CULLOWHEE – The Western Carolina University Department of Anthropology and Sociology Brownbag Series resumes on Wednesday, Sept. 26, with a presentation by Cherokee language faculty members.
The lunchtime series, which is free and open to the public, is an opportunity for faculty and students associated with the department to share research and ideas with the community.
Kicking off the series will be Hartwell Francis, Cherokee language program director, and Tom Belt, Cherokee language program coordinator, presenting “The Role of Higher Education in Maintaining Biolinguistic Diversity.” Francis and Belt will explore how languages and biospheres are succumbing to global pressures and the role of the university in fostering cultural and biological pluralism.
Then, on Wednesday, Oct. 10, Nikki Jastremski, lecturer in forensic anthropology, will present “Investigating Biological Ancestry and Social Identity in Colonial Cuenca, Ecuador.” Jastremski will detail research designed to estimate the biological ancestry of commingled individuals in a recently discovered ossuary under the city’s cathedral.
The series will conclude for the fall with a presentation Wednesday, Nov. 14. Philip E. Coyle, professor of anthropology, will discuss “Community Gardening as Intensive, Sustainable Agriculture: The Sylva Community Garden in Comparative Perspective.” Coyle will compare the Sylva Community Garden with Robert Netting’s intensive, sustainable agricultural type.
All events are held in Room 110 of the McKee Building at WCU from 12:10 to 1:15 p.m.
Info: Peter Nieckarz, associate professor of sociology, at (828) 227-3837 or Heather Laine Talley, assistant professor of sociology, htalley@wcu.edu.
-WCU
