I love teaching, and am always up to trying anything new, interesting, and daring that helps people learn better.
Undergraduate Instruction
My undergraduate teaching happens in multiple modalities and places. I was an early embracer of the challenge and special opportunities of online education, and currently teach about half my classes in virtual classrooms. Most of my other courses are experiential in some fashion, such as research practica where I work with class of undergrads to design and execute real, publishable research projects from start to finish. I recognize that most people learn fastest and best when they get fully immersed in the problem at hand, and the importance of teaching theory but constantly connecting it to concrete skills development. In 2019-20, for example, my practicum class is working together on designing and doing a study looking at how reliance on some devalued forms of drinking water signals poverty and low status, and as such is stigmatized.
To me, then, there is no need for any distinction between our research and undergraduate teaching. I bring students into our research, and our research into the classroom. Our team even does research on how to best innovate our teaching, and we involve our students in that.
I am a massive study abroad proponent; done well it is the most powerful pedagogical tools we have. Over the last 30 years I have developed and lead award-winning health and sustainability themed study abroad programs in eleven countries (New Zealand, Australia, Fiji, UK, China, Switzerland, Antartica, France, Belize, India, France), many of which have been subsequently adopted and replicated by other institutions. In the summers, I also engage our students in own anthropological fieldwork, inviting them to join projects on the ground to get an experience in doing anthropology. Students can also learn about the research process in the lab too, and I created a large lab-based undergraduate research apprenticeship program for our School that is going strong, and has to date served 1000s of our students.
My major undergrad current teaching project (now through 2023) is redesigning how we teach a fully integrated Introduction to Anthropology in the new millennium. I am excited by our instructional dream team on this effort that includes cultural anthropologist Amber Wutich, archaeologist Kelly Knudson, biological anthropologist Chris Stojanowski, anthropological linguist Cindi StrutzSreetharan, and our editor Jake Schindel at Norton Publishers.
Graduate Training
I am currently open to accepting potential graduate students for the Anthropology, Global Health, or Environmental Social Science PhD programs. In mentoring graduate students (and post docs), my focus is on helping each to develop a sophisticated skill set (theories and methods) that allows to address complex questions at the intersection of culture, health, and environmental research. I work closely with Dr Amber Wutich in training graduate students, all of whom develop sophisticated research skills by working collaboratively with us on team projects through the Culture, Health, and Environment Lab. This means our advisees get the chance to interact closely with an array of faculty on different ongoing projects, while also developing their own specific domains of expertise over time that contributes uniquely and importantly to that team. This approach has proven success: grad student lab members advance rapidly and successfully into their own careers, with strong publication records, experience in mentoring others, impactful teaching records, and a proven ability to work well in diverse teams. Please feel free to reach out to me if you are applying into our programs.
Here are some pics of my students learning-by-doing over the last 3 decades.
Study abroad London class on 18C medical techniques 2019 Study abroad London class on ancient burial practices 2019 Service learning Fiji 2003 Ethnographic field school, Savannah 2000 Study abroad Fiji 2008 Ethnographic field school, Barrrier islands Georgia 2000 Study abroad Fiji 2002 class on culture and health Study abroad China 2009 Study abroad Switzerland 2010 class on Olympic doping and ethics Study abroad Switzerland visit to trash recycling 2010 Study abroad Australia class on adaptation to arid landscapes 2003 Study abroad Belize class on maritime ecological knowledge 2004 Field methods training Haiti 2017 Study abroad Austria class on human ecology of the Alps 2001 Study abroad France class on food production 2002 Home stay, New Zealand 2007 Student internship India 2018 Student internship India 2018 Student piloting, Mozambique 2016 Field methods training, Mozambique 2016 Study abroad in London visit to the Broad St pump 2008 Study abroad Fiji 2003, making Fijian pottery Ethnographic methods class on Tempe campus, 2008 Alex + Kelly co-teaching, summer 2019 First ethnographic field school class, Austria 1998 Study abroad Italy 1999, class on traditional agriculture Study abroad Belize 2003 Study abroad China, 2010 Service learning, seniors community, Switzerland 2011 Ethnographic practicum, Mexico 2006 Study abroad in Australia 2001, class on rock art Ethnographic methods training, Peachtree City Georgia 1999 Research training, Fiji 2011 Study abroad Australia class on marine conservation 2002 Study abroad Australia class on rainforest biodiversity 2002 Service learning, New Zealand 2007 New Zealand study abroad 2007 Homestays, Fiji, 2008 Study abroad on food and culture in France, learning observation 2002 Consensus analysis workshop, Mozambique 2017 Interview practice, Mozambique 2017 Interview practice on the ASU mall 2010 West Bank piloting practice 2017 India internships, since 2010 Practicing interviewing, China 2010 Survey training/piloting, Haiti 2016 Internships, India, since 2010 Classroom observation training for education students Mexico 2001 Consensus analysis training for NGO staff, West Bank 2018 Survey interview piloting, Mozambique 2016 Angie Thomas, our beloved field guide in London every year since 2007 (Greenwich, 2019) Fall 2019 lab meet and greet Undergrads practicing interviewing skills, Sept 2019