This year, the Society for Applied Anthropology (SfAA) is hosting a virtual annual conference and St. Mary’s College is participating at many levels. Professor of Anthropology Bill Roberts serves on the 2021 Program Committee and took the lead on organizing three sessions involving SMCM faculty, students, and alumni.
The session, Creative Collaborations for Sustainable Change with Communities in the Mid-Atlantic, features presentations by six faculty members. Roberts, along with Professor of Anthropology Julia King, College Archivist of Information Science Kent Randell, Assistant Professor of English Jerry Gabriel, Professor of Educational Studies Angela Johnson, and Adjunct Professor of Anthropology Stephan Lenik will discuss projects ranging from local folklife outreach to descendant communities.
A second session, Reflections on the Student to Professional Pathway: Connections Between St. Mary’s College of Maryland the University of Maryland-College Park, features SMCM anthropology alumni. Roberts will moderate a panel including Alyssa Nutter-Weber ’13, Katie Boyle ’14, Clara Richards ’14, and Becca Quick ’14. Leslie Walker Jr. ’13 will serve as discussant for the session. Presenters Nutter-Weber and Quick earned their Masters in Applied Anthropology at the University of Maryland-College Park. Katie Boyle earned dual master’s degrees in Applied Anthropology and Historic Preservation from College Park, while Richards earned a master’s degree in Public Health. Les Walker earned his MAA at the University of South Florida.
The third and final session features Colette Nortman ’22, one of three SMCM anthropology majors awarded an Undergraduate Research Fellowship from the American Anthropological Association. Nortman joins peer Undergraduate Research Fellows and faculty mentors from Illinois State University, Indiana University, University of Louisville, and Wheaton College in a roundtable discussion entitled, “What is the Value of an Undergraduate Anthropology Degree? Findings from Undergraduate Researchers at Five U.S. Campuses.”
Roberts will also join faculty members from North Carolina State University, Northern Kentucky University, and the University of Memphis in a roundtable entitled, Field Schools in Uncertain Times: Assessing Risk for Host Communities, Students, and Faculty.
Session and Paper Titles:
1. Creative Collaborations for Sustainable Change with Communities in the Mid-Atlantic.
- Bill Roberts, “What Are Anthropology Alums Doing After College? Building a Community of Practice with Alums”
- Julia A. King, “Changing the Narrative: A Collaborative Project Between St. Mary’s College and the Rappahannock Tribe of Virginia”
- Kent Randell and Jerry Gabriel, “Folklife Community Outreach in Southern Maryland”
- Angela Johnson, “Student Accounts from an Inclusive Physics Department”
- Stephen Lenik, “Jesuit Impacts on Maryland’s African-American Community”
2. Reflections on the Student to Professional Pathway: Connections Between St. Mary’s College of Maryland the University of Maryland-College Park.
- Alyssa Nutter-Weber ’13, “Applying Anthropology to Communicate Effectively: Reflections on the Power of an Anthropological Education”
- Katie Boyle ’14, “Practical and Professional: Reflections on Applied Anthropology and the Care of Cultural Resources”
- Clara Richards ’14, “Culture is the Crux: Coordinating Community Health Programming in Population Health”
- Becca Quick ’14, “Transitions in Applied Anthropology: From Student to Practitioner”
- Leslie Walker, Jr. ’13, discussant
