1.  Could you tell us a bit about your background and why you chose to come to Knox?

I came to Knox from a very large high school in the suburbs of Kansas City, Kansas.  I chose Knox because I was attracted to several aspects of the liberal arts education, particularly small class sizes, a sense of community, and the opportunity to take coursework in several different subject areas. 

2. Why did you decide to major in Anthropology and Sociology at Knox?

When I came to Knox, I intended to major in political science (which is my other major).  After taking courses in both the political science and the AnSo departments, I came to realize that I wasn't as interested in focusing academically on political institutions.   Instead, I wanted to focus on and I wanted my major to address questions of
how people undergo the processes of understanding their lives, creating meanings, and constructing identities in terms of a larger social context.  I think that those interests find a home in the AnSo department. 

3.  What were some of your favorite classes in our department - and why?

Some of my favorite classes have included ANSO 103 Contemporary Social Issues, ANSO 300 Social Theory, and ANSO 326 Psychological Anthropology. 

Contemporary Social Issues was the first AnSo course I took and it greatly influenced my decision to major in AnSo.  In addition to the introduction to these fields it provided, because this course deals with issues that are so relevant to everyday life, I find myself considering and reflecting on the themes of the course long after I've taken it.

As for Social Theory and Psychological Anthropology, in addition to being courses on interesting topics, I really feel as if my experiences in these courses have helped me to think critically and to write the kind of academic papers that I want to be writing.  I also appreciated the seminar format and the quality of discussion in these classes. 

4.   What are your immediate plans for the future?  What are your long term goals, and how do you feel your major will help you with these goals?

My immediate plans for the future are to attend a ph.d. program in sociology, so there are some obvious reasons why the AnSo major will be helpful for that.  More generally, I think that the experience I received from the AnSo major reading texts and thinking critically about them will be of use to me in my graduate school coursework.  I also really appreciate the opportunities to do fieldwork and independent research that I've had as an AnSo major at Knox.  I think that having a chance to do independent research in my field of interest as an undergraduate will serve me well as an academic in the future.