Highlights from the Public Anthropology Student Showcase April 25th, 2016

This was a full day (10:15 am – 6:00 pm) of student research on display from Prof. Debra Vidali’s ANT 385 Public Anthropology class. A professional poster session with 13 student researchers was in the morning and displays continued throughout the day in the hallways and other public spaces of the Anthropology Department.

The main poster session event was attended by approximately 40 people, including: Ajay Nair, Dean of Campus Life; Wanda Collins, Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS); Michael J. Huey, Executive Director of Student Health Services; Suzanne Onorato, Assistant VP for Community, Campus Life; Judith Pannell, Title IX Coordinator; Bridget Guernsey Riordan, Assistant VP of Alumni Relations; Michael Vienna, Director of Athletics; Bevin Carpenter, Center for Community Partnerships; and Giselle F. Martin, Associate Dean of Admission.  Other attendees included: faculty and students from the Rollins School of Public Health; Emory alumni; members of the community; Department of Anthropology faculty, staff and students, and many others.  Later in the day, the audience with the continuing exhibit of all research posters in Anthropology building was approximately 100 people.  Selected posters continue to be on exhibit and reach probably 100 people daily.

Daniela Moncaleano launched a public anthropology website based on her ethnographic research to provide a better understanding of the duality of cultures that young adult immigrants and children of immigrants navigate in the United States:  www.thesearchfori.weebly.com   Based on her work in ANT 385, Daniela received an offer during the Showcase from the Associate Dean of Admission to have her project be shared during Emory undergraduate recruitment events around the country.

Victoria Umutoni used ethnographic research and interviews to understand what prevents adults from pro-actively educating youth about HIV/AIDS risks in Rwanda.  Based on this work,she produced an illustrated story book to be used with pre-teens in Rwanda to assist with conversations about HIV/AIDS education and prevention.  Spring-boarding from her work in ANT 385, she has started discussions with Professor Kate Winskell in the Rollins School of Public Health to develop this project further.

Kaya Ruffin proposed a project to educate young children about earth stewardship.  Varsha Srinivasan did extensive research on the free speech debates on campus.  Fowzio Jama created a proposal for healing intertribal conflict in the Atlanta Somalian community.  Rhianne McCalip presented her research on Autistic blogs.  Alex Davis’ project zeroed in on high fashion brand consumption and its negative effects.  Brianna Murphy proposed a project to help guide undecided college graduates into productive career paths.

Virginia Spinks created a podcast series on #BlackLivesMatter debates on campus, using methods of ethnographic interviewing and participant-observation.  Based on her work in ANT 385, she has started discussions with Dean Ajay Nair in Campus Life to bring this project to the Emory community as part of a wider set of initiatives.  Using ethnographic interview research,

Thomas Alcalay created a 10 minute video and Facebook page to spark conversation among young adults about voting in the US elections.  www.facebook.com/Ode-to-the-Ballot-1028607703842784.  This project will be included on YouTube under the Re-Generation Initiative during this election year, and will be shared with the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) at Tufts University.

Based on her ethnographic research Annabelle Zhuño produced a proposal for a multi-leveled campaign, involving events, performances, and social media, to improve campus health education efforts on sexual health and sexuality. Representatives from Student Health Services, the Office of Health Promotion and Campus Life saw this project at the Showcase and are interested in adopting some of the ideas and applications proposed by Annabelle.

Erin Degler used ethnographic research on campus to understand how connection to dogs help with stress reduction and building community.  Based on this she produced a proposal for a multi-leveled campaign involving the SnapChat social media platform to create connection with therapy dogs on campus.  Senior administrators from Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) and Student Health Services saw this project with the therapy dog Dolce at the Showcase and are interested in adopting Erin’s public anthropology application. Josh Silberfein produced an interactive video game that shares the results of his research on the question:  “Does social media unite or divide us?”  As viewers move through Josh’s Minecraft platform, they see research results and are also asked questions about their own media habits.