Saint Mary's Anthropology club planned to kick off its annual "Anthropology Week" on Monday with a mock archaeological dig, an event cancelled due to poor weather conditions, club co-president Cristina Bueno said.
"Because of the weather we were unable to do the dig," Bueno said. "However, we do plan on rescheduling it for later in the semester. We are still looking forward to the rest of our events for the week."
Bueno said she hopes this week will promote the study of anthropology on the whole campus, as the club wants students to know about all the different facets of the discipline. "There are a lot of different ways people can get involved with it and that is what we love about the subject the most," Bueno said. "It is broad and can reach out to a wide range of people."
The first event, the mock dig, was supposed to draw in students focused on the archeology subfield of anthropology.
"This subfield of anthropology focuses on material remains such as pottery and sometimes includes human remains," Bueno said. "For the mock dig we were planning on placing little prizes on the volleyball courts so students could dig and see what it is like to be out in the field doing this work."
Today, the club will switch gears and focusing on cultural anthropology, she said. Melissa Medich, Global Studies Department lecturer, will speak about the Etruscan Mortuary Practice.
"Professor Medich will be doing a comparative analysis of funerary art in Etruscan tombs during the fourth and fifth centuries BCE," Bueno said. "This represents a mix between cultural and archaeological anthropology. She is going to discuss how materials remains can be used to learn about past cultures."
Wednesday's event will move into the biological subfield of the discipline, Bueno said. We will be filming "Gorrilas In the Mist," a film about the life of DianFossey, a naturalist who dedicated her life to the study of gorillas in Rwanda during a civil war, she said.
"Part of biological anthropology focuses on primates," Bueno said. "This is a perfect film to show because it entertaining, but also very educational."
The week will conclude with a Holi Festival of Colors, an event focused solely on the subfield of cultural anthropology, she said."This festival originated in India and is celebrated in the spring," Bueno said. "It celebrates the arrival of spring with the throwing of color powder. We wanted to have our last day of the week include a very fun and vibrant event."
Contact KaitlynRabach at krabac01@saintmarys.edu
