Teaching
Teaching Philosophy and Style
My teaching focuses on instilling students with respect for human diversity while developing their ability to build and communicate knowledge. My pedagogy is shaped by two guiding principles: (1) learning requires equity and inclusion, and (2) learning is a social process built on experience. As an instructor, I build just, accessible, and inclusive learning environments and emphasize a sense of community and collegiality in the classroom through collaborative activities requiring students to connect with and learn from and about each other while learning course content and skills. While the scale of these activities varies depending on class size, many are experiential and utilize active- and problem-based learning techniques, such as "learn-pair-share," debates, and research projects or activities that leverage anthropological datasets and museum reference collections. I find that, overall, these strategies help prepare students for collaborative work environments and success, whether in anthropology, archaeology, or other fields outside the discipline.
Teaching Interests
Paleoecology; Zooarchaeology; Conservation and Sustainability; Climate Change and Human Prehistory; North America, California, and/or Great Basin Prehistory; Archaeological Curation and Laboratory Methods; Introductory Courses in Archaeology and Anthropology
Recent Courses Taught
Science 2715: Science Research Initiative Undergraduate Research
This course offers undergraduate students the opportunity to participate in cohort-based research experiences (research streams) as part of the Science Research Initiative. Each research stream will be supervised by a faculty mentor from the College of Science. The specific laboratory skills and disciplinary knowledge learned while carrying out research will vary depending on the focus of the research project. In addition to acquiring research stream-specific disciplinary expertise, participation will generally develop skills for reviewing scientific literature, data collection and data analyses, and scientific communication.
Stream Description: Climate Change and Utah’s High-Elevation Ecosystems - In this stream, we study fossil animal remains recovered from Utah’s high-elevation cave deposits to establish what animal communities looked like before human-induced climate change. We then compare these past records with recent zoological survey data to evaluate whether ongoing climate change has contributed to range shifts or local extinctions, as has been predicted for the region’s montane mammals. This work is interdisciplinary and sits at the intersection of Anthropology, Ecology, Geology, and Climate and Environmental Science, and has implications for contemporary ecological restoration, conservation, and wildlife management projects. Students joining this stream will learn skills related to vertebrate osteology, climate modeling, database and museum collections management, and statistical data analysis, and will have the opportunity to develop independent research projects and present their findings to the public and other members of the scientific community.
Science 1500: Principles of Scientific Inquiry, In-person Section
This is a one-semester introductory lecture and laboratory course that provides students with an introduction to the scientific endeavor as both a body of knowledge and as a process. The course distinguishes scientific inquiry as a unique way of knowing that employs a specific set of norms and practices. Students will perform simple scientific and mathematical inquiries to explore foundational principles and engage in their own open-ended discovery activities. Students will also grapple with ethical scientific dilemmas and explore how science and math interact with society. Students will communicate their findings through writing, discussion, and oral and poster presentations. In addition, students will be introduced broadly to the scope of research activities represented by College of Science faculty who direct undergraduate research streams. Course activities will provide students with scientific frameworks to approach more sophisticated research projects as participants in faculty-led research streams in subsequent semesters.
Anthropology 1030-001: Prehistoric Archaeology, In-person & Hybrid Sections
This course is focused on answering one big question: how and why did we get here? In order to understand our current condition, we ask a different question each week. In Part I on Human Evolution, we ask: why do we walk on two feet, what makes us human, and where did we come from? In Part II on the Great Human Diaspora, we ask: why do we live everywhere, why do we destroy ecosystems, and why do we have private property? In Part III on the Origins of Agriculture, we ask: why do we have to grow food, why are there almost 8 billion of us, and why do we have infectious disease? In Part IV on the Rise of the State, we ask: why do we have government and religion, why do we have inequality, and why can’t we all get along? In the final week, we ask: what does the future hold? Emphasis is placed on archaeological method and theory, human-environment interactions, scientific reasoning, and hypothesis testing. Assignments are designed to sharpen student’s academic writing and critical thinking skills.
Anthropology 1010-005/007: Culture and the Human Experience, In-person & Hybrid Sections
This course introduces students to the concept of culture as a framework for understanding similarities and differences in behavior and values in human societies from all parts of the world. The intersections and complexity of historical, social, political, economic, and religious structures and forces in cultures are examined. Most case studies are from non-Western cultures in South America, Africa, and Oceania, but examples and links to cultural and socioeconomic diversity within the United States are also integral to the course. Emphasis is placed on understanding how culture patterns human thought and feelings about the natural environment, social relations, history, and “others”. An underlying theme is that anthropological knowledge can be used to solve contemporary local and global issues.