Anthropologist’s interests ranged from Latin America to occupational science

In 1978, the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences welcomed Granville Alexander “Zandy” Moore as its newest professor of anthropology.

For the next 35 years, Moore made significant contributions to the field, with a focus on Panama, Guatemala and many areas of Latin American culture.

Much of his research examined Maya civilization as well as Latin American ritual, symbolism, law and history, but his wide-ranging interests also spanned subjects such as homeokinetics (the study of complex systems) and occupational therapy.

He served two terms totaling 13 years as chair of the Department of Anthropology, and he taught and mentored generations of undergraduate and graduate students, retiring in 2013 as Professor Emeritus of Anthropology.

Moore died Jan. 15. He was 86.

A scholar of diverse interests

The son of U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Granville Alexander Moore and Emily Woodward Moore, Zandy Moore was born Oct. 8, 1937, in Manila, Philippines.

In 1941, while his father continued his military service, Moore, his mother and his sister returned to Lexington, Va., where generations of his family had lived for more than 200 years. At age 16, he entered Harvard University and, after graduating cum laude, went on to Columbia University, where he earned a master’s degree and a PhD.

After teaching at Emory University in Atlanta and the University of Florida in Gainesville, Moore joined USC.

He taught in diverse areas of anthropology, including theory and history, family and culture, politics and social organization, and the exploration of cultures through film. He contributed to the emerging body of work on ethnographic field methods and urban anthropology in film.

“Zandy always seemed to wear a shy, almost conspiratorial smile, as if he found humanity with all our passions and frailties endlessly amusing,” said Jennifer Cool, associate professor (teaching) of anthropology. “This openness was a feature of his research.”

Several years into his USC Dornsife career, Moore developed an interest in occupational science, a subject pioneered at USC by Professor Emeritus of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy Florence Clark. “Our mutual interest in human activity soon gave rise to our budding friendship, which would continue to flourish for over three decades,” Clark said in her eulogy for Moore. “I am forever grateful to Zandy for helping to establish the legitimacy of occupational science.”

Their friendship and collaboration would eventually lead to an important USC milestone: Moore and Clark helped bring celebrated primatologist and anthropologist Jane Goodall to USC as an adjunct professor.

A respected, accomplished leader

Moore’s contributions to the university included a guiding role in forming USC Dornsife’s Center for Visual Anthropology, and he held membership — oftentimes serving as chair — on dozens of advisory committees, helping to guide matters that ranged from cultural exchange with Mexico to reviewing students’ living conditions. He also sat on four dozen graduate dissertation committees.

His colleagues lauded his leadership skills and talent for building consensus. “He was a firm believer that sociality was an important element in the exchange of ideas and the smooth-running of an academic department,” said Nancy Lutkehaus, professor of anthropology and political science at USC Dornsife. “During his years as chair of the Department of Anthropology, he hosted many convivial holiday celebrations at his home — replete with a full suckling pig, an homage to the time his family spent in the Philippines when he was an infant.”

He authored nine books on anthropology and more than 100 scholarly articles, including book and film reviews and academic papers, and he delivered 30 invited lectures, seminars and workshop sessions globally.

Moore was also a polyglot. He spoke and read five languages: English, Spanish, Portuguese, French and Turkish. And he read Catalan.

He is survived by his spouse and partner of nearly 40 years, Levon Mardikyan, and niece and nephews Alison, Alex and Colin Roberts.

Memorial fund

To honor Moore’s years of service to USC and his role in guiding the Department of Anthropology and the growth of visual anthropology at the university, the department is creating the G. Alexander Moore Fund for the USC Center for Visual Anthropology Archive.

Donations made in his honor will support the preservation of visual, audio and textual materials related to the production of ethnographic film and the anthropological research and technology associated with these materials.