Edward H. Spicer

Edward Holland "Ned" Spicer was an American anthropologist who combined the four-field approach outlined by Franz Boas and trained in the structural-function approach of Radcliffe-Brown and the University of Chicago. He joined the anthropology faculty at the University of Arizona in 1946 and retired from teaching in 1976. Spicer contributed to all four fields of anthropology through his study of the American Indians, the Southwest, and the clash of cultures defined in his award-winning book, Cycles of Conquest. Spicer combined the elements of historical, structural, and functional analysis to address the question of socio-cultural change. He was a teacher, researcher, editor, and practitioner, who applied his perspective to address the issues confronting the people he worked with.