Jemison Visiting Professorship is just around the corner!

Get ready to see Professor Francis de Waal talk about empathy, fairness and prosocial primates.
The theme of this Jemison Visiting Professorship lecture is "Morality Before Religion" and it is presented by the College of Arts and Sciences the Department of History and Anthropology at UAB. Dr. de Waal teaches primate behavior at Emory University.
The speech will take place at the UAB Alumni House on April 11, 2012, at 4pm.

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ANTHRO-TEACH hosted the 47th annual meeting of the Southern Anthropological Society here in Birmingham on March 15-17th. The theme was “Peace, Justice, and the Environment from an Anthropological Perspective.”

Photo by David M Johnson

More than 150 presenters, along with others who attended as observers were welcomed.

Photo by David M Johnson

Photo by AnthroTeach

This was an opportunity for southern anthropologists to share the ongoing and completed research projects with others with similar interests. It was also an excellent opportunity for students of anthropology to gain some more exposure to professional presentations and different anthropological and interdisciplinary perspectives. The original research projects covered an array of anthropology related topics.
However, the highlight of the conference was the keynote speech given by Dr. Beth Conklin of Vanderbilt University on Friday. She spoke on the topic of “Cultivating Politics of Possibility: Changing Climates for Southern Anthropology.”
The conference was a success overall and it was the pleasure of ANTHRO-TEACH to present this venue for the sharing of ideas and research, and to promote further dialogues about the importance of peace, justice, and ecology within the discipline of anthropology.

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Jemison Visiting Professorship brings de Waal to UAB

Morality Before Religion is the theme of the next Jemison Visiting Professorship lecture, presented by the College of Arts and Sciences the Department of History and Anthropology at UAB. Professor Francis de Waal will talk about empathy, fairness and prosocial primates. Dr. de Waal teaches primate behavior at Emory University.
The speech will take place at the UAB Alumni House on April 11, 2012, at 4pm.

Get ready for the 2012 Southern Anthropological Society meeting

The 2012 Annual Southern Anthropological Society meeting will be hosted by Anthro-Teach at the University of Alabama Birmingham at the Sheraton Hotel in Birmingham, Alabama, March 14th-17th. This year’s theme is “Peace, Justice, and Environment” and our keynote speaker will be Professor Beth Conklin from Vanderbilt University. The Sheraton is located in downtown Birmingham and is within walking distance of the Birmingham Museum of Art, the McWane Science Center and the Civil Rights Institute. Click here for map and directions. Book your room at the Sheraton by February 13, 2012 before 5 p.m. to receive the special conference rate of $115.00 per night. A field trip to the Civil Rights Institute is planned for the Sunday after the conference. The SAS Annual Meeting provides professional anthropologists and students of anthropology with an opportunity to explore and share current projects and issues within the field. Please direct any questions to the meeting chairs, Sharyn Jones ( sharynj@uab.edu) or Lori Cormier (lcormier@uab.edu). For more information, visit the Southern Anthropological Society website.

On Thursday January 19, 2012, Anthro-TEACH gave a presentation about Native American culture for Boy Scout Pack 397 of Homewood, AL at the Trinity United Methodist Church. The student presenters were Christel Carlisle, Jade Delisle, Alea Rouse. The overall presentation showed the children how Native Americans utilized their natural environment. They covered the topics of lithics (stone tools) and music and dance.

The explanations of stone tools included how they were constructed and used. There were plenty of examples presented for the troops to gain greater perspectives of how they were utilized by prehistoric Native Americans.

The scouts were very enthusiastic participants in demonstrations of traditional Native American music and dance. The music and dances that were demonstrated were from more contemporary times, but they allowed the younger audiences to see how Native Americans incorporated nature into their traditions.

Due to time constraints the all of the questions could not be answered, but the Anthro-TEACH team was very impressed by this pack's interest in these topics. We greatly appreciate the enthusiasm of the scouts and we hope that they were able take away valuable information and are further encouraged to pursue anthropological cultural explorations.

Whispers from the Past at the Aldridge Botanical Gardens

Three sisters garden at Aldridge

On October 23rd the ANTHRO-TEACH students and faculty participated in the Aldridge Botanical Gardens second annual celebration of Native American Culture. This exciting full-day of outreach and education for the public and their families was hosted by the Aldridge Gardens with the partnership and support of ANTHRO-TEACH, Moundville Archaeological Park, Legacy Partners in Environmental Education, and the Alabama Humanities Foundation.

One of the activities for kids included a puppet show about the Native American myth of the Three-sisters (corn, beans and squash).










Chip Wente created a traditional kitchen and cooked native Alabama foods in an earth oven using clay pots he created in the traditional Native American style.

 Using Native American flint knapping and hafting methods Chip created an array of tools that would have been used in the past by the Southeastern Native Americans.

UAB ANTHRO-TEACH students and faculty worked with the Aldridge volunteers and crafters to teach the public about the lifeways of the Native Americans in Alabama and the Southeast. Visitors to Aldridge learned about beading and the bead loom.

UAB Anthropology Department faculty Lori Cormier and Sharyn Jones explained artifacts, (their use and construction) from the Josselyn Archaeology Collection housed at UAB Here visitors are handling enigmatic clay "Poverty Point Objects" from the site of Poverty Point in Louisiana.

UAB Anthropology student Brandon Grisaffi explains pottery making in Alabama per-Columbian times to Aldridge visitors.

UAB Anthropology Graduate Student Christel Carlisle describes Native American homes and musical instruments to program participants.

Graduate student, Anna McCown explains ground stone technology and the distribution of Native American tribes in the past.

Dr. Jones discusses Alabama archaeology with visitors to the Josselyn exhibit.

Visitors to the Aldridge event learned about native gourd crafts, that include rattles, spoons, and bowls. Pictured above, two Anthropology graduate students, Jade Delisle and Anna McCown clean and work gourds as they teach local kids about this process.

Aldridge visitors select gourds to work and create useful household items with.

Andrew Kirkpatrick, a UAB Anthropology student (pictured below) worked with Aldridge volunteers and program participants to teach about the atlatl. The atlata is a tool invented by Native Americans in the Southeast who used it for leverage to enhance the distance that a dart could be thrown.

Visitors also engaged in leaf pounding, an ancient Cherokee craft.

Ethel Owen displays her beautiful pine needle baskets, a type of weaving art used by Native Americans.

The photos below are of the Sylestine Legacy, a troupe of Creek Indian dancers who participated in the Whispers from the Past event.

These young visitors to Aldridge try their hands at making music.....