, and it shows. This manifests in his admirable attempts to combine theory with practice, both in his writing and in his teaching. Professor Graeber remains conscious of his position and is always striving to challenge and improve himself as a writer and teacher.

As a teacher and advisor, he is both accessible and helpful, in his availability for meeting, constructive response to student work, and genuine caring about how students learn. In seminars, he balances his professorial authority with being open to student feedback about how to improve the course structure. Just last week, my friend, a recent graduate of Yale College, commented to me on how Professor Graeber's seminar on Value Theory was one of the best and most memorable courses from his time at Yale. Another friend, a recent graduate of the Anthropology Major, said that she would consider enrolling in a graduate program just to have Professor Graeber as her mentor.

I hope that you consider my comments on why Professor David Graeber is a unique and irreplaceable asset to Yale's Anthropology Department. I know that many of his past and current students share my views.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Best,
Katherine Lo
Anthropology Major
Class of 2005

May 7, 2005

Dear Committee,

It seems ironic, somehow, that David Graeber - an authority on “value theory” in our Department of Anthropology - would come to be so de-valued as to not have his contract renewed.

I stand by the many students who not only see this irony, but also feel that David Graeber is indeed one of the most valuable assets within the department. Not only is his scholarship stellar, but he is also a sincere and supportive mentor, who always makes himself available to his students. Either by sharing insights about Weber, Marx, or Sahlins, helping us to theorize consumption, or simply entertaining us with healthy anecdotes about life in academia (or life in general), David Graeber has been an irreplaceable character to the Yale community.

Not only is he loved by his students, but he’s also been integral to the coordination of the weekly colloquiums and it is through his efforts that our department has hosted some of this years best lectures. He draws interesting scholars from all over, including well-regarded colleagues from the University of Chicago, and even Michael Taussig. His efforts should not go unnoticed, despite petty politics and normative ideas about etiquette. He stands for his radical beliefs, and as such, should be seen instead as a fellow scholar and thinker, equipped with the kind of integrity and conviction that some of us only wish we could manage. He has won my respect on many levels, and I hope others can see the “value” in his kind of approach.

I urge the committee to reconsider their decision – losing David Graeber would not only change the fabric of the department of anthropology, but the substance of the Yale community in general.

With all sincerity,

Lucia Cantero
Graduate Student
Dept. of Anthroplogy

April 28, 2005

To: Andrew Hill, Enrique Mayer,
And members of the senior faculty committee

Re: David Graeber’s contract extension

Dear members of the committee,

I am writing this letter in support of the extension of David Graeber’s contract with the Department of Anthropology. David’s research is of great significance to my own dissertation research, and as a scholar his contributions more generally to the entire field of cultural anthropology are quite noteworthy.

Among the faculty in the department, David’s area of expertise has been invaluable to me. My research focuses on the politics of tradition among Benuaq Dayaks in Indonesian Borneo, including Benuaq customary law and religion. This involves examining a cosmological system centered on shamanism and mortuary rituals that have many analogues to those found in Madagascar. David’s ethnographic work on these topics, his knowledge and input has been the most helpful to my own work, and he has been an important, indeed irreplaceable, mentor for my work.

But beyond contributing to my own research interests, and to the field of Austronesian ethnography, David’s more recent work on value is a significant contribution that is being read across different fields of cultural anthropology, and you should not need me to tell you that this is a very real mark of distinction for Yale’s anthropology department. Having a scholar with his breadth of intellectual interests, whose work scholars are debating and discussing both inside and beyond the discipline of anthropology, is a real asset to this department, and he and his work should be properly recognized as such. In recognizing these facts, there can be no question that his contract should be renewed for the longest period of time allowable.

Thanks you for your consideration of this letter,

Sincerely,

Richard C Payne

Dear Professor Mayer

I wanted to express my support for Professor Graeber, based on my personal experience of his teaching, his supervision (as a member of my committee), and my reading of his work. His teaching is inspiring, if sometimes slightly chaotic, and he has opened my eyes to exciting ideas and interpretations of classic works. He has always made time for one-to-one discussion whenever I have needed it, and these discussions have been both encouraging and stimulating. I think he is a really important and valuable member of the department, and I think we would all be worse off if he was no longer here.

Thank you
Annie Harper

May 8, 2005

To Whom It May Concern,

It was with great sadness that I learned that the Yale Department of Anthropology decided recently not to renew the contract of Professor David Graeber. As an undergraduate anthropology major, I am distressed by the department’s decision not to rehire a faculty member who has contributed immense scholarship, teaching, and vision to the Yale community and more broadly.

I have not yet had the opportunity to take a class with Professor Graeber. It is my hope that Professor Graeber will remain at Yale so that I and many other current and future students will be able to do so.

This is an opportunity for Yale to realize its respect for the scholarship and teaching of all of its faculty.

Sincerely,

Phoebe Rounds, Yale College 2007
phoebe.rounds@yale.edu

May 18, 2005

To Whom It May Concern,

I write to express great disappointment, dismay, and alarm that David Graeber’s teaching contract with Yale will not be renewed. Professor Graeber’s Power, Violence, and Cosmology class was the first anthropology course I took at Yale, and it inspired me to choose Anthropology as my major. Professor Graeber’s style may be considered unconventional, but having been his student multiple times I assure you that he is always well prepared for class, enthusiastic about and committed to his work, and readily available for his students. Professor Graeber always has the day’s lecture notes available for us at the end of class, knowing that he can speak too quickly to follow on paper. He will always meet with his students last-minute, even if the inconvenience is his. In the mixed undergraduate and graduate course I took with him, he was always kind about allowing us less well-read undergraduates to interrupt class briefly with a question on background reading, and he thus integrated us into the class and made us best able to benefit from the graduate work we were undertaking. I am sure that you are familiar with the scenario of an enthusiastic or overly ambitious undergraduate who joins a graduate course and, in over his head, only wastes his semester; Professor Graber assures that such a thing never happens in his classes because he puts extreme effort towards tailoring his teaching to the needs, interests, and strengths of his students. If ever Professor Graeber had to miss class to attend a conference, we were always given enough advanced notice and class was always rescheduled at a time most convenient for us; I have had multiple experienced with other widely-respected and popular professors who were not so courteous. Having attended several talks sponsored by the anthropology department, I know that Professor Graeber ran such events this past year and thus also contributed to the vitality and prestige of the department as a whole. Additionally, I believe that Professor Graeber is significantly responsible for the department’s recent growth. I can think of nine anthropology majors other than myself who were drawn to the department because of Professor Graeber, and another four that seriously considered anthropology as a result of the inspiration and support he provided them; I also know that had Professor Graeber left last year, I would likely have chosen a different major. Professor Graeber is a fine teacher and the most brilliant intellectual I have encountered at Yale. I hope that Yale is reconsidering its decision, for the benefit of her students and for the entire university’s prestige.

Thank you for your time,

Emily Friedrichs 2007
Anthropology and Ethnicity, Race, and Migration Undergraduate