Congressmen Attack Program That DeVore Helped Develop

A social science curriculum that B. Irven DeVore, professor of Anthropology, and two colleagues provided the research for has come under attack in Congress for allegedly teaching ten-year-olds such concepts as adultery, bestiality, incest and murder.

DeVore last night defended the program, which he said presents an account of the life of Eskimos with "honesty and integrity."

"We've tried to give a balanced portrayal of the Eskimo lifestyle, in which some critical issues of human life come up. They [several congressmen] have pulled segments completely out of context," DeVore said.

The curriculum--called "Man: A Course of Study"--was developed in the mid-1960's at the Educational Development Center in Cambridge, and is currently used in about 1700 schools in 47 states and several foreign countries at the fifth-through seventh-grade levels.

Explore the Roots

The course aims to explore the roots of man's social behavior through the study of selected animal groups and remote human societies, the center says.

As a result of pressure from congressmen the National Science Foundation terminated temporarily last month all funding for the program pending a review of its merit.

Peter Dow, administrative head of the education center group, said yesterday that accusations by Rep. John B. Conlan (R-Ariz.) that the course is "aimed at causing children to reject the values of American society" have distorted the objectives of the program.

Value Judgments

Dow added that he thinks it is inappropriate for Congress, rather than local school boards and parents, to place value judgments on school curricula.

Dow said Conlan may introduce this week at a meeting of the committee on Science and Technology in the House of Representatives an amendment that would permanently end NSF subsidies to promote the course.

Thomas Wolf, section leader for Social Sciences 150, "Perspectives on American Education," used the social studies curriculum when he taught 48 elementary school children in rural Maine.