Students and faculty from the Department of Anthropology participate in numerous outreach events throughout the year. Here are some of the highlights.
Dana Nyquist with Campus Archaeology and young archaeologist at Science Fest, via Katy Meyers
On April 2013, MSU hosted its first ever Science Fest. The Department of Anthropology had three events including “Dig the Past” at Fenner Nature Center, “Hominid Evolution: What did our ancestors look like?”, and Campus Archaeology Program. Volunteers included Blair Zaid, Amy Michaels, Sylvia Deskaj, Katy Meyers, Sabrina Perlman, Kate Frederick, Julie Fleischman, Ashley Kendell, Nicole Geske, Emily Niespodziewanski, Jen Vollner and others.
At the end of July, MSU also hosted its annual Grandparents University, where grandparents and grandchildren get the chance to attend three days of classes and stay in a dorm. Over three days, the Department of Anthropology had two events including “Bones and the Law: Techniques of Forensic Anthropology” with volunteers Julie Fleischman, Ashley Kendell, Nicole Geske and Jen Vollner, and “Campus Archaeology Program” with volunteers Katy Meyers, Katie Scharra, Ryan Jelso, Josh Schnell, and Marie Schaefer.
Max Forton and a young explorer ‘Dig the Past’ at MSU Museum, via Adrianne Daggett
On September 21, MSU Campus Archaeology hosted its first sessions of “Dig the Past” at the MSU Museum, and on October 26 for Michigan Archaeology day it held its second “Dig the Past”. “Dig the Past” is an education and engagement project created by Adrianne Daggett in which kids learn about archaeology. Visitors can dig, sift, and sort their way towards learning about how archaeology builds knowledge about the human past. The program involves hands-on activities for kids of all ages that occur once monthly during the academic year at the MSU Museum.
[This article is featured in the Winter 2014 Department of Anthropology Newsletter]