After attending a conference for the Society for Applied Anthropology last spring in Santa Fe, Dr. Jeanne Marie Stumpf-Carome and Professor Mokros Natale decided to collaborate in creating a course. They share a background and love for interdisciplinary study and wanted to create a course that would offer Geauga Campus students the opportunity to experience the intellectual richness provided by interdisciplinary study.
These natural connection points between disciplines support learning how to transfer and connect concepts−skills that support their lifelong learning process−and add value to the future workforce. Teaching students how to collaborate between and within disciplines, also adds to the expertise that accelerates research and discovery.
During President Warren’s visit to the Geauga Campus this past April, Professor Stumpf-Carome asked her about University support for interdisciplinary courses. With President Warren’s positive response, the ground was prepared for pooling resources.
Associate Professor Jeanne Marie Stumpf-Carome has taught at the Geauga Campus for twenty-four years. Her career is interdisciplinary: anthropology, sociology, and in three anthropological sub-disciplines. She regularly teaches Social Psychology, Human Evolution, Introductions to both Cultural Anthropology and Archaeology, as well as, other upper division courses in anthropology.
Her favorite thing about teaching at the Geauga Campus is introducing the student body to these multiple disciplinary perspectives on “diversity” while, yet, underscoring that we are all members of the same species, Homo sapiens sapiens.
Instructor Molly Mokros Natale has taught at the campus for eight years. She regularly teaches College Writing II, as well as The Fundamentals of the English Language. Her favorite part about teaching at Geauga is witnessing her students grow and improve their writing skills. She also loves the creativity inherent in the position.
The Construction of Self Through Tourism is sure to be an exciting journey which allows students to arrive at a deeper understanding not only of the "Selfie" culture in which they live, but also of themselves as travelers and as human beings. Along the way, students will improve upon their writing and communication skills. They will also come to a broader understanding of anthropology as an applied discipline that promotes the investigation of the principles of human behavior and the application of these principles to contemporary issues and problems.