Alumni News: 2000s
Here's what's up with alums from the first decade of the new century:
Judith Andrews '06 - I am now interning at the National Museum of Natural History in the Department of Anthropology on a great research project, Recovering Voices. It is a new initiative of the Smithsonian to preserve and reinvigorate endangered languages and the knowledge systems embedded in them. The project includes work by 3 units, NMNH, NMAI, and the Folklife Center--look for Recovering Voices exhibits at next year's Folklife Festival, a traveling exhibit at NMAI in 2013, and an exhibit at NMNH in 2014. I am currently beginning the website for the project. We will have a few simple pages up in time for the AAAs and a much larger website in the future. (Oct. 2011)
Helen Blouet '01 - I have a tenure track assistant professor position in the Sociology and Anthropology department at Utica College, in Utica, New York. I completed my PhD from Syracuse University in 2010 which focused on the politics of burial and commemoration on the island of St. John from 1718-1950. Courses taught include Introduction to Anthropology, Introduction to Archaeology, Human Evolution, Caribbean Anthropology and Archaeology, American Indian Culture and History, and Cultures, Health, and Healing. (1/20/2011)
Porter Bourie '04 - After graduating, I served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Togo, West Africa, in the Natural Resource Management Program from 2004 to 2006. I credit my undergraduate training in anthropology as one of the reasons I had such a successful and profound PC service. I've since continued my anthropological training at the University of Colorado at Boulder, where I received my M.A. in cultural anthropology in 2009 with a focus on West Africa and the Anthropology of Religion. I'm now pursuing my Ph.D., which has brought me back to the big questions that ran through my mind while in Togo. My research is focused on the production of environmental and economic knowledges during a water management project in rural Mali. I've been fortunately enough to return to West Africa in 2009 and 2011 for preliminary research. I'm now collaborating with a Denver-based NGO in the community of Mopti, Mali, while applying for research grants to get myself back to Mali for a full year. If all goes well, I'll be in the field from August 2012 to September 2013! (Oct. 2011)
Joshua Eftekhari-Asl '08 - I am starting a restaurant focused on sourcing 100% of our ingredients from local suppliers. Who is researching the "slow food" movement? I'd like meet with them and see what they are finding.(12/20/2010)
Samuel Elswick MA '05 - Sam and his wife Sharon own and operate the Holladay House Bed and Breakfast in Orange, VA, an historic inn near James Madison's Montpelier. I still dabble in history and archaeology when I can, but the inn keeps us busy! (2/4/2011)
Ben Ford, MA '01 - I recently accepted a tenure-track position in the Indiana University of Pennsylvania Department of Anthropology. (10/25/10)
Mary Humphreys, '06 - I most recently worked as a legislative aide/correspondent for Representative Tom Perriello (VA-5). This summer, I left Capitol Hill and moved to Massachusetts, where I am currently pursuing a Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy degree at the Fletcher School at Tufts University. (10/25/10)
Peter Maybarduk '02 - Peter is Global Access to Medicines Program Director at Public Citizen: http://citizen.org/access. Peter released his third album, "A ring around the Atlantic," this fall: http://maybarduk.bandcamp.com/. (Oct. 2011)
Peter Maybarduk, '02 - W&M anthro was probably my best higher ed experience. Today I'm a lawyer and Global Access to Medicines Program Director at Public Citizen, based in Washington D.C. (but often traveling). On the side I direct a small NGO called International Professional Partnerships for Sierra Leone. I'm a songwriter - more at maybarduk.com.( 10/26/10)
Trudy O'Reilly '02 - Trudy O'Reilly O'Reilly Public Relations orpr@msn.com (4/6/2011)
Ben Skolnik '07 - I'm about to finish up my first semester at the University of Maryland where I'm working on my Ph.D. in Anthropology. I'm studying formal landscapes of the 18th century Chesapeake under Dr. Mark Leone. (12/13/2010)
Amanda Vtipil '09 - I am currently working as the curator of the Fort Lee Regional Archaeological Curation Facility, where we house thousands of artifacts from across Virginia and D.C. I plan on graduating from Johns Hopkins University in May with my Master of Arts in Museum Studies. With my undergraduate degree focused in archaeology and my graduate degree in Museum Studies I hope to continue to work towards making archaeological collections more accessible to the public and researchers alike. My session on this topic has been accepted for presentation at the Virginia Association of Museums annual conference next year. And after over ten years together, my boyfriend and I are engaged so in my spare time (what little there is...) I am busy planning our wedding! I couldn't have made it this far without my experiences in the WM Anthropology department! (10/2012)
Isabel Jenkins Zeigler MA '01 - In January 2010 I began my current position as Supervisory Curator for four National Park Service sites in Contra Costa County, CA: Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front NHP, John Muir NHS, Eugene O'Neill NHS, & Port Chicago Naval Magazine NM .(5/18/2011)
