The Anthropology Club at Notre Dame held their first meeting on Oct. 10 to kick off the club’s resurgence. After a period of relative inactivity after the COVID pandemic, the club’s new board is excited to bring the community and excitement for Anthropology back to life.
Junior Alyssa Miulli serves as the current president of the Anthropology Club, with sophomore Kate Kirwan as vice president. Junior John Falger acts as treasurer, and junior Panos Ketonis acts as secretary.
Kirwan led the club meeting, which was open to students of all majors.
Junior Maggie Winter, a student who attended the club meeting, said she had been looking forward to the reformation of the club for about a year. She said she is most excited for the social opportunities the club will offer.
“I want to meet more anthropology majors and be part of a larger community,” Winter said.
Winter, an anthropology major, joined the club in hopes to further pursue her interests and to better understand current global issues from an anthropological lens.
“I enjoy how many varied modern issues can be viewed through an anthropological lens,” Winter said. “My particular interest is in archaeology because learning more about humanity’s past not only reshapes our ideas of historical events but helps us to understand more about modern societies.”
Their first event of the year, aside from the initial meeting, is set to take place in November and will be co-hosted by the department of anthropology and the Graduate Student Association. Professionals and past graduate students from the anthropology department will be welcomed to network and connect with current tri-campus students in order for students to recognize and learn more about the various fields in which anthropologists work.
After these announcements, Kirwan opened up the floor to the several students that attended and asked what events they would like to see in the future. Talk of museum trips to Chicago, tours of archaeological sites, study hang-outs, anthropological discussions and dining hall dinners were all brought up as potential ideas for students to become more involved. Kirwan also discussed hints of a possible spring formal next semester.
Kirwan encourages anyone interested in anthropology to learn more about the major and to be open-minded to what the values in anthropological studies can teach them.
“I think the main reason that more people aren’t anthropology majors is because they think they won’t be able to find a career after school or do anything with it, but that’s not true,” Kirwan said. “I think that the skills that anthropology teaches here are really invaluable. They not only shape your career, but they also shape the way you think about the world and interact with other people.”
Editor's note: A previous version of this article misspelled Kate Kirwan's name. Kirwan is a former news writer for The Observer.
Notre Dame's Anthropology Club makes a comeback after pandemic
A tri-campus student signs up to be a part of the email list for the Anthropology Club during the Activities Fair Aug. 29.
