Eric Lassiter and his students conducted ethnographic research on “the other Middletown”—Muncie's African American community. Working closely with an array of community consultants, the students researched and wrote chapters for The Other Side of Middletown, published by AltaMira Press. Eric's community sponsors were the Muncie Commission on the Social Status of Black Males, the Muncie Community Foundation, the Center for Middletown Studies, and Hurley Goodall, former Indiana State Representative and Visiting Scholar at the Center for Middletown Studies.

During the semester, a team of documentarians from the Virginia Ball Center followed the seminar's progress in order to create Middletown Redux, a behind-the-scenes documentary about the making of The Other Side of Middletown. Click the second link on the right to watch a seven-minute preview version, or visit Altamira Press to buy it on DVD.

CLASS MEMBERS and COMMUNITY ADVISORS: (Front) Ed McNeary, Sarah Bricker, Renzie Abram, Carl Rhinehart, Dolores Rhinehart, Ashley Moore, Michelle Anderson, Michelle Johnson, Eric Johnson, Jarrod Dortch, Eric Efaw, Julius Anderson, Fredine Goodall, Geraldine Burns; (Back) Hurley Goodall, Beth Campbell, Phyllis Bartleson, Anne Kraemer, Mia Fields, Carrie Kissel, Delores Pryor, Carla Burke, Jessica Booth, Dan Gawlowski, Abigail Delpha, Phyllis White, Cari Peterson, Eric Lassiter (Group photo by Josie Liming)

Luke Eric Lassiter is an Associate Professor of Anthropology. He won BSU's Outstanding Junior Faculty Award in 2001, and is published widely in anthropology and ethnography. His latest book is Invitation to Anthropology: Lessons for Us All (AltaMira Press, 2002). Visit his website.