Anthropology does not lend itself well to unilateral explanations and is best illustrated through a multitude of perspectives and diverse media. In all my teaching endeavors, I try to create a learning environment where students not only increase their practical knowledge and problem-solving skills but also feel empowered to take control of their own learning rather than simply memorizing facts. It has been my experience that students appreciate a classroom in which their opinions are valued and in which they are encouraged through feedback and reinforcement to practice their newfound skills and information.
I view my teaching primarily as a way to empower students to take charge of their learning, by providing them with tangible examples of anthropological concepts and by putting them in a position to teach others. Even if my students are never called upon to identify a skeletonized body, excavate an ancient city, or record a disappearing culture, the skills that they gained in visualizing human anatomy, mapping a local cemetery, and engaging in participant-observation will stay with them longer than mere facts. Practicing anthropology in the classroom leads to practicing anthropology in daily life.
If you’re a current or prospective UWF student interested in classical archaeology, osteology, isotope analysis, 3D printing, ancient migration, diet, and/or palaeopathology, let me know. I am actively recruiting graduate students for our MA program, in which we have a bioarchaeology specialty, so please check out UWF’s MA program.
- Presenting Anthropology – UWF (Spring 2013) [Syllabus]
- Theory and Practice in Biological Anthropology – UWF (Fall 2015) [Syllabus]
Upper-Division Undergraduate Level
- Health and Disease in Ancient Populations – Vanderbilt University (Fall 2011) [Syllabus]
- Human Osteology – UWF (Spring & Fall 2014; Spring & Fall 2015; Spring 2016) [Syllabus]; Vanderbilt University (Fall 2011) [Syllabus]; UNC Chapel Hill (Fall 2006 & Fall 2008) [Syllabus ’06, Syllabus ’08]
- Bioarchaeology – UWF (Fall 2014; Spring 2016) [Syllabus]; UNC Chapel Hill (Spring 2006) [Syllabus]
- Human Origins – UWF (Spring 2015) [Syllabus]
- General Anthropology – UWF (Spring 2013); UNC Chapel Hill (Spring 2009 & 2011) [Syllabus ’09, Syllabus ’11]; Durham Tech (Summer 2002) [Syllabus]
- Intro to Forensic Anthropology – UWF (Fall 2012) [Syllabus]; SUNY Cortland (Spring 2008) [Syllabus]
- Intro to Biological Anthropology – UWF (Fall 2012; Spring 2013) [Syllabus]
- Cultural Anthropology – Durham Tech (Spring 2003) [Syllabus]