If any of you are interested in museums or have been following the development of a Flint Hills Discovery Center here in Manhattan, you might want to attend the following meeting, Dec 15 6:00 pm at the Manhattan Public Library.

The various museum consultants that were hired by the City to start developing ideas for this center have been working on the center’s mission, possible exhibit ideas, market analyses, and architectural designs.  Its been an interesting process to watch and a great way to learn about museums from the ground up.  (The consultants are also very interested in public input if you have any.) (more…)

Congratulations Dr. Wesch!

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-11/ksu-wsa111908.php

Greetings anthros!

If you can’t get enough of linguistics and you want more, you might consider attending the 2009 Summer Linguistics Institute to be held at the University of California Berkeley. Some of the biggest names in linguistics and linguistic anthropology teach courses at this institute which is held every other summer. I attended the one in New Mexico in 1995 and it was absolutely awesome!! It is also a great opportunity to take courses that you cannot take here at K-State. Some examples of courses include Language Contact (taught by Jane Hill, former president of the American Anthropological Association and distinguished professor of linguistic anthropology at the University of Arizona) (more…)

Dear students,

This is an invitation to apply to be part of the Spring 2009 class on Digital Ethnography. As you may know, this class has been a tremendous success. Our project on YouTube was presented at the Library of Congress in June: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPAO-lZ4_hU (check out the last 3 minutes if you want to see how much fun we have in this class!) (more…)

You might have noticed that our campus is looking a bit more international lately. Well, we have welcomed around 500 international students this year, including a large group from China. Many of these international students would love to meet for tea/coffee with an American student about once a week or every other week so that they can practice their English and learn about K-State culture. The English Language Program is looking for anthropology students to become conversation partners this semester and possibly next semester. If this is something you would be interested in, please contact Jimmy Wu and he will match you up with a international student. His e-mail is chenhua at ksu dot edu

This is a great opportunity to meet someone from another culture. Students in the past have found this program to be a great experience.

If you are potentially interested in a museum career, I strongly encourage you to participate in the following activity (see below). As you may or may not know, Manhattan is exploring the idea of developing a Discovery Center/Museum.  The City has hired professional museum consultants to evaluate the feasibility of such a center and develop ideas should it be built. They have been meeting with City staff and the public and will continue to do so for another month or so. I have found the process to be very enlightening. This is a unique opportunity to learn about what goes on in the development and functioning of a museum. There is yet another opportunity on October 15 to see how exhibit ideas are developed (as a participant in this process or an observer). If this sounds somewhat intriguing to you, read on and volunteer for this workshop. (If you can’t participate in the workshop, certainly plan on attending the open public meeting!) (more…)

The new Indiana University of Pennsylvania  MA in Applied Archaeology has finally been approved and is accepting  students for the Fall 2009 semester. Some details are available at http://www.iup.edu/page.aspx?id=25173.

Opportunity is knocking. Answer the call. Are you interested in experiencing another culture? Acquiring international work experience? Helping others help themselves? If you’re genuinely interested in making a real difference in the lives of individuals, families and communities throughout the world—the Peace Corps could be the perfect opportunity for you.

A Returned Peace Corps Volunteer will host information meetings at Kansas State University and discuss the application process, benefits and challenges of service, Master’s International and Fellows USA graduate programs, and qualifying for assignments. A 15-minute video detailing life in the Peace Corps will also be shown during the presentations.

The Peace Corps serves more than 70 countries and offers international work assignments in education, youth outreach and community development; business development; environment; agriculture; health; and information technology. (more…)

We had our first meeting of the semester this Tuesday. It was a wondrous time with old members and new!

We voted that the annual bbq will be Tuesday, September 23 from 6-8pm at Poyntz Shelter in City Park. The club will provide hotdogs, hamburgers, crackers and drinks. We ask that you either bring a side dish or $2 to contribute. Besides good grub and hangin’ out, we will also have a stereo, so bring some tunes (aka cd’s)! And don’t forget your game face because we’ve got plans in that regard as well. (more…)

This is a busy season for meetings and conferences.  For those of you who are especially interested in archaeology, I encourage you to take advantage of these meetings to start learning about this profession outside of the classroom and to start networking. (more…)