Field Voices invites all Spartan anthropology students to share details about the projects and activities they have participated in while here at MSU. This is an opportunity to highlight your experiences, explore the diverse opportunities within your major, and understand how your work can support your academic and professional goals.
STUDENT EXPERIENCE
Melissa Teja
Year: Junior
Major: Anthropolgy
Minor: Environmental Social Science
Hometown: Johns Creek, Georgia
What inspired you to choose anthropology as your major?
I was drawn to anthropology because I saw an opportunity to develop my love of science alongside my passion for investigating the human experience.
Describe your anthropological experience.
In June 2023, I participated in the MSU Education Abroad program, working under Dr. Gabriel Wrobel at the Marco Gonzalez Maya Site in San Pedro, Belize. During this field school, I conducted archaeological surveys and excavations alongside other students, while gaining hands-on experience in photogrammetry, stratigraphic analysis, epigraphic analysis, cataloging, and curating osteological material. This field school was one of the best experiences of my life, furthering my passion for archaeology and field work.
Following the field school, I conducted research in the MSU Bioarchaeology Lab. My first project involved creating an osteobiography of an individual from Marco Gonzalez, using a standard biological profile to evaluate life history. This year, I received a PURI award for my current project, which is a discriminant function analysis to determine skeletal sex, that will be presented as a poster at the 2025 UURAF and the Society for American Archaeology’s 90th Annual Meeting.
Since 2023, I have served as Vice President of the Undergraduate Anthropology Club, where some of my favorite events have been guest speakers and trips to the Field Museum. My involvement in the Anthropology department has helped me grow in my research skills and my love for the field. The best part has been connecting with amazing people who share my passion, and getting to learn from incredible professors. I’m excited to hear back from the internships I’ve applied for the summer 2025 season and plan to apply to graduate programs in biological anthropology this fall.
STUDENT VOICE
Owen Kozdron
Year: Senior
Major: Anthropology
Minor: Environmental Social Science
Hometown: Williamston, Michigan
What inspired you to choose anthropology as your major?
During my second anthropology class, Introduction to Physical Anthropology, I was inspired. The class covered many topics that excited me. I was enthralled by the anthropological tendency to consider and care for those struggling in different places worldwide. I also loved learning about human and hominid ancestor evolution.
How has studying anthropology changed the way you understand different cultures and perspectives?
Studying anthropology has made me eager to explore different cultures and perspectives. Many of our fundamental beliefs and values are conditioned into us by our social and physical contexts. Gaining the awareness to question these is important to me and I believe it gives me a more holistic understanding of people, societies, and the world.
Can you share an example of how anthropology has helped you critically analyze social issues? You can use examples from class or other academic experience.
Anthropology has helped me understand how interconnected societal issues are. For example, the degradation of trust in each other and institutions, the internet, neoliberal ideology, and the inciting of distrust by elites. To create effective solutions for these issues, it is critical to trace the chain of impacts to the primary causes. This includes acknowledging where our own understanding reaches its limits and not hesitating to gain insights from other perspectives and people to create a more accurate and encompassing picture of the situation.