DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY
ANNUAL REPORT
I. Research
Accomplishments
• What are the most significant accomplishments in research? This can
include significant books, exhibitions, or performances, and especially
should include prizes, awards, outstanding publications, recognition, etc.
After eight years of survey and preparatory work, Michael Cosmopoulos sank the
first trench at his Bronze Age site in Iklaina, Greece, exposing a possible palace
site dating to the time of the Trojan War.
Susan Brownell received a Fulbright Scholar Award for research on “The 2008
Beijing Olympic Games: “One World, One Dream”? The book launch ceremony
for the publication of her translation of the biography of China’s member of the
International Olympic Committee (IOC), He Zhenliang and China’s Olympic
Dream (Beijing Foreign Languages Press, 2007) was held in the Great Hall of the
People in Beijing; attended by Jacques Rogge, President of the IOC, and other
Chinese and Olympic dignitaries; and covered on Chinese national media. The
text of the speech she made in Chinese was published in the People’s Daily.
Donna Hart’s co-authored book (with Robert Sussman), Man the Hunted:
Primates, Predators and Human Evolution (Westview Press, 2005) won the 2006
W.W. Howells Book Prize from the American Anthropological Association and
was recognized at the annual meeting of the AAA.
Susan Brownell and Michael Cosmopoulos co-organized the international
conference “From Athens to Beijing: West Meets East in the Olympic Games” at
UMSL on April 14, funded by a $100,000 gift from Costamare Shipping.
Donna Hart and Pam Ashmore’s article, “Changing Students’ Understanding of
Race,” Anthropology News 47(3)(2006): 10-11 was part of the “RACE: Are we so
different?” website of the American Anthropological Association, which was one
of five nominees for the Webby Awards, the leading national award for
excellence on the internet.
• How has the faculty incorporated research into their teaching?
Donna Hart’s and Pam Ashmore’s research is about teaching and is incorporated
into their classes, such as Ashmore’s class on The Creation-Evolution Debate.
Michael Cosmopoulos had 20 students working on his excavation. See Patti
Wright’s involvement with students described below under “Service.” She also
offered a successful Winter Intersession course in 2006-2007 on Archaeological
Artifact Analysis, in which students helped process her research data. Mike
Ohnersorgen will be taking students with him to his excavation in Northwest
Mexico in summer 2007. Susan Brownell utilized her experience in applying for
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a Fulbright and in sitting on the Fulbright National Screening Committee in 2006
to mentor James Daugherty’s successful application for a Student Fulbright
Award. Donna Hart utilized her research contacts to arrange a research project
that helped Lana Kerker win a Student Fulbright Award. Allon Uhlmann worked
with his students to create a website on Cognitive Anthropology in his class of
that same name.
Planning
• Assess the quantity, quality, and/or focus of research.
The quantity is good – in the past year, all regular faculty members (and Donna
Hart, an adjunct) either had refereed publications or were actively engaged in
research abroad that should lead to publications. One faculty (Uhlmann)
published a book with Ashgate Press. The quality is also good - awards were
noted above. Michael Cosmopoulos had publications in two of the top journals in
his fields of archaeology; Jay Rounds had a publication in the top journal in
museology; Patti Wright and Margo Hurwicz had co-authored publication in top
specialist journals in their fields.
Due to the eclectic nature of the department there is no unified focus for our
research or critical mass in any one field.
• Describe your plans to sustain quality or improve gaps?
From our CPA Self-Study:
1. discuss how to better facilitate successful tenure and promotion cases and
improve the “research environment;” consider ways to improve the
department’s reputation within the university for quality faculty and
student research, such as nominating a faculty member for a Chancellor’s
Award for Excellence in Research and Creativity.
2. discuss ways to replenish the Grants Incentive Fund in the next 3-5 years
and develop a policy on its distribution.
3. develop a proposal for an M.A. degree in Applied Cultural Analysis.
4. Explore a closer relationship between Anthropology and Gerontology and
consider 3 + 2 programs to coordinate an undergraduate major with a
Masters degree in Gerontology or Museum Studies.
5. assign the position of “Director of Undergraduate Research” to our NTT
faculty member with the task of improving and promoting undergraduate
research, including mentoring Fulbright and other applications, helping
students present papers at conferences and submit papers for publication,
etc.
6. continue to discuss undergraduate research and strengthening the capstone
experience.
II. Teaching
Student Learning
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• Summarize evidence that this year’s graduates from each program have met
the learning outcomes.
25 students completed Senior Seminar and Senior Seminar Tutorial, including
completion of the senior thesis, with grades of B- or higher. Three were given
delayed grades.
• How did faculty use program or course-level assessment data or teaching
evaluation (including midterm) data and NSSE to change their courses?
The telecourse/online course coordinator used mid-semester data to assess and
change the new online course, 1035, ultimately offering extra credit. Based on
department discussion, it was decided to restructure Senior Seminar in hopes that
the final thesis would be closer to a publishable document. Teaching evaluation
data were considered in the re-organization of theory courses described above.
• What evidence do you have that course requirements are intellectually
rigorous (appropriate to the students’ level)? Do they require student research
and/or creative expression?
The instructor of Senior Seminar, Donna Hart, felt that the process of doing
original research was so challenging to the students that the semester was very
emotionally difficult for almost all of them (and her) because of self-doubts,
resistance, and sometimes hostility. However, the public evaluation of the senior
thesis presentations and the grades jointly assigned by her and the second reader,
almost all of which were Bs or As, indicated a general department assessment that
the performance levels of the students were high.
Our qualitative course evaluations ask whether students felt the level of difficulty
of the course was appropriate. The vast majority say “appropriate.”
• If appropriate, how would you describe the quality of dissertation/thesis
supervision? Please include a discussion of how you assessed the quality of
supervision.
N.A.
• What were your most significant community engagement/service learning
activities this year?
James Daugherty was named A&S Student Marshal for Spring Commencement
for his work helping disadvantaged minorities as a court interpreter in Spanish.
Patti Wright and her students were recognized in a “volunteer appreciation
dinner” by the City of Chesterfield for their work in helping to create the website
for the MAC (Missouri’s Ancient Cultures) Quest program to help 4th-grade
teachers teach students about Missouri’s ancient cultures, conducting a workshop
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with Riverbend East Elementary School students (broadcast on HEC), and
helping to stabilize the millennium-old Gateway Mound.
• What were the most significant student accomplishments (e.g., publications
that include students, presentations by students, prizes or awards) this year?
Student Fulbright awards – Lana Kerker and James Daugherty
2007 Undergraduate Research Day at the Capitol - Elizabeth Rudloff-Wolk,
Angela Woike, Chris Guilford
Graduate school admissions: Laura Ayers - Cooperstown Graduate Program in
Museum Studies at SUNY-Oneonta.
Ken Duong - M.A. in Anthropology at University of California-Riverside.
Cathleen Pearl - M.A. in Museum Studies at New York University
Jaime LaVelle – M.A. in Anthropology at Northern Illinois University
• What changes did you make to the program, courses, assessments, and/or
program descriptions and outcome statements as a result of your findings this
year?
1. discussed the merger with the Department of Foreign Languages and
Literatures with the idea that it will allow us a much greater diversity of
culture area offerings, strengthen our international focus, and increase Study
Abroad opportunities for our students. It is now in its final stages. Relevant
documents are appended.
2. developed and offered our first two online courses through CE.
3. re-organized the major curriculum substantially and submitted the C&I forms
in March 2007.
4. added prerequisites to courses to create a more systematic sequence
5. changed wording so that biological anthropology now exists on a nearly
equal footing with cultural anthropology and archaeology
6. shifted the former content of the capstone theory course (4301) into the mid-
level theory course (3202) and made it a prerequisite for 4301 to strengthen
majors’ grasp of theory; changed the name of both courses. This was the
first and most concrete step in an effort to try to teach more theory, critical
reading skills and methods across the curriculum instead of isolating them in
core courses.
7. in place of two minors in Archaeology and Cultural Anthropology, we have
created one minor with enough flexibility that students can specialize in
either track as they wish – or they can specialize in our third subfield,
Biological Anthropology.
8. restructured the lab component of the methods courses by incorporating lab
meeting times in the computer classrooms into our methods courses in FS07.
9. began to create an online course evaluation system for use in VIP and online
courses, and will attempt to use it this semester.
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10. we developed a written Exit Interview that will be administered to the Senior
Seminar students in an attempt to gather more information about how they
see the major.
11. scheduled two team-taught courses in FS07 and the new lab for the methods
courses will also involve several faculty members in the teaching of all
methods courses rather than one faculty member solely responsible for one
course.
Planning
• How did this year’s enrollments (on-campus, off-campus, on-line) compare
to last year’s?
FS05 WS06 FS06 WS07
day 643 579 592 525
evening 21 23 12 23
graduate 12 12 12 12
classroom total 676 614 616 560
video 278 262 232 232
online 0 56 0 138
extension 30 35 38 18
984 967 886 948
total 1951 1834
(Not all of these figures are official and there may be some inaccuracy,
especially for FS05. We will endeavor to collect accurate records in the future.)
• What new programs were approved or are in progress?
The two minors in Cultural Anthropology and Archaeology were consolidated
into one minor with a choice of three tracks effective FS07.
• What (if any) programs, tracks, or courses have been considered for
elimination or eliminated this year? What evidence was used in that
consideration?
Our mid-level theory course, Anthropology 3202, was considered for elimination
as a requirement for the major. Instead, we decided to reorganize our theory
courses and shift material from the capstone theory course into it, so that students
could concentrate on theory relevant to their theses in the capstone course.
• What are your plans to sustain or increase enrollments, including plans for
courses and programs offered at other sites, during winter intersession, or
online?
1. We offered two online courses experimentally in WS07, will offer them
again in the Summer, and will expand to three in FS07.
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2. Vicki Rapti is taking part in a cooperative program with Simon Fraser
University that may provide online course content in Greek Studies to
UMSL in the future.
3. Offer Archaeological Artifact Analysis again in Winter Intersession.
4. Teach Sports, Ritual and Death: The Archaeology of Greek Myth, at a
popular time (9:30am) in FS07.
5. Following the merger with Foreign Languages, seek to recruit more
double majors, using anthropology to add interest to language classes, and
language classes to provide the language skills that will make students
strong graduate school, grant, and job market candidates.
6. Develop synergy with Foreign Languages through cross-listing and
through English-language courses with a Foreign Language module.
7. Offer attractive new courses through the Honors College.
III. Service
• What were the major contributions your unit made to faculty governance and
other campus activities?
2 Faculty Senate members; 1 Athletics Committee Member; 1 program review of
the Center for Transportation Studies;
• How did members of your unit promote the profession
1 panel jointly organized by Ashmore and Uhlmann for the annual meetings of
the American Anthropological Association (AAA)
Hart and Ashmore article on homepage of the AAA as described above
Susan Brownell on Selection Committee for the postgraduate grant of the
International Olympic Committee, and also invited to speak at the IOC’s World
Forum on Sport, Culture and Education
journal and book manuscript reviews
international conference co-organized by Brownell and Cosmopoulos; keynote
addresses
• How did your faculty fulfill the university’s land-grant mission with
community service?
Michael Cosmopoulos raised $35,000 for a memorial lecture and $200,000 for the
endowment of the Greek Cultural Center; organized 1 international conference, 5
public lectures and 1 music concert; did consulting for the St. Nicholas,
Assumption, St. Constantine and St. Helen Greek Orthodox Churches.
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Margo Hurwicz raised funds for the Arthritis Foundation
Patti Wright’s service was described above
Pam Ashmore was on the Advisory Board of the St. Louis Science Center
IV. Economic Development
• Besides the workforce development of our regular classes, was your unit
involved in any economic development activities? If so, please specify tech
transfer, consulting/partnerships designed to promote organizations’ growth
and/or effectiveness, and other similar activities.
Jay Rounds did pro-bono consulting for almost every museum in the St. Louis
area - Missouri Botanical Garden, Missouri Historical Society, Champ Clark
House, Jefferson Barracks Heritage Foundation, St. Louis Science Center, St.
Louis Dept. of Public Services (on the planning for the Soldier’s Memorial). He
did paid consulting for Mark Twain Home Foundation.
V. Continuous Improvement
• What progress have you made in plans made after your last Five-Year
Review?
We nearly doubled our number of majors from 58 to 91; our number of graduates
more than doubled from 12 to 28 and retention rate seems to have improved. We
made slight progress toward proposing an M.A. degree. No new faculty were
added, but 3 positions were normalized as full-time in the department, tenure-
track positions.
• What other critical issues have arisen since your last review, and what are
your plans for addressing them?
The merger with Foreign Languages and Literatures. Documents have been
presented elsewhere.
• How do you plan to assess the success of the plans you have made either from
the last Five-Year Review or in response to other critical issues?
We will establish an Assessments and Planning Committee to help systematize
assessment and develop measures to evaluate the success of our response to issues
raised in our CPA review.
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