William M. Fields
Encyclopedia
William M. Fields also known by the lexigram 
, is an American qualitative investigator studying language, culture, and tools in non-human primates. He is best known for his collaboration with Sue Savage-Rumbaugh
beginning in 1997 at the Language Research Center of Georgia State University
. There he co-reared Nyota
, a baby bonobo, with Panbanisha , Kanzi
and Savage-Rumbaugh 
. Fields and Savage-Rumbaugh are the only scientists in the world carrying out language research with bonobo
s.
in 1949, the oldest of four children. His father is a musician and his mother a housewife. He attended Georgia State University where he was the student of anthropologist Kathryn A. Kozaitis earning a B.A. in anthropology in 1999. He also studied with Charles Rutheiser, Robert Fryman, and Mark B. King. Under these influences he developed the notions of a hybrid culture in which he proposed the theoretical concept of a Pan/Homo cultural dynamic as a critique of the ethological notion of proto-culture to explain bonobo Kanzi’s linguistic abilities.
In 2005 Fields published, as second author, Kanzi’s Primal Language: the cultural initiation of apes into language. The qualitative monograph is a cultural recasting of Savage-Rumbaugh’s 1993 empirical monograph titled Language Comprehension in Ape and Child. In 2006 he accepted the position of Senior Research Scientist at the Great Ape Trust
of Iowa where he continues to participate in ape language research with Savage-Rumbaugh and the bonobos Kanzi, Panbanisha, Nyota, Nathan, Maisha, Elikya, and Matata. The ape language program includes stone tool use and manufacture with paleolithic specialists Nicholas Toth and Kathy Schick. Fields appears in the 2000 NHK science documentary, Kanzi II, and has been interviewed about his work at the Great Ape Trust by the History Channel, National Geographic Channel
, ABC News
and Nightline
, Discovery Channel
, New Scientist
, Swedish Educational Television
and local media.
He currently serves as Director of Scientific Research at the Trust, having succeeded Savage-Rumbaugh in directing bonobo research there in 2007.
, is an American qualitative investigator studying language, culture, and tools in non-human primates. He is best known for his collaboration with Sue Savage-RumbaughSue Savage-Rumbaugh
Sue Savage-Rumbaugh , also known by the lexigram , is a primatologist most known for her work with two bonobos, Kanzi and Panbanisha, investigating their use of "Great Ape language" using lexigrams and computer-based keyboards...
beginning in 1997 at the Language Research Center of Georgia State University
Georgia State University
Georgia State University is a research university in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Founded in 1913, it serves about 30,000 students and is one of the University System of Georgia's four research universities...
. There he co-reared Nyota
, a baby bonobo, with Panbanisha , KanziKanzi
Kanzi , also known by the lexigram , is a male bonobo who has been featured in several studies on great ape language. According to Sue Savage-Rumbaugh, a primatologist who has studied the bonobo throughout her life, Kanzi has exhibited advanced linguistic aptitude.- Biography :Born to Lorel and...
and Savage-Rumbaugh . Fields and Savage-Rumbaugh are the only scientists in the world carrying out language research with bonoboBonobo
The bonobo , Pan paniscus, previously called the pygmy chimpanzee and less often, the dwarf or gracile chimpanzee, is a great ape and one of the two species making up the genus Pan. The other species in genus Pan is Pan troglodytes, or the common chimpanzee...
s.
Biography
Fields was born in Atlanta, GeorgiaGeorgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
in 1949, the oldest of four children. His father is a musician and his mother a housewife. He attended Georgia State University where he was the student of anthropologist Kathryn A. Kozaitis earning a B.A. in anthropology in 1999. He also studied with Charles Rutheiser, Robert Fryman, and Mark B. King. Under these influences he developed the notions of a hybrid culture in which he proposed the theoretical concept of a Pan/Homo cultural dynamic as a critique of the ethological notion of proto-culture to explain bonobo Kanzi’s linguistic abilities.
In 2005 Fields published, as second author, Kanzi’s Primal Language: the cultural initiation of apes into language. The qualitative monograph is a cultural recasting of Savage-Rumbaugh’s 1993 empirical monograph titled Language Comprehension in Ape and Child. In 2006 he accepted the position of Senior Research Scientist at the Great Ape Trust
Great Ape Trust
The Great Ape Trust is a ape sanctuary and language study in Des Moines, Iowa, that houses orangutans and bonobos. The sanctuary opened to primates on September 28, 2004. The mission of the Great Ape Trust is studying language, culture, intelligence, and tool use in primates...
of Iowa where he continues to participate in ape language research with Savage-Rumbaugh and the bonobos Kanzi, Panbanisha, Nyota, Nathan, Maisha, Elikya, and Matata. The ape language program includes stone tool use and manufacture with paleolithic specialists Nicholas Toth and Kathy Schick. Fields appears in the 2000 NHK science documentary, Kanzi II, and has been interviewed about his work at the Great Ape Trust by the History Channel, National Geographic Channel
National Geographic Channel
National Geographic Channel, also commercially abbreviated and trademarked as Nat Geo, is a subscription television channel that airs non-fiction television programs produced by the National Geographic Society. Like History and the Discovery Channel, the channel features documentaries with factual...
, ABC News
ABC News
ABC News is the news gathering and broadcasting division of American broadcast television network ABC, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company...
and Nightline
Nightline
Nightline, or ABC News Nightline is a late-night news program broadcast by ABC in the United States, and has a franchised formula to other networks and stations elsewhere in the world. It airs weeknights, usually for 31 minutes. Created by Roone Arledge, the program featured Ted Koppel as its main...
, Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel is an American satellite and cable specialty channel , founded by John Hendricks and distributed by Discovery Communications. It is a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav...
, New Scientist
New Scientist
New Scientist is a weekly non-peer-reviewed English-language international science magazine, which since 1996 has also run a website, covering recent developments in science and technology for a general audience. Founded in 1956, it is published by Reed Business Information Ltd, a subsidiary of...
, Swedish Educational Television
Sveriges Utbildningsradio
Sveriges Utbildningsradio — the Swedish Educational Broadcasting Company — is a public-service corporation dedicated to serving the needs of the Swedish general public by providing educational programming on radio and television.-External links:**...
and local media.
He currently serves as Director of Scientific Research at the Trust, having succeeded Savage-Rumbaugh in directing bonobo research there in 2007.
Publications
- Fields, W.M. (2007) “Ethnographic Kanzi versus empirical Kanzi: on the distinction between “Home” and “Laboratory” in the lives of enculturated apes. Rivista di Analisi del Testo.
- Fields, W.M., Segerdahl, P., & Savage-Rumbaugh, E.S. (2007) “The Material Practices of Ape Language.” In J. Valsiner (Ed.) The Cambridge Handbook of Socio-Cultural Psychology.
- Savage-Rumbaugh, S. & Fields, W.M. (2006) “Rules and Tools: Beyond Anthropomorphism: A qualitative report on the stone tool manufacture and use by captive bonobos Kanzi and Panbanisha.” In N. Toth’s Craft Institute Oldowan Technologies 1(1).
- Savage-Rumbaugh, S., Rumbaugh, D.M. & W.M. Fields. (2006) “Language as a Window on the Cultural Mind.” In S. Hurley (Ed.) Rational Animals, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Segerdahl, P., Fields ,W.M., & Savage-Rumbaugh,E.S. (2006) Kanzi’s Primal Language: The cultural initiation of apes into language. London: Palgrave/Macmillan.
- Savage-Rumbaugh, S., Fields, W.M.,Segerdahl, P., & D.M. Rumbaugh. (2005) “Culture prefigures cognition in Pan/Homo Bonobos.” Theoria 20(3).
- Rumbaugh, D.M., Fields, W.M. (2005) “Great Apes Living in Decatur, Georgia” In J. Caldecott & L. Miles (Eds.) The Atlas of Great Apes and their Conservation. WNEP-WCMC Press.
- Savage-Rumbaugh, E.S., Segerdahl, P., Fields, W.M. (2005) “Individual differences in language competencies in apes resulting from unique rearing conditions imposed by different first epistemologies.” In L.L. Namy & S.R. Waxman (Eds.) Symbolic Use and Symbolic Representation. NJ: Erlbaum
- Savage-Rumbaugh, S., Fields, W.M., & T. Spircu. (2004). “The Emergence of Knapping and Vocal Expression Embedded in a Pan/Homo Culture.” J. of Biology and Philosophy (19).
- Fields, W.M., & Savage-Rumbaugh, S. (2003). [Review of the book A Mind So Rare: The Evolution of Human Consciousness]. Contemporary Psychology 48(8).
- Savage-Rumbaugh, S., Fields, W. (2002). “Hacias el control denuevas realidades.” Quark (25), 20-26.
- Savage-Rumbaugh, S., Fields, W.M. & Taglialatela, J. (2001) “Language, Speech,Tools and Writing: A cultural imperative.” In Thompson,E. (Ed.), Between Ourselves: Second-person issues in the study of consciousness,(pp. 273–292). Exeter, UK:Imprint Academic.
- Savage-Rumbaugh, S. & Fields. W.M. (2000). [Review of the book The Cultural Origins of Human Cognition]. American Anthropologist. 102(4),925-926.
- Savage-Rumbaugh,E.S. & Fields, W.M. (2000). “Linguistic, Cultural and Cognitive Capacities of Bonobos (Pan paniscus).” Culture & Psychology 6(2),131-153.
- Savage-Rumbaugh,E.S., Fields, W. & Taglialatela, J. (2000). “Ape Consciousness-Human Consciousness: A perspective informed by language and culture.” American Zoologist 40(6), 910-921.
- Savage-Rumbaugh, E.S. and Fields, W.M. (1998). “Language and Culture: A Trans-Cultural Interweaving.” Language Origins Society, 28,4-14.