University Courses Taught
I am a professionally-trained, certified educator with over twenty years of teaching experience. Before returning for an advanced degree in anthropology, I taught in Colorado, Arizona, Florida, Cambodia and Mexico City, Mexico. I love teaching anthropology and produce compelling curricula for courses including: Health, Illness & Culture; Introduction to Anthropology through Human Health & Healing (Honors Seminar); Peoples and Cultures of Mexico; Principles of Physical Anthropology; Principles of Socio-cultural Anthropology; and Introduction to Anthropology.
I address different learning modalities and special needs by providing varied opportunities to access classroom content through the incorporation of electronic resources, video, university exhibits, and visual didactic support. Other successful strategies I integrate include: cooperative learning projects, student-guided assessment tools (including rubrics and peer-review), experiential education (including labs, field-based projects, and a 2017 Pop-up Museum), creative discussion forums (including digital photography sharing sites, exchange activities, and dialogue centers), and field research and service-learning opportunities (DIS, capstone projects, and honors and graduate theses, among others). In 2019, I was awarded the UNF Faculty Association’s Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award. In 2020, I was awarded the UNF International Center’s International Leadership Award for internationalization of the UNF curriculum. These honors reflect my dedication to individualized learning, student professionalization, and faculty-student research partnerships.
Health, Illness, & Culture (UNF)
This course introduces students to medical anthropological perspectives that are useful in understanding the implications of social and cultural diversity as they relate to health and healing. This course addresses a variety of challenging issues related to the application of medical anthropological theories and methods. As the world becomes increasingly composite, cross-cultural perspectives are critical to understanding the complexities of human diversity in the contemporary world. This course offers tools for studying phenomena affecting human health and healing.
Principles of Physical Anthropology (UNF)
Physical Anthropology is the study of humans as biological beings in a cultural setting. This class introduces students to the key concepts, fossil discoveries, and underlying theories that define the field. The course looks at Homo sapiens from our biological variation to our evolutionary development. Topics include: Primates – Evolution and Behavior, Paleoanthropology and Hominid Evidence, Human Osteology and Forensic Anthropology.
Principles of Socio-cultural Anthropology (UNF)
This course introduces students to the study of sociocultural anthropology, one of the subfields of general anthropology. It presents students with the interpretive frameworks and concepts needed to understand the impact of groups and their cultures upon the individual. This course aims to show the ways in which local and global cultural processes intersect and questions understandings of culture as homogeneous and discrete. This course also gives examples of some of the ways in which anthropology can be used to address some of humanity’s problems such as racism, sexism, growing economic inequality, development, globalization, displacement, and environmental troubles. Finally, this course aims to present anthropology as a discipline that by embracing a bottom-up perspective contributes to enhance self-understanding and dialogue across culturally and socially diverse publics.
Peoples and Cultures of Mexico (UNF)
This course introduces the people and cultures of Mexico
Honors Seminar in Human Health and Healing (UNF)
Introduction to Anthropology (UNF & USF)
An introduction to the critical issues in anthropology. The major subfields of archaeology, physical anthropology, linguistics, and cultural anthropology are examined for an understanding of contemporary and past cultural issues such as the rise of civilization, origins of language, and the roots of social inequality.
Examining Cross-Cultural Diversity (USF)
This course will address a variety of challenging issues related to the general topic of cross-cultural diversity in contemporary American life.
Cultural Anthropology (USF)
Students are exposed to methods and concepts for cross cultural study of the world’s peoples. Case studies demonstrate variations in human adaptation and encourage an understanding of and appreciation for diverse cultures and their values.
