Anthropology and the Engaged University New Vision for the Discipline within Higher Education

by Bennett, Linda A.; Whiteford, Linda M.; Himmelgreen, David; Kedia, Satish

• ISBN13: 9781118905081
• ISBN10: 1118905083
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2014-01-28
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Summary

The case studies in this volume demonstrate how community engagement and public scholarship are applied as vibrant and inventive responses to the need for increased relevance in higher education. The chapters reflect the myriad of ways in which anthropologists conceptualize and “do” community engagement in nine large public universities as they connect anthropology to the needs and priorities of off campus constituencies. Each chapter embodies the Carnegie definition of community engagement. “The purpose of community engagement is the partnership of college and university knowledge an resources with those of the public and private sectors to enrich scholarship, research, and creative activity; enhance curriculum, teaching and learning; prepare educated, engaged citizens; strengthen democratic values and civic responsibility; address critical societal issues; and contribute to the public good.” (Carnegie Classifications website 2013). In addition, the volume includes “Lessons Learned” from the experiences of the nine universities to help those faculty, students, and administrators who wish to imbue increased meaning and excitement in their teaching and research.

Author Biography

Linda A. Bennett is an associate professor of anthropology at Memphis State University and coordinates the research and training M.A. medical anthropology program. She received her M.A. from Indiana University and her Ph.D. from American University in sociocultural anthropology. As a member of the research faculty of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, George Washington University Medical Center, she conducted more than a decade of research on family rituals and alcoholism. For several years she has done applied clinical research on alcoholism treatment and collaborative fieldwork in biocultural anthropology in Yugoslavia. Currently at-large member of the governing council of NAPA and coprogram organizer for MSAPA, she was a board member of WAPA from 1981-84; a cofounder of The Alcohol and Drug Study Group; and on the governing council of the Anthropological Society of Washington from 1978-86. She is the author of Personal Choice in Ethnic Identity Maintenance: Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes in Washington, DC.; coeditor of The American Experience with Alcohol: Contrasting Cultural Perspectives; coauthor of The Alcoholic Family; and author of "Treating Alcoholism in a Yugoslav Fashion," East European Quarterly; "Alcohol in Context: Anthropological Perspectives," Drugs and Society; and "Family, Culture and Alcohol," Recent Developments in Alcoholism. Currently, she is beginning a longitudinal study of depression among treated substance abusers in Memphis.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments and Dedication  1

Anthropology and the Engaged University: New Vision for the Discipline within Higher Education: An Introduction
Linda A. Bennett and Linda M. Whiteford  2

A Latino Anthropologist in Arizona: Obligations and Opportunities
Miguel V´asquez  19

Responding to Community Needs through Linking Academic and Practicing Anthropology: An Engaged Scholarly Framework
Stanley E. Hyland and Linda A. Bennett  34

Working with the Difficult Past: Examples from the University of Maryland
Paul A. Shackel  57

Building Community Engagement and Public Scholarship into the University
Linda Whiteford and Elizabeth Strom  72

Synonyms for Engagement: Forging an Engaged Anthropology in North Texas
Lisa Henry, Mariela Nunez-Janes, Ann Jordan, and Alicia Re Cruz  90

Engaged Anthropology on “The Last Frontier”
Kerry D. Feldman  113

Anthropological Praxis in Higher Education
Kathryn A. Kozaitis  133

Engaging Opportunities in Urban Revitalization: Practicing Detroit Anthropology
Sherylyn Briller and Andrea Sankar  156

Bringing Communities and the University Together: Applied Anthropology at California State University, Long Beach
Barbara LeMaster, Karen Quintiliani, and Allison Hunt  179

Additional Material

Biosketches  197