Dr. Chad Huddleston
Title: Instructor
Phone: 650-2742
Email: chhuddl@siue.edu
Office: Peck 0231
Degree: PhD
Teaching interests
I feel that Anthropology can help students to obtain a deeper understanding of the cultural diversity that exists both in the larger world and in our own society. As our culture and the world shifts to being more mobile and more diverse, this understanding of others and their behavior, values, and worldviews is becoming increasingly important. My role in the classroom is to help students move beyond their circle of familiarity in order to appreciate diversity and to be aware of the basis for it. I feel that this point of view can be useful to any subject that the student decides to pursue.
Basically, I ask students to challenge 'the way things are' in order to clarify their understanding of social behaviors and practices. While this may come from a theoretical stance, how theory is applied and how data is interpreted should be creative, insightful, and make connections with other aspects of student's own lives and experiences. Moreover, I think it is important to contrast their understanding with the diversity of cultural experiences that are available. This allows students to gain a perspective that leads to a deeper understanding of 'what is happening' rather than as a rationale of current practice (as in: 'this is just the way it is'). That is the path toward achieving a holistic understanding of human behavior and interaction.
Courses taught
- ANTH 111b: Human Culture and Communication
- ANTH 270: Urban Anthropology
- ANTH 270b: Anthropology of Disaster
- ANTH 307: People and Cultures of Latin America
- ANTH 350: Applied Anthropology
- IS 324: Peoples and Cultures of Asia
- IS 336: Global Problems and Human Survival
- IS 343: Contemporary Health Care Issues
- IS 401: Business and Society
At St. Louis University
- Environmental Anthropology
- Peace and Conflict
- Cultural Anthropology
- Peoples of Oceania
At Pierre Laclede Honors College - UMSL
- Changing Ideas of Place: Peace, Space and Home
- Violence: A Cross-cultural perspective
- World Cultures
- Research Activities and Interests
I am a cultural anthropologist focusing on human interaction with the environment. I have a broad understanding of what might be included in that category, as I consider the environment to include the natural and social world. I am also interested in the creation of value. I find that the process of value creation fits quite well with, and furthers my analysis of, the data on how people interact with their surroundings.
Until recently, my research has been centered on gaining insight on how people think about and interact with sacred land, especially in indigenous groups living in colonial contexts (Navajo/Hopi and Maori). I have also done research with hunters in Montana to discern how their hunting practices may or may not reflect their ethics toward animals and their environment, particularly any notion of sacredness.
Most recently, for the past ten years I have been focusing on research with a disaster preparedness groups. I want to know how people that are preparing for a future disaster (natural/social/economic, etc) think about and perceive how their environment might be changing. I also want to know how they create value in order to get other people to think and act in the same way. This research has become increasingly valuable to my participants but also governmental and non-governmental organizations as a way to think about climate change and its effects within diverse populations.
While these are my current research projects, I am interested in a great deal more: including representations of colonialism, prison culture (for both inmate and staff), landscape, legitimization, identity and memory, sovereignty and the state...and the list goes on.
Recent publications/media
Shannon, Jen, narrator. “Are you ready for Teotwawki?” SAPIENS. Season 1, episode 3. Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Studies, 2018. https://www.sapiens.org/culture/teotwawki/ and https://www.sapiens.org/culture/preppers/
Huddleston, Chad. “For Preppers, the Apocalypse is Just Another Disaster” SAPIENS. 14 March 2018. https://www.sapiens.org/culture/prepping-anthropology/
“Prepper” as resilient citizen: what preppers can teach us about surviving disasters. In Companion, Michele, and Miriam S. Chaiken, eds. Responses to Disasters and Climate Change: Understanding Vulnerability and Fostering Resilience. CRC Press, 2016. pp. 239-247.
Professional memberships
- American Anthropological Association
- Anthropology and the Environment Section
- Central States Anthropological Society
- General Anthropology Section of AAA
- Society for Cultural Anthropology
- Student Activities
I am very interested in doing community research and involving students in my own research. I think it is an important step in a student's development to be a part of ongoing research. They are able to learn research techniques in the field and contribute to the data collection and analysis, as well as the documentation of that data. I am also a strong believer in doing research through community service, bringing together our expertise with our ability to serve our communities.
