Sociology and Anthropology

Two Elon University faculty members have received Fulbright grants for 2011-12 to teach and conduct research overseas. Associate professor Glenn Scott was awarded a Fulbright lecture grant to teach at the University of the Ryukyus in Okinawa, Japan, and assistant professor Kim Jones will be collecting and analyzing oral histories in Brazil regarding the origins and development of the nation's universal national health care system, as well as supervising graduate research and helping to develop a Brazilian university's first Ph.D. program.

Rissa Trachman, assistant professor in sociology and anthropology, was invited to give a presentation at the first annual Maya at the Lago Conference, held April 14-17, in Davidson, NC.

Elon University senior Jana Murdock collected more than $10,000 this spring for Kopper Top Life Learning Center in Liberty, N.C., through a fundraising project that will provide revenue to the Triad nonprofit for years to come.

Professor Anne Bolin co-chaired an presented two invited sessions at the Society for Applied Anthropology meeting in San Francisco from March 29-April 2, 2011, in which an Elon alumna also presented on her work with Bolin while an undergraduate student.

Elon professor Rissa Trachman and Elon student Jana Murdock presented last week at an organized symposium of the 76th Annual Society for American Archaeology Meetings in Sacramento, Calif.

Professor Anne Bolin was the invited speaker for the The Cultural Anthropology Graduate Speaker Series at the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colo., on March 18. Her presentation was titled “Complicating Gender: Border Crossings and Back.”

Assistant professor of anthropology Kim Jones and senior Chris Jarrett, an international studies and Spanish double major, presented papers on their work in South America at the Mid-Atlantic Council Latin American Studies conference March 18-19 at the University of Pittsburgh. Jones and Jarrett also presented papers on additional research in Brazil and Ecuador at the Southern Anthropological Society's conference in Richmond, Va., held March 23-25.

Assistant professor of anthropology Kim Jones recently presented a paper at a conference hosted by the American Anthropological Association.

Faculty members Martin Kamela in the Department of Physics, and Aaron Peeks and Kim Jones in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, ran a workshop on Ethical Partnerships in International Service-Learning at the Gulf South Summit on March 4, 2011, in Roanoke, Va.

Dr. Tom Arcaro and junior sociology major Emily Wappes were invited speakers at Twin Lakes Retirement Center on Friday, February 7th. They spoke about "Faith and Politics: the New Atheism's impact on politics" as part of an ongoing enrichment series for residents. To put their comments in context, Wappes and Arcaro presented data from Arcaro's international research on the demographics and views of atheists. A spirited discussion followed their presentation.