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Megan Sinclair with students in the Leh district of Ladakh, India

Undergrad takes dream research to the AAA annual meetings

Senior Megan Sinclair presented her research at the 2011 American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting in Montreal, in a panel about the causes of a failing school system in the Leh district of Ladakh, India. She writes “My interest in Anthropology first started when I was in elementary school reading through National Geographic Magazines in the summer. I always wanted to visit the places in the articles and meet the people who seemed to live in such a different way than I. I started my freshman year at the U of O with Digging up History, the freshman interest group lead by Professor Jon Erlandson. I came into my college education with the advice that I shouldn’t rush into a field until I had taken the time to explore the subject and really decide if it was right for me. I noticed a pattern in the general education classes I was taking and realized that Anthropology would give me the chance to work towards my dream of one day working for National Geographic. One of the places that had always interested me the most was Nepal and the illusive Tibet.

“It just seemed to be a place completely different from what I had known with traditions that seemed so unique and beautiful. I went to the study abroad fair my freshman year knowing that I definitely wanted to study abroad and came across an SIT (School for International Training) program to Nepal with a focus on Tibetan and Himalayan Peoples. I think my parents were terrified of the idea but were proud of my courage and supported my decision 100%.

“Each SIT program offers a one month Independent Study Project to finish out the semester where students are to produce a research paper based on fieldwork of a topic related to the theme of the program. I chose to go to Ladakh, India to observe the education system and to understand the efforts being made by SECMOL or Students’ Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh (http://www.secmol.org/index.php). In 1988 less than 5 percent of 10th grade students were passing their matriculation exams, preventing them from furthering their education. In that same year SECMOL was founded by Sonam Wangchuck, a local university student who had been tutoring students to fund his education.  He believed that by involving the community in the issue, creating textbooks as unique as the environment and people of Ladakh and holding teachers responsible that a change could occur.

“And indeed it did. By 2008, the percent of students passing their exams had risen to 28, with textbooks produced by SECMOL being used throughout the district. Unfortunately, not everyone within the education system was excited about the changes being made and SECMOL’s efforts were halted by a local government official. Today, SECMOL has shifted their efforts to the students themselves by offering week long camps to the local village students and a program for students to stay a year at the environmentally friendly, almost completely self-sustainable campus in Phey, Ladakh. These programs serve to supplement their education through English conversation classes with volunteers from around the globe, classes about Ladakhi culture and history, and basic math, science, and English classes. They also hope to rebuild the confidence of these students who have failed their exams sometimes as much as 3-4 times. Sonam Wangchuck has said that his goal is to give these students the opportunity to “celebrate their failures” by living alternatively and learning about what they can offer to their local community. I had the chance to work with a group of foundation year students or students staying at the SECMOL campus for a year.”

Megan intends to graduate this spring, and to continue traveling. Check out other awesome things undergrads are doing in Anthropology at the UO!

Anthropology undergraduates named to Phi Beta Kappa

This year, seven anthropology undergraduate majors and one minor were nominated for membership in Phi Beta Kappa. The nominees are majors Alethia Bouknight, Marlene McVey, Allison Roemer, LeAnn Snow, Jessica Bryant, Waihan Leung, Morgan Steimnetz, as well as minor Jessica Kosie. Congratulations to all!

Rory Walsh receives Gary E. Smith Summer Professional Development Award

Rory Walsh received a 2012 Gary E. Smith Summer Professional Development Award for $3000 for her archaeological research trip to Korea this summer. Congratulations Rory!

Department of Anthropology awarded Track 2 Award for Recruiting and Retaining Diverse Graduate Students

The Department of Anthropology was recently awarded a Track 2 Award for Recruiting and Retaining Diverse Graduate Students, sponsored by UO’s Graduate School and Center on Diversity and Community (CoDaC). The department is one of two departments that were chosen to work with CoDaC for 2 years on this initiative. The award is $10,000.

Anthropology undergraduate Anne Mansfield awarded Officer Chris Kilcullen Memorial Scholarship

Anne Mansfield, a senior anthropology major and future College of Education graduate student, has been named as the University of Oregon’s first recipient of the Officer Chris Kilcullen Memorial Scholarship. The memorial scholarship was established in honor of Officer Chris Kilcullen following his death nearly one year ago. This inaugural year, Anne has been awarded one of two scholarships with the other one going to a student from NCU. Congratulations Anne!

Tara Cepon awarded Wenner-Gren Dissertation Fieldwork Grant

Congratulations to Tara Cepon who was just notified that she received a Wenner-Gren Foundation Dissertation Fieldwork Grant for $20,000 for her project “Social change, parasite exposure, and autoimmunity among Shuar forager-horticulturalists of Amazonia: An evolutionary medicine approach.”

Congratulations to Mauricio Magana–another dissertation fellowship!

Congratulations to Mauricio Magana who was just named a Pre-doctoral Fellows at the Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies at UC San Diego. The fellowship comes with a monthly stipend.

Mauricio Magana Wins Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellowship

Congratulations to Mauricio Magana who was awarded a Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellowship to finish writing up his dissertation titled, “Youth in Movement: The Cultural Politics of Autonomous Youth Activism in Southern Mexico”. The award is for $21,000.

Lee awarded Visiting Fellowship from the Academy of Korean Studies

Gyoung-Ah Lee was awarded a Visiting Fellowship ($7,000 USD) from the Academy of Korean Studies for summer 2012 for her project “Political Economy of Agriculture in Central and Southeastern Korea during the Middle to Late Mumun Periods (2800–1 BP): A Broad Northeast Asian Perspective.”

Kim receives CAPS Foreign Language and Areas Studies Fellowship

Habeom Kim has received a Foreign Language and Areas Studies (FLAS) Fellowship from the Center for Asian and Pacific Studies (CAPS) for the 2012-13 Academic Year for the study of Chinese at the University of Oregon.  The award covers tuition and fees, plus a living stipend of $15,000. The award is contingent upon renewed funding from Department of Education.

Nelson Ting featured on the UO homepage for his recent work on an endangered African monkey

Nelson Ting is featured on the UO homepage for his work on an endangered African monkey. Ting is the lead author of a recent publication in the journal Ecology and Evolution (“Genetic signatures of a demographic collapse in a large-bodied forest dwelling primate (Mandrillus leucophaeus)”). Here’s the link to the full story: http://uonews.uoregon.edu/archive/news-release/2012/2/genetics-endangered-african-monkey-suggest-troubles-warming-climate