Inside this issue:

Letter from the Chair 2

Field schools/Welcome Dr.

Laura Hauff 3

Faculty Notes 4-6

Dean’s List/Anth Banquet 6

Faculty Publications 7

Student Field notes 8

Alumni Reflections/Mailbag 9-10

In this issue: The Anthropologist devotes the lead section to reports from

two anthropological field schools offered by our faculty.

During the first summer session, Dr. Panich taught an

archaeological field school here on the SCU campus. The

excavation focused on the remnants of an adobe barracks

that was home to Native Americans at Mission Santa

Clara de Asís from the 1790s to the 1830s. The crew in-

cluded eight visiting students from across the country, as

well as three SCU Anthropology majors: Helga Afa-

ghani, Whitney Miller, and

Cameron Waggoner (all Class

of 2013). Recent SCU Anthro-

pology alumna Nicole

Mathwich (Class of 2012)

served ably as the crew chief.

Over the course of five weeks,

the students uncovered several

American-period trash pits of

various vintage, the stone foundations of the

mission-era structure, domestic midden associ-

ated with the barracks, and a deep pit dating to

the mission period that contained several hun-

dred shell beads, among other interesting finds.

Not surprisingly, given that they were excavat-

ing the remains of a Spanish-style structure, the

crew also unearthed over 2,000 pounds of teja

(terracotta roof tile) fragments over the course of the field

school!

Despite the hard labor and arduous wet-screening--not

to mention the blazing sun and soaring temperatures of

summer in Santa Clara--the field school was a great suc-

cess. Remarked Helga Afaghani, “Getting up early to

spend eight hours in a dirt hole doesn't sound very excit-

ing, but I really enjoyed it.” Dr. Panich hopes to make the

campus field school a regular course offering.

Students in Intro to Archaeology will be processing

materials throughout the year, and Helga and Nicole will

be presenting on aspects of the fieldwork and preliminary

analysis at the 2013 Society for California Archaeology

and Society for American Archaeology meetings respec-

tively. Check out photos from the field and the lab on the

new SCU Archaeology Facebook page: https://

www.facebook.com/SantaClaraArchaeology

Students excavating the site

and some of the findings (shell

beads).

The Anthropologist Focus on Field Schools

Santa C l ara

Univer s i t y

Volume XI I I

Win te r 201 3

All of our faculty members continue to be extremely ac-

tive in both their campus and scholarly activities. Dr. Luis

Calero continues his dedication to the Jesuit goal of edu-

cating the whole person as Bannan Fellow at the Ignatian

Center for Jesuit Education, teaching in Colombia, leading

immersion trips to El Salvador and dedication to teaching

cultural anthropology to SCU undergrads. He spent part of

the fall quarter researching the cultural adjustment of US

deportees returning to Latin America. Dr. Gregory Gul-

lette has continued his long-term research on rural-urban

migrants in Thailand and is successfully overseeing the

Anthropology internship program. Dr. Mary Hegland is on

the eve of publishing her book on political culture and the

1979 revolution in an Iranian village. Dr. Lisa Kealhofer

continues doing much more (see above) than seems hu-

manly possible with regard to teaching, campus archaeolo-

gy, research, and campus leadership. Dr. Lee Panich began

a new SCU archaeology field course during the summer

(front page) while continuing research using archaeologi-

cal data and oral histories in Baja California, Mexico.

The 2012 Anthropology and Sociology Research Confer-

ence was the highlight of the spring quarter! We invited

Dr. Agustín Fuentes to discuss his career in anthropology

and he managed to convince us all that we could have a

future in academia if we so

desired (Talk titled: “Busting

myths, pushing boundaries,

and proving yourself wrong: a

few notes from the life of a

research junkie”). Dr. Fuentes

spoke of teaching, research,

and having a life (for him this

means producing horror mov-

ies on the side) outside of our

‘jobs’. The conference fea-

tured 57 student presentations,

with nine presentations by SCU Anthropology majors.

Our students remain particularly active and have many

exciting events planned for the year. Keep up to date on

their events, achievements, publications, pictures, faculty

activities, alumni activities, and relevant campus events on

our new Facebook page (www.facebook.com/

SantaClaraUniversityAnthropology). Please update us

with your information so that we can feature you in future

newsletters.

Best wishes for a Happy New Year,

Michelle

Michelle Bezanson

Associate Professor & Department Chair

This is my first letter for the

newsletter as department chair

and I am happy to report that

at this time I have not yet de-

stroyed SCU Anthropology.

We have many exciting things

to discuss so I will try to keep

this as concise as possible.

First, a big double CON-

GRATULATIONS are due to

Dr. Lisa Kealhofer the next

time you see her. First, she was promoted to full professor due

to her piles of publications, her excellent leadership of the de-

partment for the past six years (a disproportionately lengthy

term), her continued dedication to teaching and student suc-

cess, and her commitment to campus, local, and world archae-

ology. Second, she received the University Award for Recent

Achievement in Scholarship. This is awarded to one SCU fac-

ulty member each year for making significant contributions to

their field for the past five years. In the awards ceremony

Provost Dennis Jacobs remarked: “Lisa Kealhofer demon-

strates the power of interdisciplinarity to shed new light on

long-standing questions. An expert in identifying things that

are so small that they can be seen only with a microscope, our

colleague then links them to the big questions of how cultures

develop and decline”. We are extremely proud of Lisa’s com-

mitment to SCU archaeology and anthropology.

Dr. Lorna Pierce was also honored with an award. Hendrix

College awarded Lorna with the Odyssey Medal, awarded: “to

alumni whose personal professional achievements exemplify

the values of engaged liberal arts and sciences education”. Lor-

na was honored for her engaged research, excellence in teach-

ing, and her work as a consultant in the Santa Clara County

Medical-Coroners Office.

We are also very happy to welcome Dr. Laura Hauff, a biocul-

tural anthropologist to the department. Our very popular in-

structors, Dr. Matthew Jobin, Dr. Sangeeta Luthra, and Dr.

Lorna Pierce continue to intrigue students in the classroom

with their diverse course offerings in cultural and biological

anthropology.

Sadly, this academic year marks the retirement of Dr. George

Westermark. Dr. Westermark was committed to SCU Anthro-

pology for the past 32 years and led the department to becom-

ing a free-standing major with a large cohort of dedicated stu-

dents and faculty. He is an active scholar and contributor and

has been widely cited in the anthropology of law, conflict reso-

lution and colonialism with publications in Ethnology, Ocean-

ia, Journal of Legal Pluralism, Law and Anthropology, and in

several edited volumes. During spring 2012, we learned that

Dr. Westermark had been granted the title of Professor Emeri-

tus at Santa Clara University, a well-deserved honor. His re-

tirement will likely involve traveling with his wife Kimberly,

The Ashland Shakespearean Festival, hiking, and fishing.

Letter from the Chair The Anthropologist Page 2

During second

summer session

2012, Michelle

Bezanson taught

the Primate Be-

havioral Ecology

and Environmen-

tal Biology in the

Tropics field

courses. Seven

students from four departments participated in the

course and presented some excellent research at our

final symposium. Field course alumni Elisa Phillips

(Biology, 2012), Danica McGuire (Anthropology,

2013), Aaron Thom (Biology, 2010), and Carly

Zipper (Anthropology, 2013) retuned to the field

site for two months during summer and have sub-

mitted abstracts for the American Association of

Physical Anthropology meetings in April 2013.

Some highlights from this summer were guest

speakers/instructors Paul Garber and Sean Watts,

observing a mother and baby sloth, steak at La

Esquina de Buenos Aires, Modesto’s snake story,

and our efforts to clean up the forest. We also

learned that future primatologist, Allison McNamara

(Anthropology and Environmental Studies, 2015) cannot

say the word ‘walrus’. An additional highlight was pre-

senting Primavera school children with shoes, crayons,

and paper for their upcoming school year.

Research projects from the 2012 field courses:

Cleeton, Kalea (Env. Science, 2013): Foraging strategies and seed

dispersal of Cebus capucinus in a Costa Rican tropical forest.

Cooke, Michael (Management, 2014): Mantled howler (Alouatta

palliata) foraging ecology and conservation strategy.

DiCicco, Arianna (Env. Studies, 2013): Feeding and foraging behav-

ior and seed dispersal experiment of Alouatta palliate in the neotrop-

ics of Costa Rica.

Gate, Gregory (Bioengineering, 2014): Examining butterfly popula-

tions in undisturbed and degraded ecosystems.

Kurtz, Kristine (Anth, 2014): Prehensil-tail use during foraging &

positional behavior in white-faced capuchins (Cebus capucinus) at

Estacion Biologica La Suerte.

McNamara, Allison (Anth and Env. Studies 2015): Juvenile social

behavior: how do white-faced capuchins (Cebus capucinus) learn the

social behaviors necessary for group living?

Powell, Nicole (Anthropology, 2013): Cebus capucinus social behav-

ior: cooperation vs. agonism.

Continue: FOCUS ON FIELD SCHOOLS

Page 3 Volume XIII

Welcome Dr. Laura Hauff

The Department of Anthropology enthusiastically welcomes new assistant

professor Dr. Laura Hauff to our faculty. There are several reasons why this

is particularly wonderful for SCU anthropology. First, Dr. Hauff is a biocul-

tural anthropologist who examines the interplay between biology and culture

in influencing breast-feeding patterns in the United States. She integrates

behavioral observation, sophisticated lab techniques, and interview data to

determine how maternal health and individual attitudes might influence peri-

natal outcomes, particularly breastfeeding. This approach and topic is espe-

cially exciting for students interested in both cultural anthropology and biological anthropology and is cur-

rently a ‘hot’ topic in Anthropology and in popular culture. Second, Dr. Hauff’s courses will complement

and strengthen our anthropology and public health degrees at SCU. She brings an intriguing, timely perspec-

tive and will provide many undergraduate research opportunities in her maternal and infant health lab. Third,

Dr. Hauff is advising the SCU Anthropology Club. She and the student club officers have many fun and in-

formative activities planned for the 2012-2013 academic year. Dr. Hauff received her BA in Sociology at

College of St. Benedict/St. John’s University, St. Joseph, MN, and an MA and PhD in Anthropology at the

University of Minnesota. She was an NIH Postdoctoral Fellow in the Division of Nutritional Sciences at

Cornell University. She has published in the American Journal of Human Biology and presented at this

year’s American Anthropological Association national meetings in San Francisco in November.

The Anth Club is proud to announce the creation of a permanent presence for Santa Clara Anthropology on Facebook:

www.facebook.com/SantaClaraUniversityAnthropology Be sure to “like” the page to keep up with important announce-

ments from the department, student activities, alumni achievements, faculty research, and other anthropology news items.

Anth Club Events The Anthropologist Page 4

Faculty Notes

Justice Conference to be held at Creighton Universi-

ty, August, 1-4, 2013.

Luis attended the Religious Education Congress held in

Los Angeles, where he partici-

pated in workshops and lec-

tures addressing the role of the

churches in working with im-

migrant populations in

the U.S. and in shaping gov-

ernment policy. Along with

students on campus, he was

also involved in the "mock

wall display" on campus which

mimicked the construction of the wall separating the Unit-

ed States and Mexico. The purpose of this display was to

educate the academic community regarding immigration

and particularly some of the myths that accompany

the growing anti-immigration sentiment in some parts of

the country.

In late June he traveled to Ireland where he met with Jesuit

friends working on immigration issues in Europe. This pro-

vided an opportunity to do some sight-seeing in beautiful

Western Ireland.

During the past academic year Dr. Gregory Gullette ex-

panded on his research in Mexico and Thailand, while also

continuing to work on a collaborative project with Santa

Clara’s Environmental Studies Institute that examines food

justice issues in Santa Clara County. He also worked with

a few students examining transnationalism in the Bay area.

Gregory continued his collaboration with colleagues in

Mexico researching tourism development in Oaxaca, which

resulted in a publication in the International Journal of

Tourism Anthropology. Most significantly, through a fac-

ulty development leave grant, he conducted nearly six

months of ethnographic research in Thailand’s Samut

Prakan and Nakhon Ratchasima provinces. During this

time he collected preliminary ethnographic data for a larger

three year comparative examination of peri-urbanization in

Thailand’s central and northeast regions.

Dr. Michelle Bezanson had an excellent year at Santa

Clara University. First, and probably most importantly, she

was tenured and promoted to Associate Professor. She is

ecstatic that she will be able to spend many more years as

an SCU anthropologist.

She published her research

on tree truthing (see last

year’s newsletter) in the

American Journal of Physi-

cal Anthropology. In addi-

tion, she published a paper

on prehensile-tail use in the

American Journal of Primatology. Even more exciting than

the publication is the appearance of her artwork on the cov-

er of the August issue of AJP. She continued to teach clas-

ses in Biological Anthropology, Primatology, and Popular

Culture. Michelle is currently bragging about the success

of her student assistant researchers, Carly Zipper, Aaron

Thom, and Elisa Phillips who collected over 200 hours of

behavioral data on capuchin plant pruning this during sum-

mer 2012. They will be presenting results at this year’s

AAPA meetings in Knoxville, TN. Michelle looks forward

to a great year connecting with faculty, students, and alum-

ni on topics anthropological and beyond!

As in years past, Fr. Luis Calero took a group of ten SCU

faculty and staff on an immersion to El Salvador over the

summer break. The group met with students from Santa

Clara's Study Abroad Program (Casa de la Solidaridad)

who attend classes at the local Jesuit University (UCA)

while working closely with the poor.

In the Fall, he coordinated Santa Clara's Western Conver-

sations delegation. The group traveled to Regis University

in Denver, Colorado, where it discussed the topic of

"Teaching Ethics at Jesuit Universities." With the help of

the various deans and the office of the Provost, Fr. Calero

also was involved in preparing the text of the “Jesuit Exa-

men,” a campus-wide conversation and assessment on

well we are implementing a mission and vision of a “faith

that does justice” across university life. A summary of

these conversations will be presented at the next Jesuit

(Dr. Gullette continued)

Data collection was

hampered in some cases

due to Thailand’s 2011

monsoon season, which

sadly flooded most of

the northern, northeast-

ern, and central regions,

resulting in massive

devastation and disrup-

tions throughout the country. Yet, during this time Dr.

Gullette was also able to publish in the forthcoming

edited volume Theory in Social and Cultural Anthropol-

ogy and the journal Culture, Agriculture, Food and En-

vironment. Lastly, Gregory was awarded a visiting re-

search fellowship in Thailand at Chulalongkorn Univer-

sity’s Social Research Institute for three years.

Dr. Laura Hauff is happy to be the newest addition to

the Anthropology faculty as she has felt welcomed by

all the friendly faces on campus.

She comes here after earning her

PhD at the University of Minne-

sota and a brief postdoctoral fel-

lowship at Cornell University. Dr.

Hauff is a biological anthropolo-

gist whose research takes a bi-

ocultural approach in focusing on

how maternal nutritional status af-

fects breastfeeding outcomes in the

United States. She has a commit-

ment to the Public Health Science

major here on campus as well and is

excited to explore issues at the in-

terface between anthropology and public health. This

year she will present her research at the American An-

thropological Association meeting in San Francisco and

at the Experimental Biology meeting for the American

Society for Nutrition in Boston. It didn’t take Dr. Hauff

long to enjoy teaching Santa Clara students and she

looks forward to initiating a new project in the Bay Area

with their involvement.

Despite more surgery on her dislocated and shattered

shoulder in Fall 2011, Dr. Mary Hegland had a very

active year. She participated in an invited workshop at

the University of Bamberg, Germany on “Beyond the

‘Patriarchal Family’” in December 2011, with her pa-

per, “Women’s Emerging Voices: Gender and Family

Change in an Iranian Village from 1978/1979 to

2003/2008.” After that, she went to Hyderabad, India,

where she participated in the Study of Persianate Societies con-

ference hosted by the Mawlana Azad National Urdu University.

The conference was a rewarding gathering due to the impres-

sive architecture, mixture of cultures and religions, scholars

from the US all the way to India, Tajikistan and China, wonder-

ful food and beautiful women’s clothing, hospitality of the Hy-

derabad hosts, and the strong Persian and Muslim influences in

the city.

Even more importantly than her presentation at the ASPS con-

ference, Mary was able to spend some time conducting re-

search among people of Iranian background living in the city,

through networking with Shi’a Muslims and attending Shi’a

women’s rituals of mourning in their separate, upstairs ritual

(and social) space of the mourning hall for Imam Hussein, mar-

tyred in 680 B. C. A., in present-day Karbala, Iraq.

At the International Society for Iranian Studies Conference, 1-5

August 2012, Istanbul, Turkey, Hegland presented an anthropo-

logical perspective about research challenges and strategies in

Iran and with Iranians at a workshop on Iran research, and or-

ganized and chaired a double panel, with eight papers about

anthropological perspectives on modernization, globalization

and development in rural Iran. She presented her own paper,

“The Decline of Taifeh-keshi (Kinship-based Factional Compe-

tition and Conflict) in an Iranian Village.” Comparing her re-

cent visit to her observations during several months in the city

in 2003, Mary noted that many more religious rituals and activ-

ities have emerged into some public spaces in Istanbul since the

election of an Islamist president in Turkey.

Dr. Lisa Kealhofer spent the first full year in quite a while at

Santa Clara University. She wore two administrative hats dur-

ing the academic year, Chair of the Anthropology Department

and Acting Campus Archaeologist. Unfortunately, these two

‘hats’ kept her from teaching classes. However, over the course

of the year she worked with two excellent students in her lab,

Maxine DeVincenzi and Morris Kim, studying micro-botanical

forms related to millet. Maxine’s research paper on millet do-

mestication in China won her the department’s Anthropology

prize in 2011. She published two papers about her ongoing

research on ceramics and interaction during the Iron Age in

Turkey. In the spring, she was very pleased to find out she was

promoted to Professor. Lisa spent the summer doing fieldwork

in Turkey and enjoying a celebratory trip to Europe, en route to

Scotland where she is on leave in Fall 2012. She is looking

forward to engaging with faculty, students, and alumni on her

return!

Page 5 Volume XIII

continued: Faculty Notes

The Anthropologist Page 6

continued: Faculty & Staff Notes

Dr. Lee Panich enjoyed his first full year on the SCU faculty. In addition to his regular course offerings (Intro to Archaeology

and Historical Archaeology), he taught an archaeological methods and theory course in Spring 2012 in which students were

able to participate in preliminary research at the site of the summer field school (see front page). The field school was one of

the highlights of the year, and required lots of advanced planning and coordination with several campus units. He is currently

enjoying working with students in the Intro to Archaeology class to sort through all of the summer’s exciting finds. In addition

to getting his classes up and running, he is also continuing with his research in Baja California. Lee has been working with his

Mexican colleagues to collect geological obsidian samples along the Gulf of California coast, as well as to analyze archaeolog-

ical specimens in order to illuminate prehistoric trade networks and social relationships. He recently presented on his obsidian

research at a conference in Mexico City.

Dr. George Westermark completed thirty-two years of work at Santa Clara in 2012. His teaching this

year was limited to two courses in the Fall, but he continued in the Winter to serve on the search com-

mittee that brought a new biological anthropologist to SCU. He also was pleased to participate in the

successful tenure and promotion decisions for Drs. Bezanson and Kealhofer. His retirement brings

many opportunities to enjoy new travels and outdoor pursuits with his wife, Kimberly. There is plenty

of time too for exploring his large personal library and all the other good books still unread. He feels

himself blessed to have had a career filled with wonderful students and colleagues during three decades

at SCU, and, most especially, to have shared with them the insights and excitement of anthropology.

Anthropology 2011-2012 Dean’s List

Helga Afaghani ‘13, Ashley Armstrong ‘13, Briana Colon ‘13, Lynsey Cumberford-Palmer ‘14, Katherine Edgecumbe ‘14,

Maroo Kim ‘15, Lauren Kolodziej ‘13, Matthew Stockamp ‘15, Elizabeth Wassmann (minor) ‘13

The Anthropology Banquet

The sixth annual Anthropology Banquet took place in April 18, 2012. We had an excellent turnout of Anthropology majors

and minors who shared a wonderful evening with the faculty and staff at the Adobe Lodge. In addition to a delicious dinner,

the attendees honored the recipients of the 2012 Anthropology Awards and the inductees into the Lambda Alpha society. The

seniors also designed a highly amusing game of Anthropology Jeopardy that pitted faculty members (Professors Gullette,

Kealhofer, and Panich) against one another in the ultimate test of anthropological knowledge (Dr. Panich won...). Dr. Jobin

created the mix CD, featuring songs from the year 1990 when many of the graduating seniors were born.

The Anthropology Award was presented to Nicole Mathwich for her paper entitled “Making Men at Early Santa Clara Col-

lege: A Look at the Gendered Landscaped”. The Father Eugene Buechel, SJ award was given to Micha Brodoff and the Out-

standing Scholastic Achievement was given to Nicole Mathwich.

2012 Lambda Alpha Honors Society inductees

Helga Afaghani

Ashley Armstrong

Briana Colon

Lauren Kolodziej

Kyle Medeiros

Sarah Montgomery

Elizabeth Wassmann

Carly Zipper

Mackenzie Zorkin

Class of 2012 Micha Brodoff

Maxine DeVincenzi

Gabriel Garcia

Kathryn Hughes

Catherine Lasater

Nicole Mathwich

Kyla Moran

Patricia Nevers

Jessica Pereira

Brendan Ruiz

Lydia Shahi

Page 7 Volume XIII

2011-2012 Faculty Publications

Bezanson, M. 2012. The ontogeny of prehensile-tail use in Cebus capucinus and Alouatta palliata. American Journal of

Primatology. 74:770-782.

Bezanson, M. and M.E. Morbeck. 2012. Future adults or old children? Integrating life history frameworks for under

standing primate locomotor patterns. In: Clancy K, Hinde K, and Rutherford J. (eds.) Building babies: primate

development in proximate and ultimate perspective. Springer Book Series: Developments in Primatology: Pro

gress and Prospects. Pp. 435-458.

Bezanson, M., S.M. Watts, and M.J. Jobin. 2012. Tree truthing: How accurate are substrate estimates in primate field

studies? American Journal of Physical Anthropology 147:671-677.

Hauff, L.E. and Demerath, E.W. 2012. Body image concerns and reduced breastfeeding duration in primiparous over-

weight and obese women. American Journal of Human Biology, 24: 339-349. (invited for peer-reviewed special

issue on “Global Obesity”).

Hegland, M.E. 2011. Aliabad of Shiraz: Transformation from Village to Suburb, from 1978-1979 until 2003-2008. Ant

hropology of the Middle East 6(2):21-37.

Abi-Rached, L., M.J. Jobin et al. 2011. The Shaping of Modern Human Immune Systems by Multiregional Admixture

with Archaic Humans. Science 334:89-94.

Kealhofer, L., P. Grave, and B. Marsh. In press. Scaling Ceramic Provenience at Lydian Sardis, Western Turkey. Jour

nal of Archaeological Science.

Grave, P., L. Kealhofer, B. Marsh, T. Sivas, and H. Sivas. 2012, Reconstructing Iron Age Community Dynamics in

Eskisehir Province, Central Turkey. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory. 19 (3): 377-406.

Panich, L.M., A. Porcayo Michelini, and M.S. Shackley. 2012. Obsidian Sources of Northern Baja California: The Known

and the Unknown. California Archaeology 4:183-200.

Panich, L.M. 2011. Continuities in a Time of Change: Lithic Technology at Mission Santa Catalina, Baja California.

Pacific Coast Archaeological Society Quarterly 45(1&2):13-30.

This past year the Departments of Anthropology and Sociolo-

gy hosted the 39th Annual Western Undergraduate Research

Conference. Organized by Sandra Chiaramonte and Drs.

Gregory Gullette and Marilyn Fernandez, the conference had

57 presenters, coming from such diverse institutions as the

University of the Pacific, Vanguard University, Stanford Uni-

versity, Sonoma State University, among others. Of course,

as noted in the opening letter from Dr. Michelle Bezanson,

we were fortunate to have Professor Agustín Fuentes from

the University of Notre Dame present the keynote address and to have our faculty chair

many of the sessions. We look forward to working with the Sociology Department this

year preparing for the 40th anniversary of the undergraduate research conference.

39th Annual Western Undergraduate Research

Conference

The Anthropologist Page 8

Students’ Notes from the Field

In this new section, we give students participating in field research, internship, or study abroad programs the op-

portunity to describe their experiences in their own words.

Helga Afaghani (2013): SCU Archaeology Field School

In general, I try to avoid hard work. That I found myself voluntarily doing manual labor eight hours a day for six weeks is

as much a surprise to myself as anyone else. This past summer I participated in the archaeological field school on campus;

it is a decidedly less exotic location than where a lot of other students chose to go to fulfill their internship requirement, but

the lessened risk of contracting a tropical disease was nice. And while the field school didn’t give me stronger arms or any-

thing, I did get a great neck tan and a much deeper appreciation of just how much work goes into archaeology. It’s really

not easy. You have to be willing to sweat and bleed and do heavy lifting, none of which are things I enjoy. Despite how

awful I make it sound, it’s actually not so bad. I’d even go so far as to say I enjoyed it. It’s sort of exciting because you

never know exactly what you’re going to find, and sometimes you find some very weird stuff; I was particularly fond of all

the doll parts. It’s certainly not for everyone, but I think maybe it could be for me.

Grace Lehman (2014): Study Abroad in Ghana

I am currently studying abroad in Ghana; it continues to push and pull me in different directions I never knew existed. I

have learned so much about myself my goals, and my dreams. Ghana is a well-developed and stable country in Africa, but

it also has its struggles like any developing country. Sometimes I find myself thinking what would I do for hot water, to sit

next to a fireplace right now and drink some hot chocolate, to drink straight from the tap, but more importantly, why I am

so incredibly privileged in the U.S. and how did that happen? Despite their struggles, it appears that most Ghanaians do not

believe in the word “stranger” because they see everyone as their family and friends, even if they have never seen the per-

son before in their life. This is an aspect of trust within these communities that is warming and calming to the body: a feel-

ing of extreme comfort and safety given by those around you. I value this sense of community and hope that other people

can imitate this kindness to strangers that I see so often here in Ghana.

Sarah Montgomery (2013): Life at Daraja Academy, Kenya

Daraja Academy is the first free, all-girls, secondary school in Kenya. The school provides an education for exceptional

Kenyan girls of poverty, who without Daraja would not be able to continue their education. A major aspect of Daraja is

leadership and women’s empowerment. Not all the girls will go onto university, but if they are strong, powerful, kindheart-

ed leaders in their communities, they will accomplish much in their lives. At Daraja, I have learned that it is not the educa-

tion that changes lives; it is providing amazing girls with an opportunity for an education, which they have blossomed with.

I have now spent 4 summers at Daraja and I will head back to Kenya next fall to work after graduation. While at Daraja, I

work with the girls in the dormitory making sure they are all healthy, happy, and have all their needs taken care of. I also

work with the founders on the day-to-day running of the school in an administrative role as well as coordinating volunteers

who visit campus. For more information visit, www.daraja-academy.org.

Carly Zipper (2013): Two months of primate fieldwork in Costa Rica

Last June, when I tried to describe my summer plans to family and friends, I always came up short. Although I’d been to

La Suerte before as a field school student, I couldn’t even begin to know what to expect from my two-month stay as a re-

search assistant. Now, when asked to describe my summer experience, I still struggle to do it justice. Daily life consisted of

waking up with the sun, hiking into the forest to find monkeys, and collecting data on their behavior for as long as we

could. Even though it was physically exhausting work, I have never felt closer to nature. I’ve always felt that I belong in

the outdoors, and my time spent in the field showed me that this is an essential part of any career I enter. Not only that, but

collecting data for a long-term research project renewed my interest in science. Although I sometimes tire of writing re-

search papers, I can now see that my investment in the study’s final product grows with the time and effort put into data

collection. Not only has this experience helped me to feel more prepared for graduate school, but it’s convinced me that a

career in scientific research will be both challenging and rewarding.

Page 9 Volume XIII

Alumni Reflections Sarah Friend (2005)

How did my anthro major help shape my professional life? As a 19-year-old curious about evolution, I picked up Daniel

Quinn’s “Ismael” during the summer between my freshman and sophomore year, and immediately after putting it down

declared myself an anthropology major. Wanting to find out as much as humanly possible about how we came to be and

where we’re heading, I dove headfirst into my studies. Incredible opportunities soon opened up for me, including getting

grants to spend summers at the Smithsonian museum in Washington, D.C. and in Africa; all the while my studies served

as my tour guide, taking my curiosity to new places.

After graduating, I continued to explore. My experiences included teaching elementary school in France, crewing aboard

a sailboat in the Caribbean, working as a cultural educator in museums in New York City, and volunteering alongside a

Quichua shaman in the Amazon – during which time, I met some of the most alive, extraordinary people I’d ever encoun-

tered, people who generously shared with me their interpretation of the world around them, their wisdom, and their soul.

Looking back, this lesson has been the best souvenir – that there is no one “right” way. With this understanding, I

stopped feeling self-conscious for the many trajectories and roadblocks I’d encountered while figuring out my career and

embraced the freedom I’d been given from living what I’d studied. And I’m loving every minute of it. :)

Michael Garcia (2011)

I am currently living in Washington, DC, and participating in a year of service with the Capuchin Volunteer Corps. I

work for an organization called So Others Might Eat which serves the needs of homeless population in the DC metro

area. Today they have more than 30 programs from a daily dining room for the homeless to their own rehab center in

West Virginia. I love living in DC, but I especially love the experience of living in community with our other volunteers.

This past summer I did some freelance research for Jesuit Refugee Service in DC, conducting research and interviews

from those working in JRS on the significance of faith based NGOs in disaster relief. The final result was a preliminary

draft of a paper that will be presented at the next UNHCR Geneva Conference this December. I am very excited that I

had a hand in creating such an important document.

This year is my second year of service. Last year I worked in a program called Red Cloud Indian School Volunteers (a

Jesuit program) on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. The Red Cloud Indian School serves children and teens

living on the reservation (grades K-12) and focuses on offering a top of the line education asking for no tuition in return

from any of their students.

Alumni Mailbag

Georgina Drew (2000) recently finished her Ph.D. in Anthropology at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill with

a Dissertation titled, “’Ganga is Disappearing’: Women, Development, and Contentious Practice on the Gages”. She is

currently a Postdoctoral Fellow at the India China Institute of The New School in New York City, where she is coordinat-

ing research on religion and sustainability in the Himalaya, among other projects.

Nina Radovic Fanta (2003) has been teaching in Chile for the past five years in local universities. She has completed an

MA in cultural anthropology and is a PhD candidate working on her dissertation.

Jelena Radovic Fanta (2004) is finishing her PhD in cultural anthropology at the University of California Riverside. She

will be presenting at this year’s American Anthropological Association meetings in San Francisco. Her presentation is

titled: “El País sale adelante, pero un se queda ahí mismo: Seasonality and fragmentation in Chile’s Aconcagua Valley.”

(continued on last page)

Continued: Alumni Mailbag

Nicole Brand-Cousy (2007) is pursuing a MA in Counseling Psychology at the University of British Columbia in Van-

couver, BC.

Natalia Rodriguez (2008) completed a Master’s degree in social development in London and is now considering jobs in

Latin America focusing on community capacity building. In her thesis, Natalia examined empowerment struggles and ap-

proaches to achieve transformative change.

Molly Lasater (2010) has completed volunteer opportunities in public health in Cambodia and France. She is currently

working as a research assistant at Kaiser Permanente where she investigates the early onset of puberty in young girls. Mol-

ly is preparing applications to pursue a Master’s in Public Health.

Annie Murphy-Hagan (2011) is beginning a new position at Head Start as a Family Advocate. She will be managing

casework for 60 families, conducting health and wellness checks, providing parenting classes, and conducting home visits.

Maxine DeVincenzi (2012) is in the Bay Area working at an immigration law firm. She plans on applying for graduate

school in the near future.

Nicole Mathwich (2012) has started a PhD program in Anthropology at the University of Arizona in sunny Tucson. She is

currently developing a research design to continue her work in historical archaeology and integrating zooarchaeological

methods.

We are on the Web:

www.scu.edu/cas/

anthropology

Anthropology Department

500 El Camino Real

Santa Clara, CA 95053-0261

Phone: 408/554-2794

Fax: 408/554-4189

E-mail: schiaramonte@scu.edu

Sant a C l a r a Unive r s i t y