Global Studies Initiative Final Report: Anthropology 101 Spring 2019

In this project report for the Global Studies Initiative at Parkland College, the instructor of Anthropology 101 describes the addition of three in class activities introduced to the course to enhance global awareness

Anthropology 101: Introduction to Anthropology Syllabus Spring 2019

This is a sample syllabus for Anthropology submitted as part of the Global Studies Initiatives in Social Sciences Grant at Parkland College for the 2018-2019 academic year. Highlights indicate changes and additions made that incorporate global studies into the curriculum

Anthropology 101: Introduction to Anthropology Class Activities with Global Perspective Spring 2018

These three in class activities designed for Anthropology 101 incorporate a global perspective into themes of the course. The first activity, Who Owns The Past, asks students to respond to the Elgin Marbles controversy. The second activity, The Importance of Cultural Relativism, addresses the issue of female genital cutting, and the third activity, Drag Queens: Performing Gender Norms, challenges perceptions of gender norms. These activities were created as part of the 2018-2019 Global Studies Initiatives in Social Sciences Grant at Parkland College

What Can I, as a Leader, Really Do? Learning to Lead Through Autoethnography

This research study, while highly personalized, contributes in various ways to the literature on public schooling. First, this study includes a critique of the public schools and posits that while public schools are the problem, potentially public schools may also be the solution. This allows multiple and novel interpretations of the critique of public schools. Second, while reflection and reflective practice has been emphasized in the teaching profession for decades, this research study offers a reflection within the context of a practicing principal, therefore, expanding the possibility of reflection application to school leaders. Third, this study and my analysis of the alignment of theories of action and theories-in-use will provide a rich description related to the application of the work of Argyris and Schön to the contemporary principalship. Fourth, there is much research regarding principals as school leaders, however, this autoethnographic study adds another perspective to what it means to be a leader in the current context of public schooling through an under-utilized, but potentially powerful, methodology. Finally, this research study may provide a new perspective to how one’s narrative can be used to learn and give voice to the voiceless. Autoethnography is a qualitative research methodology and process. Through this methodology, I was able to respond to my research questions. The primary research question for this autoethnographic study was, what can I, as a leader, really do and also included were the following sub questions: How aligned are my theory of action and theory-in-use? What did I do as a leader of a new school? What can the narrative teach me and others

Social Justice Leadership: Coming to Know Another Possibility through Autoethnography

Traditional notions of learning, teaching, schooling, and leading, contribute to the inequity and injustice found in schools. In this study, autoethnography was used as a process and product to explore one leader’s journey opening and leading a new “alternative” school as the school’s principal. These experiences create the backdrop of a larger narrative about public schooling and leadership. The findings, expressed through narrative, demonstrate that schools do not have to beget oppression, and school practices, framed in social justice, can create the needed environment and culture to develop liberatory praxis

Pilgrimage and the construction of Cahokia: a view from the emerald site

This dissertation investigates the role of pilgrimage and pilgrimage centers in the development of the pre-Columbian city of Cahokia (A.D. 1050-1350) by examining archaeological data from the Emerald site, a large multi-mound center 24 km east of Cahokia. The goals of this project are to determine whether the Emerald site was a pilgrimage center coeval with Cahokia and, if so, how these journeys contributed to Cahokia's beginnings. Using mound construction data from four of Emerald's earthen mounds, data from magnetic surveys and targeted excavations on a pre-Columbian roadway called the Emerald Avenue linking Emerald to Cahokia, and analyses of features and artifacts excavated from the Emerald site by the Illinois State Archaeological Survey in 1998 and 2011, I argue that Cahokia's development hinged in part on pilgrimages to the Emerald site during lunar standstill events every 18.6 years. To determine whether Emerald was a pilgrimage center, I used ethnohistories, ethnographies, and contemporary accounts of Native American pilgrimage to construct material correlates of what we might expect to find archaeologically at a Native American pilgrimage center. These correlates include multiple short-term occupations, formal roads or paths converging there, evidence of non-local populations, few domestic structures, religious structures, plazas or open areas, evidence of feasting and other communal activities, and acts of remembrance. Overall, the archaeological data closely corresponds with these correlates. Ceramic and architectural data revealed that there were at least five distinct, short-term occupations at Emerald from about A.D. 1020 to 1200. Importantly, during one of these occupations, the Emerald site was completely reconstructed and enlarged in conjunction with Cahokia's A.D. 1050 founding. Investigations on the Emerald Avenue provide indirect evidence that there was indeed a processional avenue that linked Cahokia and Emerald. Ceramic data demonstrates that pilgrims traveled to Emerald primarily from Cahokia and the lower Illinois Valley and not local villages near the Emerald site. Short-term domiciles, special shrine structures, a large plaza, the continued enlargement and renewal of Emerald’s central earthen monument, and abundant feasting remains also point to Emerald's unique nature. Overall, this evidence shows that Emerald was a pilgrimage center temporally and spatially associated with Cahokia’s founding. Pilgrimages to the Emerald site were key to Cahokia's emergence. More specifically, the alignment of Emerald's natural landscape, mounds, and features to the lunar standstill event, the presence of a spring adjacent to the site, the continued renewal of the primary mound, large-scale feasts, and the special structures at the site show that these journeys linked pilgrims to the moon, Earth Mother deity, Under World, mythical narratives, and notions of renewal, abundance, and fertility. The relationships that were forged during these pilgrimages ensured world renewal, sufficient rainfall, and successful harvests; they also instigated important social and political alliances and a collective identity. In sum, pilgrimages to Emerald assured the overall wellbeing and prosperity of the Cahokian world. It is likely that without these journeys, the city of Cahokia and its impact on the rest of pre-Columbian North America, would have been profoundly different

Safety at Schools: Identifying the Costs Associated with the Necessary Safeguards for Arming Educators

Editors’ note: The Rural Educator publishes a policy brief each issue, intended to explore topics pertinent to rural education policy and advocacy. The issue of school safety is particularly timely, especially for rural schools. We believe this essay, based on surveys of school leaders in Colorado, takes a unique perspective by examining the financial costs that might be associated with policies to place guns in schools

Asynchronous Video Interviews and Artificial Intelligence: A Multi-Study Exploration

Asynchronous video interviews (AVIs) provide scalable, low-cost opportunities for matching interviewees and organizations. However, the implications of a shift from synchronous interviews aren’t fully understood, especially when design choices such as AI evaluations are employed. To better understand the impact of AVIs, we undertook an exploratory qualitative study in addition to an experiment. The first study involves 100 qualitative responses and exploratory quantitative tests on the relationships between coded values and demographic and trait variables of the respondents. Our second study tests the impact of AI feedback using a large online AVI service while accounting for various disadvantaged groups that could experience discrimination in their AVI interactions. We developed 5 propositions regarding the interaction of interviewee traits and AVI design. Additionally, we did not find support that AI feedback increases the performance of interviewees, though we identify several traits that lead to high AI scores and human-rater performance