Carolyn Fluehr Fluehr-Lobban

Yes

I have been married for 44 years, to the same man. We are both anthropologists and developed our careers together mainly in African studies. Our daughters share our interest in other cultures.

I studied Nursing for one year at St. Joseph's Hosptial in Atlanta, left the program and began university study at Georgia State where I discovered anthropology. I "dug" for one summer at the Etowah mounds in Cartersville, GA which confirmed my desire to become an anthropologist. I worked at Grady Hospital for a year to pay my tuition at GA State. I returned to my native Philadelphia in 1966 to pursue a Bachelor's degree in anthropology at Temple University where I also earned a master's degree. It was at Temple that I met my husband Richard Lobban--in an anthropology class--and thus began our life long love of travel and research, primarily in North Africa. We received our PhDs from Northwestern University and have spent several living and researching in the Nile valley countries of Sudan and Egypt. After our daughters were born we brought them with us for extended periods of living in these countries as well as in Tunisia. In 1986 we traveled around the world as a family with the University of Pittsburgh's "Semester at Sea" program; I repeated this trip in 1996. We have lived and worked in Rhode Island since 1972 where we both were professors of anthropology. We are now retired Professors Emeritus. We are beekeepers, maintaining four hives in both RI and New Hampshire where we enjoy our summers.

I have often reflected how my years at Southwest and in Atlanta (before it became a boom town) were both formative and transformational. My interest in the world and in ideas began with discussions with friends and teachers at Southwest.

My favorite class was Mr. Anthony's Spanish class--he taught the cultures and history of the Spanish speaking world along with the language and was ahead of his time. He was also faculty adviser to "The Howl" our student newspaper that I wrote for. I loved Mrs. Armstrong's English classes too. I got through Math and Science, and enjoyed Chorus. I am in a local singing group to this day.