REU Site: Bioarchaeology Research on the Impacts of Colonization on Local Population Health

REU 网站：关于殖民化对当地人口健康影响的生物考古学研究

• 批准号: 1560227
• 负责人: Laurie Reitsema
• 金额: $ 24.81万
• 依托单位: University of Georgia Research Foundation Inc
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2016-03-01 至 2020-02-29
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1560227&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: REU; Site; Bioarchaeology; Research; Impacts

This project is funded from the Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Sites program in the SBE Directorate. As such, it has both scientific and societal benefits, and it integrates research and education. The eight-week international REU Site brings eight undergraduate students from diverse backgrounds to Sicily, Italy for four weeks to collect data from ancient human skeletons, and back to the United State for four weeks to work in the research laboratories at the University of Georgia. Students complete independent research projects relating to the health, activity patterns, diet, and genetic relatedness of people at the Greek colony and battlefield of Himera to better understand the biocultural consequences of culture contact in the past. Globalization is ever-increasing and often resembles colonization with its spread of ideas and people to developing nations. REU students will learn first-hand about deep roots and biological dimensions of interactions between diverse populations. Participants receive specialized field and lab training in archaeological chemistry, anatomy, research design, and data analysis. Students will leave the REU with greater technical and analytical skills, better preparedness for graduate study and professional careers, and heightened awareness of global issues relating to population contact, inequality, human conflict, and health transitions. These skills are foundational for improving global citizenship and stewardship in any career.To promote scientific literacy and global engagement among undergraduates, this three-year REU Site integrates students as junior partners of the Bioarchaeology of Mediterranean Colonies Project, a cross-disciplinary, international research program that has brought undergraduate students to the Mediterranean for the past three summers. REU students generate new anthropological knowledge related to human adaptation and the impacts of culture contact in the ancient Mediterranean. Student projects focus on the more than 12,000 skeletons unearthed at Himera, which in the 7-5th centuries B.C. was the site of Greek colonizing efforts and violent battles. Himera represents an early epicenter of rising ethnic inequality. REU students plan and execute independent research projects exploring biocultural impacts of culture contact in Greek Sicily, including changes in diet, activity patterns, health, mobility, and genetic admixture, using stable isotope biogeochemistry, molecular anthropology, osteology, paleopathology and statistical analysis. Students collect bioarchaeological data from human skeletons at Sicily for four weeks, and spend the remaining four weeks at the University of Georgia (UGA) apprenticed in the UGA Bioarchaeology and Biochemistry Laboratory, analyzing field specimens. REU students participate in focused workshops and seminars, and work with dedicated mentors, receiving hands-on training for research projects. Through these activities, students (1) learn archaeological and anthropological field and lab methods, (2) learn from both American and Italian scholars, (3) visit museums and archaeological sites on Sicily, (4) design, execute, and present independent research projects that make substantive contributions to anthropology, (5) live in the city of Palermo, Italy where they will interact with Italian students and citizens, and (6) remain in close contact with faculty mentors for a full academic year to publish their results and present at international conferences. Two PhD student affiliates will gain mentorship training. REU students will leave better prepared to pursue and succeed in graduate school, excel in STEM careers, and be more globally engaged citizens.

该项目由 SBE 理事会的本科生研究经验 (REU) 站点计划资助。因此，它具有科学和社会效益，并且集研究和教育于一体。为期八周的国际 REU 站点将八名来自不同背景的本科生带到意大利西西里岛，为期四个星期，收集古代人类骨骼的数据，然后返回美国，在佐治亚大学的研究实验室工作四个星期。学生完成与希腊殖民地和希梅拉战场上的人们的健康、活动模式、饮食和遗传相关性相关的独立研究项目，以更好地了解过去文化接触的生物文化后果。全球化不断发展，常常类似于殖民化，将思想和人民传播到发展中国家。 REU 学生将直接了解不同人群之间相互作用的深层根源和生物学层面。参与者接受考古化学、解剖学、研究设计和数据分析方面的专业领域和实验室培训。离开 REU 的学生将拥有更高的技术和分析技能，为研究生学习和职业生涯做好更好的准备，并提高对与人口接触、不平等、人类冲突和健康转型有关的全球问题的认识。这些技能是提高全球公民意识和任何职业管理能力的基础。为了提高本科生的科学素养和全球参与度，这个为期三年的 REU 站点将学生作为地中海殖民地生物考古学项目的初级合作伙伴纳入其中，该项目是一个跨学科的国际研究项目，在过去的三个夏天将本科生带到了地中海。 REU 学生产生了与人类适应和古地中海文化接触影响相关的新人类学知识。学生项目的重点是希梅拉出土的 12,000 多具骸骨，这些骸骨建于公元前 7 至 5 世纪。是希腊殖民活动和暴力战争的场所。希梅拉是种族不平等加剧的早期中心。 REU 学生利用稳定同位素生物地球化学、分子人类学、骨学、古病理学和统计分析，规划并执行独立研究项目，探索希腊西西里岛文化接触的生物文化影响，包括饮食、活动模式、健康、流动性和遗传混合的变化。学生们在西西里岛用四个星期的时间收集人体骨骼的生物考古数据，并在剩下的四个星期里在佐治亚大学 (UGA) 生物考古学和生物化学实验室实习，分析现场标本。 REU 学生参加重点研讨会和研讨会，并与专门的导师一起工作，接受研究项目的实践培训。通过这些活 教师导师在整个学年发表他们的成果并出席国际会议。两名博士生附属机构将接受指导培训。 REU 学生毕业后将做好更充分的准备，以便在研究生院继续深造并取得成功，在 STEM 职业生涯中脱颖而出，并成为更具全球参与度的公民。