Beeman, William O. 1947- (William Orman Beeman)

PERSONAL:

Born April 1, 1947, in Manhattan, KS; son of William Orman and Florence Lucille Beeman. Education: Wesleyan University, B.A., 1968; University of Chicago, M.A., 1971, Ph.D., 1976. Hobbies and other interests: Theater, cooking, hiking, and music.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Department of Anthropology, 395 Hubert H. Humphrey Center, 301 19th Ave. S., University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455. E-mail—wbeeman@umn.edu; william_beeman@Brown.edu.

CAREER:

Pacific News Service, San Francisco, CA, associate editor; Brown University, Providence, RI, professor, 1983, associate director of program analysis for the Institute for Research in Information and Scholarship, 1985, director of Middle Eastern studies, 1999; University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, professor and chair of anthropology. Visiting professor at New York University, 1984-85; director of the Institute of Intercultural Studies; vocalist for the Opera Chemnitz, 1996-99. Has also served as a consultant to the U.S. State Department and the Department of Defense.

MEMBER:

American Anthropological Association (president, 2005-09), Middle East Studies Association, Society of Iranian Studies, Linguistic Society.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Research award, Social Science Research Council, 1976; National Endowment for the Humanities, 1990.

WRITINGS:

Culture, Performance, and Communication in Iran, Institute for the Study of Languages and Cultures of Asia & Africa (Tokyo, Japan), 1982.

Language, Status, and Power in Iran, Indiana University Press (Bloomington, IN), 1986.

(With Elizabeth Bakewell) Object, Image, Inquiry: The Art Historian at Work: Report on a Collaborative Study by the Getty Art History Information Program (AHIP) and the Institute for Research in Information and Scholarship (IRIS), Brown University, AHIP (Santa Monica, CA), 1988.

(With others) Intermedia: A Case Study in Innovation in Higher Education, Brown University (Providence, RI), 1988.

(With Daniel Helfgot) The Third Line: The Opera Performer as Interpreter, Schirmer Books (New York, NY), 1993.

(Editor, with Margaret Mead and Rhoda Metraux) The Study of Culture at a Distance, Berghahn Books (New York, NY), 2000.

The "Great Satan" vs. the "Mad Mullahs": How the United States and Iran Demonize Each Other, Praeger Publishers (Westport, CT), 2005.

SIDELIGHTS:

William O. Beeman is a scholar and professor whose expertise is in the field of Middle Eastern studies and linguistic anthropology. Because of his knowledge, Beeman has served as a consultant to the U.S. State Department and the Department of Defense. Yet, he began his studies at Wesleyan University, earning a B.A. in 1968. He then went on to attend the University of Chicago, receiving an M.A. and Ph.D. in 1971 and 1976, respectively. After working as an associate editor for the Pacific News Service, Beeman returned to academia, serving as a professor at Brown University for sixteen years. In that capacity, he also worked as associate director of program analysis for the Institute for Research in Information and Scholarship, and as director of Middle Eastern studies. After leaving Brown, Beeman joined the University of Minnesota, acting as professor and chair of anthropology. Aside from this extensive scholarly background, Beeman is also an opera singer. Not surprisingly, he has written about topics in both fields.

Discussing his first book on the Brown University Web site, Beeman stated: "I have wrestled with the problem of how communicators create concrete effects for those with whom they communicate. In Culture, Performance, and Communication in Iran (1982) I investigated specific forms of cultural communication in Iran, showing how strategic language, theater and music are used by Iranians to affect emotional states, social status and political events." Given this line of inquiry, it is perhaps no surprise that Beeman wrote his second book on a similar topic; Language, Status, and Power in Iran was published in 1986. These works were followed by Object, Image, Inquiry: The Art Historian at Work: Report on a Collaborative Study by the Getty Art History Information Program (AHIP) and the Institute for Research in Information and Scholarship (IRIS), Brown University, written with Elizabeth Bakewell and published in 1988. Beeman's next effort was Intermedia: A Case Study in Innovation in Higher Education, also published in 1988.

Beeman next switched subjects, writing about opera in The Third Line: The Opera Performer as Interpreter, which was published in 1993. The book was written with Daniel Helfgot. Beeman discussed the book on the Brown University Web site, explaining that "this project is in many ways a culmination of all of the themes I have been working on these many years. Opera is a profound expression of German identity on many levels: international, national and local. Performers bear a great burden in their work." The book includes advice to opera singers on interpreting operas and promotes acting in conjunction with singing, advising opera performers not to neglect one in favor of the other. It also discusses the place of opera in modern culture, noting that opera performers must adapt to attract contemporary audiences. The book further discusses how composers create a dramatic mood, and it also gives detailed histories of some well-known, and oft-performed, operas. Critics applauded the book. Indeed, writing in Notes, Maria Ciaccia agreed with the authors' thesis, stating: "Whether anyone likes it or not, Helfgot and Beeman are right: in order for opera to continue as a viable art form, it must grow and change, and singers must adapt to these demands and become complete singer-actors." Ciaccia added that the book "provides excellent advice on doing so, covering relaxation exercises, the use of subtext, physical suitability to roles, and achieving the right ‘look’ for a role."

Following The Third Line, Beeman took a seven-year hiatus from publishing. He then edited The Study of Culture at a Distance with Margaret Mead and Rhoda Metraux in 2000. In 2005, Beeman released The "Great Satan" vs. the "Mad Mullahs": How the United States and Iran Demonize Each Other, his most widely reviewed book to date. Indeed, the topical nature of The "Great Satan" vs. the "Mad Mullahs" is highly relevant to world politics in the 2000s, and for this reason, the book has received much attention. In it, Beeman details the language and propaganda the two countries have used to portray one another since 1979, when an Iranian revolution to remove the Shah took place. Interestingly, critics note that the book is not so much a historical or political study as it is a linguistic and cultural one. Though reviewers did point out the book's flaws, they also found much of interest in the volume. Middle East Journal contributor Abbas William Samii found that the book "raises many questions and is problematic, but those are additional reasons for reading it. It challenges the reader and forces him to question stereotypes about Iran and about Washington's perspective on the country. It also encourages the reader to consider Tehran's perceptions." Samii also noted that "Beeman is a good writer, who eschews the scholarly jargon that frequently makes academic books and articles unintelligible to all but specialists in a specific field. He is writing for the non-specialist, and he is more interested in informing the reader than in impressing his peers."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Choice, February 1, 1994, R. Miller, review of The Third Line: The Opera Performer as Interpreter, p. 945.

Chronicle of Higher Education, June 2, 2006, "The Volatile Relationship between Iran and the U.S."

International Affairs, July 1, 2006, Anoush Ehteshami, review of The "Great Satan" vs. the "Mad Mullahs": How the United States and Iran Demonize Each Other, p. 815.

Journal of Intercultural Studies, May 1, 2007, Patricia Johnson, review of The "Great Satan" vs. the "Mad Mullahs," p. 247.

Middle East Journal, January 1, 1988, Steven Caton, review of Language, Status, and Power in Iran, p. 134; March 22, 2006, Abbas William Samii, review of The "Great Satan" vs. the "Mad Mullahs," p. 379.

Middle East Quarterly, March 22, 2006, Michael Rubin, review of The "Great Satan" vs. the "Mad Mullahs," p. 79.

Notes, March 1, 1995, Maria Ciaccia, review of The Third Line, p. 969.

Opera News, October 1, 1994, "Wagner: Das Rheingold," p. 56.

Reference & Research Book News, February 1, 2006, review of The "Great Satan" vs. the "Mad Mullahs."

ONLINE

Brown University Web site,http://www.brown.edu/ (August 20, 2008), author autobiography.