Teaching

Upon reflection, I have been a teacher even longer than I have been an archaeologist. I got my start in high school and college volunteering as a teaching assistant for a local science center, and my first job out of college was as an Assistant Language Teacher on the JET (Japan Exchange and Teaching) program, where I circulated between all of the preschools, kindergartens, elementary schools, and junior highs of Iide Town, Yamagata, Japan. One of my favorite things about being an anthropological archaeologist is engaging other interested folks in conversations about the human past and present. This includes formal college classes, but also extends to other public engagement activities.

In my teaching, I have two major goals:
1) To challenge students to think critically about the world and in doing so, to develop analytical skills through the incorporation of multiples lines of evidence
2) To communicate the relevance and importance of anthropological research to the modern world.

My classes typically consists of a combination of lectures, class discussions, and methods and data-based activities. Previously, I have taught at all undergraduate levels at the University of Oregon and Valdosta State University, archaeobotany at the undergraduate and graduate levels at Stanford University, and introductory anthropology classes at Santa Rosa Junior College and American River College.