REU Site: Reviving the Past: Undergraduate Research Program in Biocultural Anthropology

该奖项为圣母大学生物文化人类学田野学院提供资金。该项目将在一个体验式的学习环境中吸引各种各样的有才华的本科生，让他们沉浸在人类学的方法和理论中。利用来自耶路撒冷的大量拜占庭圣斯蒂芬的骨骼收藏作为研究的基石，历史和考古信息将在古代修道院生活的生物文化重建中得到综合。学生将从事原创性研究，以发展一套科学方法技能，并提高他们的合作研究能力。他们将参加实地考察计划，前往地区研究地点、图书馆、博物馆和一座正在运作的修道院，以了解影响人类适应能力的文化参数。探索与考古政治、文物处理和遣返相关的伦理问题将把注意力集中在科学伦理上，这是未来研究努力的重要基础。最后，由人类学、生物学、历史、古典文学、地理学、神学和近东研究等领域的国际学者组成的一个充满活力的讲座项目将阐明研究过去的整体方法的重要性。这所生物文化田野学校将提供一种激发智力的学习体验，这将使参与者具备一套观察周围环境的才能。实践研究技能的整合、伦理探究以及观察人类互动的学科范式的综合，将在学生进入自然科学和社会科学的研究生或专业生涯时证明是有用的。该奖项有助于基金会继续努力，通过积极的本科研究经历吸引有才华的学生从事科学事业。

This award provides funds for a Field School in Biocultural Anthropology at the University of Notre Dame. The program will engage a diverse pool of talented undergraduates in an experiential learning environment that immerses them in anthropological method and theory. Using the large Byzantine St. Stephen's skeletal collection from Jerusalem as the cornerstone for study, historical and archaeological information will be synthesized in a biocultural reconstruction of ancient monastic life. Students will engage in original research to develop a suite of methodological skills in the sciences and enhance their capability for collaborative research. They will share in a field trip program to area research sites, libraries, museums, and a functioning monastery to gain an understanding of the cultural parameters affecting human adaptability. Exploration of ethical issues related to the politics of archaeology, treatment of artifacts, and repatriation will focus attention on scientific ethics, an important foundation for future research endeavors. Finally, a dynamic lecture program delivered by an international team of scholars in the fields of anthropology, biology, history, classics, geography, theology, and Near Eastern studies will crystallize the importance of a holistic approach for studying the past. The biocultural field school will provide an intellectually energizing learning experience, which will equip participants with a suite of talents for viewing their surroundings. The integration of practical research skills, ethical inquiry, and the synthesis of disciplinary paradigms for viewing human interaction will prove useful as students move into graduate or professional careers in the natural and social sciences.This award contributes to the Foundation's continuing efforts to attracttalented students into careers in science through active undergraduate research experiences.