Anthropology

Senior Project

Senior Assignment is considered a capstone experience at SIUE in which undergraduates have an opportunity to demonstrate the knowledge and skills acquired during their years of study at the university. For the senior assignment in anthropology, majors develop a project that may involve original research, an internship or volunteer work with an organization.

Project development is conducted in the fall semester of the senior year for 3 credits of coursework (2 credits of ANTH 490A and 1 credit of ANTH 490B). Typically research projects and internships will be conducted during the following spring semester, as ANTH 491 (Senior Project), ANTH 488 (Museum Internship) or ANTH 489 (Professional Internship).

The work is presented to the department at the Senior Research Symposium (SRA), via a written report or research paper and an oral presentation, the formats of which follow common professional standards. In addition to the written report and oral presentation, other products of the SRA could include a museum display, website or other creative product.

Every year the anthropology faculty choose one senior project presentation to receive the Fred Voget Outstanding Senior Project Award, named for an early faculty member of the SIUE anthropology department and generously funded by the Voget family.

Featured Senior Assignments:

Michelle Badgett’s “Collections Management and Curation: An Internship at the Ethnology Museum Laboratory” won the Fred Voget Outstanding Senior Project award in May of 2017. Michelle worked with Hindu artifacts from the university collections in conjunction with Dr. Cory Willmott’s Divine Design exhibit in the 0400 wing of Peck Hall.

Dan Blodgett’s “Lithic Analysis: An In-depth Look at Surface Collections from the Gehring Site” was selected as the best senior project presentation in spring of 2011. For his research, Dan conducted a spatial analysis of lithic artifacts recovered during surface collections at the Gehring site, 11MS99. An abridged version of Dan’s research won the Illinois Archaeological Survey’s undergraduate paper competition in fall of 2011.

Maudie Knicley’s “Archaeology of Madison County: Changing Times” is an outstanding example of collaboration with community organizations. Using artifacts from the collection of the Madison County Historical Museum and Archival Library (MCHM&AL), as well as those borrowed from the SIUE archaeology field school, Maudie installed an exhibit at the MCHM&AL museum, which was subsequently turned into a permanent online exhibit.

Susie Oettle’s “A Monumental Undertaking: Resurrecting a Rural Illinois Community via a Cemetery Study” won the Fred Voget Outstanding Senior Project award in May of 2016. For her research, Susie analyzed tombstones at the Hartland Cemetery in Morgan County, Illinois. In fall of 2016, Susie presented a much abridged version of her research at the Midwest Archaeological Conference (MAC) in Iowa City, Iowa. Her paper, "Jane, His Wife: An Analysis of Spouses' Gravestones in a Rural Midwestern Cemetery," won runner-up in the MAC student paper competition.

Jessica Stanley-Asselmeier’s “The Impact of Fair Trade: How the Exchange of Goods Links Producers and Consumers” won the Fred Voget Outstanding Senior Project award in May of 2015. Jessica’s research examined how Plowsharing Crafts, a local non-profit, facilitates interactions between Fair Trade producers and local consumers.