What a wild ride it has been! Last academic year, on the heels of the COVID-19 pandemic, successive years of University budget deficits incentivized the retirement of two of our cherished faculty members, Dr. Tammy Stone and Dr. Charles Musiba. We are now a hardy band of seven full-time faculty. Connie Turner, our beloved Program Administrator of 30 years—who had kept us in line and on track— also retired.
And just as we thought we were successfully surfing the tsunami of changes to higher education, the new Administration unleashed uncertainty regarding student financial aid and faculty research grants while undermining the values our discipline holds dear. These challenges have only confirmed our belief in the importance of what we do. This newsletter is testament to what our department has to offer: our vibrant research and creative work, the way our scholarship makes the world anew, and the synergies we find with students and communities. It showcases our commitment to Anthropology’s principles of holism, scholarly inquiry, and cultural humility, and it highlights the talent, innovation, and ingenuity of the students who keep us returning to work.
As Chair, I am excited about new developments in our curriculum and extracurricular activities. We have a new Certificate in Ethnographic Methods that our students can add to their transcripts to showcase their methodological skills to potential employers. We are moving towards an online BA. We have opened up our Alumni Mentorship Program—which pairs MA students with a mentor in a field of their choice—to first-generation and underrepresented undergraduates, with two career roundtables planned this April! We continue to have a thriving Anthropology Club that plans fieldtrips and documentary discussions, and—thanks to the generous contributions of our supporters—we have an exciting new Zooarchaeology collection and a DEI Fund to support underrepresented students! And we draw inspiration from our work with students, as seen in the 11 Anthropology student presentations at conferences just this spring alone (and many more last spring!). In broadening horizons, challenging assumptions, and insisting that we see past what superficially divides us, Anthropology has so much to offer—perhaps never more than now.
I want to thank Dr. Marty Otañez, the outgoing department chair, for his steadfast work guiding our department through a pandemic—an unenviable job!-- while maintaining our morale. I hope this newsletter continues to strengthen our ties and build community with you--our students, friends and supporters. Whoever and wherever you may be, we invite you to stay a part of our community—whether through our Alumni Mentorship Program or Anthropology Club—and, as always, we would love to hear from you.
Sarah Horton, Professor and Chair
Department of Anthropology
