Teaching
"The purpose of anthropology is to make the world safe for human differences."
- Ruth Benedict
As a former first-generation, low-income student who went to college on the GI Bill, studying anthropology helped me understand myself in relation to others across different times and places. It gave me the language to describe my own experiences and a relativistic and holistic perspective to understand people within their social, cultural, linguistic, and historical contexts.
With over a decade of teaching anthropology at various institutions—from large universities to community colleges to small liberal arts colleges—I aim to share these insights with every one of my students by showing them how to find themselves within the vast tapestry of human experience.
Syllabi available for Featured Courses; contact me for more information on other courses.
Featured Course
Applied Anthropology
Are you more of a “doer” than a “thinker?” Have you ever wanted to put theory into practice? Is collaborative learning and teamwork important to you? Do you want to make a difference? This course introduces students to applied anthropology as the fifth subfield of anthropology, one of the fastest-growing areas of the profession that includes public, activist, and community-based research. Students in this course won’t just learn what applied anthropology is, but also what it’s like to apply anthropological theories and methods for themselves, and in partnership with a local community agency.
The Human Experience: a Global Perspective on Human Diversity
Previously taught: Fall 2020 (online asynchronous)
What does it mean to be human? Why is our species, Homo sapiens, so unique? When and where did our first cities and civilizations form? Do you ever find yourself wondering why some people do, say, or think certain things—or perhaps, why you do, say, or think like you do? In this course, we will explore these questions and more through the theoretical, methodological, and applied lens of anthropology. Anthropology, broadly defined, is the science of humankind. A social science, anthropology has been famously described as, “the most humanistic of the sciences and the most scientific of the humanities.” As you will discover, anthropologists adopt a holistic approach to our understanding of the human condition. With a comparative perspective, anthropological insights can help us better explain, empathize, and recognize the massive scope of human diversity across time and space.
Culture and Power
Previously taught: Summer 2017 (in-person)
Compares contemporary sociopolitical systems across cultures, from non-Western tribal groups to modern states. Introduces students to anthropological approaches for understanding and analyzing political forces, processes, and institutions that affect cultures such as colonialism, warfare, violence, ethnicity, migration, and globalization.
Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
Previously taught: Regular course offering, Spring 2018-current
Do you ever wonder why we do the things we do, or say the things we say? Is culture and language unique to humans, and if so, why is it so important to us? How do values and traditions differ across the world? To what extent is our perspective shaped by our cultural and linguistic systems, and can an individual transform their society? In this course you will be introduced to the theory, method, and practice of cultural and linguistic anthropology. We will focus on the question of cultural difference and how anthropologists have approached this issue since the late nineteenth century. Upon completing this course you will be prepared to: apply anthropological terms and concepts to your daily life; reflect critically on different cultures, language systems, and ways of being; and see yourself in relation to your own societal and cultural upbringing.
Featured Course
the body: anthropological perspectives
What makes someone "toxic" or "trashy?" This course explores human bodies as "leaky assemblages" amidst the symbolic, material, and biological pollutants produced by modern industrial societies. Beyond foundational "rubbish" theories, topics explored in this course include: toxic towns, radioactive decay, human cyborgs, and the possibilities for extraterrestrial life. Understanding ourselves as complex ecosystems with and among other living organisms challenges simple mind/body dualisms and offers a hopeful perspective against the existential threat of environmental destruction and climate change.
Museum Anthropology
Previously taught: Spring 2022, Spring 2023 (independent directed study)
This course introduces students to the sub-specialization of museum anthropology, exploring its historical roots, colonial and imperialist legacies, and contemporary practices. It blends theory and methods, focusing on decolonizing practices, archiving, collections displays, and community-engaged curation. Students will complete a hands-on project relevant to their career journey. The course aims to trace the historical roots of museum anthropology, examine colonial and imperialist legacies, explore contemporary, collaborative, and ethical practices, understand and apply decolonizing practices, and learn methods of archiving and collections displays.
Anthropology of Sexuality
Previously taught: Fall 2022 (independent directed study)
This graduate-level course delves into the history of sexuality studies within anthropology and the social sciences, viewed through a feminist lens. Students will explore foundational theories, intersectionality, and critical studies, gaining an advanced understanding of the discipline’s approach to sexuality. The course offers a comprehensive overview, equipping students with the analytical tools to critically engage with and contribute to contemporary debates in the field.
Bring Out Your Dead! Postmortem Agency
Previously taught: Spring 2024 (independent directed study)
This course delves into the concept of postmortem agency from a biocultural perspective, using vampires and vampire lore as a focal point. Students begin with an exploration of foundational theories on monsters and revenants before transitioning into the study of vampiric lore from Eastern Europe and Euroamerica. The course then examines bioarchaeological research on “post-mortem agency” and investigates recent work on dark tourism and the portrayal of “modern” vampires in popular culture. By the end of the course, students will have a nuanced understanding of the place, space, and roles that “the dead” continue to play in various cultural contexts.
Featured Course
ethnographic field methods
Methods of ethnographic fieldwork through participation in organized field studies.
American Housing: Foundations and Futures
Previously taught: Spring 2020 (in-person, synchronous online)
The 2007/08 collapse of the US housing market and subsequent global recession transformed the social, economic, and cultural significance of "home" as millions of Americans went into foreclosure, the rate of homeownership plummeted, and emergent minimalist and "Tiny Home" movements garnered widespread appeal. This course considers the "home" as an object in transition and as a concept that shapes our understanding of identity, family, community, and nation. From foundational kinship, feminist, and poststructuralist theorists to more recent ethnographic and popular media texts, we will survey the shifting terrain of American housing form and policy across a range of topics such as redlining and racial segregation, suburbanization and gentrification, homelessness and new directions in cooperative or micro-living. Students will lead classroom discussions, critically analyze texts, meet local housing advocates and builders, and work collaboratively on these themes, culminating in a final project that will attempt to answer the question: how can we solve today's local, national, and global housing crises?
America: an Anthropological Perspective
Previously taught: Summer 2013, Spring 2016, Maymester 2017
What is America? Who are the American people? How is American culture defined both "at home" and abroad? Using anthropological and historical knowledge, we will trace how American society, broadly defined, emerged from the precolonial era to the present day. Course readings cover a wide spectrum of ethnographic texts with topics ranging from nationalism, immigration, countercultures, religion, rural and urban communities, social justice and political movements. Students will directly apply ethnographic data and methods from social science research in and of the United States in projects directly related to their own experiences living in the US.
Hauntology
Previously taught: Fall 2024 (Block 3)
Discover the dynamic interdisciplinary field of hauntology and "spectral anthropology." Ghosts, hauntings, multisensory paranormal and supernatural encounters are explored through narrative analysis, including active investigations of local urban legends. The course addresses anthropology's enduring fascination with otherworldly phenomena, restless modern spirits occupying abandoned urban ruins, and the reanimated pasts that manifest hauntings in the wake of social and political injustice.
Featured Course
Economic Anthropology
Economic anthropology is the anthropological specialization that studies the financial aspects of human life, that is, how people produce, exchange, and consume across different cultures. Economic anthropology is among the oldest and most-esteemed specializations in the discipline, yet it can be difficult to relate nineteenth-century social theory and century-old descriptions of precapitalist trade to our contemporary economic reality. It is our goal in this course, therefore, to use these theories and concepts from economic anthropology to better understand the cultural, social, moral, political, -- and yes, financial, -- beliefs shaping this new economic era. We'll accomplish this in two ways; first, we will analyze recent ethnographic scholarship in comparison to foundational works summarized in lecture, and second, by synthesizing cross-cultural evidence to create an individual "pitch-deck" that you will present to peer-investors (i.e., your classmates).
Seminar in Cultural Anthropology
Previously taught: Fall 2020 (synchronous online), Fall 2021, Fall 2022, Fall 2023 (synchronous online)
In this course, we will survey the foundational theoretical and methodological tenets of sociocultural anthropology, more commonly referred to as cultural anthropology. By taking a historical approach to the subfield’s development from the 1860s onward, this seminar considers how cultural anthropology has shifted and transformed in response to changing theoretical and global conditions. Why study ethnography, cultural anthropology, or the foundations of American Anthropology at all? Because anthropology matters. We live in an increasingly global, diverse, and complicated world, and now more than ever anthropological perspectives are vital. Indeed, older concepts like “cultural relativism” are still widely applicable even today, as they teach us how to recognize that difference need not be moralized or deemed lesser than. Furthermore, ethnographic data offers fine-grained insights that cannot be captured by other research methodologies, and helps us better understand how people navigate their complex and oftentimes-contradictory social worlds. Thus, in order to gain a fuller appreciation for the relevance and promise anthropological inquiry, broadly, and cultural anthropological research, more specifically, represents, it is vital that we understand where those perspectives originated and why.
UX/UI & Design Anthropology
Previously taught: Spring 2024
In this advanced research methods course, you will practice anthropological theory and method across four individual and group semester-length projects based on a shared course theme: design anthropology. Upon completion, you will be familiar with the basic tenets of applied anthropology, understand how anthropology and ethnographic methods are used in non-academic career settings, and have documented evidence and skills training in ethnographic and related qualitative research methods. The course introduces applied anthropology, the fifth anthropological subdiscipline, with a primary focus on the practice of ethnography and ethnographic methods. Throughout the course, you will be introduced to the emerging field of Design Anthropology through readings, in-class activities, and assignments. You will design a physical and virtual curated exhibit in collaboration with classmates and an Anthropology faculty “client,” evaluate and collect user data for a collaborative UX/UI project focused on online course delivery or program web presence, discuss major themes and concepts in design anthropology with classmates, and produce a technical white paper proposing a well-reasoned and researched solution to a relevant problem in a field where anthropologists are employed.
Featured Course
American folklore
This course offers an analysis of folklore, oral narratives, performance, and material culture with a special focus on America and the American South. Students will summarize major figures, theories, and methodologies in anthropological folklore studies, discuss controversial topics such as cultural and vernacular representation, collect and analyze local supernatural folklore supplemented with theoretical and archival materials, and create and perform a folk narrative in audio, visual, and textual mediums. All course materials, including readings and audio-visual content, are available on the course Canvas modules page. There is no required textbook, but students may need to obtain library materials through USM Inter-Library Loan (ILLIAD). ANT 526 - AMERICAN FOLKLORE is a new course preparation for 2022, with content updated throughout the semester and any changes announced via Canvas. This upper-division undergraduate/graduate course balances theoretical discussion with methodological exploration, requiring students to arrive prepared and actively participate, having engaged with all required materials. The course received a 2022 Teaching Innovation Mini-Grant to create and publicly present local spooktacular folklore - HattiesLore, with all assignments based on this semester-long public anthropology project, except for participation and attendance.
