Past Events

Hosted by: Will Meyer, PhD (he/him)

Will is a generalist anthropologist at Mercyhurst University who advocates for a transdisciplinary and collaborative “use what works” approach to pursuing the questions that interest us. Trained as a four-field anthropologist and historical ecologist, Will has conducted archaeological, ethnographic, and ecological research in the United States and Europe. He is especially interested in how societies “remember” and “forget” relationships and knowledge from the past, focusing on both landscapes/ecological relationships and on systems of sex, gender, and sexuality.

Including:

Dina Rivera, MA, RPA (they/them, Queer femme, nonbinary)

Dina graduated from the University of South Florida with a degree in Applied Anthropology, specializing in archaeology and forensic anthropology. Their master’s thesis focused on enhancing accessibility through virtual archaeological and cultural resources spaces. Since 2021, they have been serving as the Communications Director for the Register of Professional Archaeologists.

Shawn P. Lambert, PhD (he/him)

Shawn Lambert is an associate professor of anthropology at Mississippi State University in the Department of Anthropology and Middle Eastern Cultures. Lambert is a southeastern archaeologists with a primary focus in community-engaged and collaborative archaeology within a generative framework to understand late pre-European contact through pre-reconstruction histories. He also specializes in ceramic and iconographic analyses, remote sensing technologies, 3D and augmented realities, organic residue analyses, and making archaeology as inclusive and supportive as possible.

  
Char Farfadet, MA (they/them/theirs)

Char completed their BSc, majoring in Environmental Biology (Plant Biology) and minoring in Anthropology, at McGill University in 2019, and their MA in Anthropology, specializing in Terrestrial Archaeology, from Texas A&M University in 2023. Their PhD work has been ongoing since 2020. They specialize in arid land ethnobotany, paleoethnobotany, ethnoecology, and Native/Indigenous studies, especially in the Chihuahuan Desert. They work to understand changing plant-human relationships for health, blending archaeological data, ethnohistorical evidence, and presently-held traditional ecological knowledge to collaboratively address contemporary health issues facing Indigenous communities today.

Gabriela Oré Menéndez, PhD (Ella/She)
Gabriela is a Peruvian anthropological archaeologist specializing in satellite remote sensing, spatial analysis, and AI-based technologies, as well as queer perspectives on archaeological and anthropological practices. She completed her dissertation at Vanderbilt University in 2022, and her work has been funded by the National Science Foundation and the Mellon Digital Humanities Fellowship at Vanderbilt. She was also the inaugural speaker in the Rising Scholars series at the Society for American Archaeology.

Her research focuses on decolonizing methodologies, digital humanities, and Andean Archaeology. Currently, she’s exploring the transformation and reclamation of productive landscapes by displaced Indigenous communities during the colonial and early republican periods in Peru. Her work intersects the large-scale potential of new digital and remote sensing technologies with the histories of people facing processes of political transformation and, at the same time, engages Andean studies with growing scholarship on historical ecology and landscape inequalities.

Gabriela’s other line of scholarly pursuits connects Queer Theory with Anthropological and Archaeological Scholarship. Gabriela is committed to developing an intersectional, multivocal, and global queerization of academics, incorporating binary-breaking research topics and research development, and bringing these discussions to the forefront of her research, teaching and service.

This 90-minute panel discussion will highlight the work of, and challenges faced by, LGBT2SQIA+ archaeologists. How have gender and sexuality norms from today shaped interpretations of the past?  What needs to be done to incorporate more diverse perspectives that accurately reflects not only the current world we live in, but the world of the past?

1. Give the audience opportunity to ask about experiences (and advice!) from LGBTQ archaeologists.
2. Learn about the ways in which diverse perspectives create diverse solutions in archaeology.

Carrie Pritchard-Harvey, MA, RPA, Work Culture Collaborative, LLC

Carrie Pritchard-Harvey, MA, RPA, is the owner of Work Culture Collaborative, LLC., a boutique culture consulting firm dedicated to helping businesses transform their work cultures, workflows, and leadership strategies using applied anthropological methods and a community-oriented approach that values human connections, social justice, and environmental sustainability. She also provides career coaching services to early and mid-career professionals looking to build values-aligned skills and design meaningful careers outside academia.

Before founding Work Culture Collaborative, Ms. Pritchard-Harvey worked in environmental consulting and culture resources management for 13 years across the Western United States for government agencies, non-profit organizations, and private companies. She has performed a wide range of duties in and out of the field including as a technician, field director, logistics coordinator, recruiter, hiring manager, new hire trainer, tribal liaison, proposal writer, technical expert, and project manager. In other words, she has run the proverbial CRM gauntlet and knows the ins and outs of this business. Previous key roles include Senior Project Manager with SWCA Environmental Consultants, Senior Archaeologist with Far Western Anthropological Research Group, and Culture Resources Program Manager at the Great Basin Institute.

Ms. Pritchard-Harvey received her BA/BA in Anthropology and Ecology/Biodiversity from the University of Denver and an M.A. in Applied Anthropology (with a bioarchaeology emphasis) from (Cal Poly) Humboldt State University. She served on the ACRA Task Force for Evaluating the SOI Professional Qualification Standards in 2023.

This seminar equips practitioners and leaders across industries with the tools, strategies, and approaches needed to troubleshoot poor work cultures, overhaul inefficient processes, and build better workplaces for all employees using new and traditional methods in Applied Anthropology. Attendees will come away with a broadened understanding of the skills and the frameworks needed to re-evaluate our de facto social and cultural approach to work.

1. Practitioners gain confidence and competence in applying traditional anthropological methods needed to objectively analyze and deconstruct common work culture or process issues.
2. Better understanding of how leaders and organizations can increase employee retention and reduce workplace interpersonal conflict.
3. A new toolkit of Applied Anth 2.0 strategies that fit the advancement of technology, a dispersed workforce, and the future of how we approach work in the post-pandemic world.
4. Learn a key framework for unifying early, mid, and mature career professionals toward common organizational goals and values.

Danielle M. Benden, M.S., RPA, Driftless Pathways, LLC 

Danielle M. Benden is owner of Driftless Pathways, LLC, a small museum consulting firm near Madison, WI. She designs new curatorial facilities and renovates existing ones; consults with museum personnel to improve collections care and management; facilitates consultation between Native Nations and other stakeholders on the development of interpretive content and exhibits; and provides professional development training in curation and collections management. Prior to starting Driftless Pathways, Ms. Benden served as the Senior Curator of Anthropology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she taught museum courses, designed and managed collections facility upgrades, oversaw NAGPRA compliance, and carried out fieldwork in the Cahokian Hinterlands. She has published scholarly articles, book chapters, and reports, conducted preservation assessments of archaeological sites and collections, and enjoys educating the public about the past through presentations and archaeological tours.

Ms. Benden received her B.S. in Archaeology from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and an M.S. in Museum and Field Studies (with an Archaeology emphasis) from the University of Colorado-Boulder. She has served on national committees and task forces including as chair of SAA’s Committee on Museums, Collections, and Curation (2016-2019), co-chair of SAA’s Task Force on Data Access and Archiving (2015-2016), co-chair of the Archaeological Collections Consortium (2014-2016), and member of the SAA Archive Committee (2021-present). Her practical and professional experience puts her at the forefront of the national curation discussion.

Are you interested in a career working with archaeological collections? Perhaps you’re drawn to preserving and organizing artifacts and associated records in a repository. Maybe conservation in the field most intrigues you. It could be broadening access to digital data, creating custom object mounts to meet the needs of Indigenous communities, or countless other tasks that collections personnel undertake daily. Whatever the case, this two-hour seminar will introduce participants to the types of collections jobs across archaeological sectors (cultural resource management, academic, government, and tribal) and provide a
framework to develop the necessary skills for different positions. It will offer guidance for selecting a training program(s) and finding professional development course(s) that are right for you.

Participants will learn how to develop practical skills and gain meaningful experience that will prepare them for archaeological collections jobs in the contemporary workforce. The session includes tips for preparing a resume and interviewing for a job. Whether you’re a student nearing graduation or considering enrolling in a graduate museum studies program, an emerging professional, or contemplating a new career path, this Deeper Digs seminar is for you. Participants will receive an electronic resource guide containing further information on the range of topics explored during the seminar.

1. Provide attendees with a framework to understand the range of archaeological collections jobs across sectors, and ways to develop necessary skill sets.
2. Teach participants how to find and select the “right fit” training program(s), workshop(s), or other professional development opportunities to refine skills and gain practical experience.
3. Offer tips and resources to create a standout resume and prepare for job interviews.

Benjamin Bellorado, PhD, RPA, Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona

Dr. Benajmin Bellorado is the Assistant Curator of Archaeology at the Arizona State Museum at the University of Arizona. He is an anthropological archaeologist specializing in the tree-ring sciences of dendrochronology and dendroarchaeology. Dr. Bellorado has conducted extensive fieldwork and laboratory research using tree-ring dating to date archaeological sites in the US Southwest, including a focus on documenting at-risk sites in the Bears Ears and Natural Bridges National Monuments, while developing new, minimal-impact sampling methodologies. He was trained in the dendrosciences and archaeological methods at the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research and School of Anthropology at the University of Arizona, where he received his doctoral degree. For over 20 years, Dr. Bellorado has used dendrochronology to study Ancestral Pueblo agricultural strategies, climate change, seriation of iconography, and the timing of the thirteenth century depopulation of the Four Corners area. His dissertation work focused on dating changes in building mural styles and ritual paraphernalia (i.e., yucca sandals and cotton blankets) using tree-ring dating. He is the author of articles, book chapters, and technical reports focused on dendrochronology. Throughout his career, Dr. Bellorado has worked with federal land management agencies, universities, and tribes, and instructed dozens of students including K-12, college, graduate students, and interns, as well as life-long learners in the basic and advanced field sampling and laboratory analysis using tree-ring dating methodologies.

This course will provide students with an overview of basic methods and practical applications of tree-ring dating in the archaeological and climate sciences with a focus on the US Southwest. Students will learn about the history of tree-ring dating, including its uses in the climate and social sciences, and get an overview of recent dendroarchaeology field and laboratory methods and techniques. Discussions of case studies from the Four Corners area of the US Southwest will focus on recent applications of tree-ring dating in projects geared towards documenting and preserving of at-risk archaeological sites on federal lands in the Bears Ears and Natural Bridges National Monuments in southeastern Utah.

1. Introduce students to the basic techniques and history of tree-ring dating.
2. Learn how tree-ring dating works and some of the diverse ways it has been used by the environmental and social sciences.
3. Gain awareness of current field and laboratory sampling and analysis techniques.
4. Gain a better understanding of recent applications of dendrochronology and the advantages and weaknesses of using tree-ring dating alone or in concert with other dating methods.

Ramiro Barberena, PhD, Universidad Católica de Temuco

Licenciado en Ciencias Antropológicas (2001) y Doctor en Arqueología (2008) por la Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, Universidad de Buenos Aires (Argentina). Es Investigador Adjunto de la Universidad Católica de Temuco (Chile), Investigador Independiente del CONICET y Profesor Asociado en la Universidad Nacional de Cuyo (Argentina). Ha dictado cursos de posgrado en Argentina y Chile y dirigido proyectos de investigación financiados por National Geographic Society, Wenner-Gren Foundation, CONICET y Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica (Argentina). Tiene amplia experiencia en la aplicación de isótopos a problemas arqueológicos desde sociedades cazadoras-recolectoras a agropastoriles, incluyendo trabajos pioneros con isótopos de estroncio en los Andes.

Se desarrollará una introducción teórica, metodológica y aplicada al uso de isótopos de estroncio (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr) en Arqueología, incluyendo los campos de Bioarqueología y Zooarqueología, para el tratamiento de preguntas paleogeográficas enfocadas en las historias de vida.

*Seminar will be given in Spanish*

1. Conocer la base metodológica de las aplicaciones de los isótopos de estroncio.
2. Comprender aspectos clave para el diseño de líneas de base en escalas regional y macro-regional: tipos de muestras, construcción de isoscapes, etc.
3. Adquirir las competencias para incorporar esta línea de evidencia en el diseño de preguntas y proyectos de investigación.